My manager has banned all vests, skirts and shorts

if your NHS there will be a dress code so I’d check this. May be worth having a conversation about them providing fans / air conditioning units in extreme weather if your expected to dress for cooler weather

I’ve just dropped off DH at the train station and close to 100% of people going in to London were in shorts, short sleeves or, horror of horrors, short skirts. I didn’t study the footwear. Nobody struck me as scruffy either.

If you treat people like children, they'll behave like children. Parent-child workplace cultures are ineffective and pretty miserable to work in for anybody with an ounce of initiative and self-motivation.

If somebody is dressing in a way to cause offense then it just needs a short and direct 121 conversation - not a blanket ban communicated to all colleagues. Reminds me of school when we had to kneel on the floor to check the length of our skirts.

We didn’t think it as ‘suffering’, we didn’t moan at management, it was no one’s fault, everyone was in the same boat. We just looked forward to our two week holiday.

• focusing on OPs clothes rather thsn the real issue of her sub-standard office conditions which is really what should be the cause for outrage.”

Exactly. It’s depressing and I say this as someone who wears maxi dresses and loose linen trousers in the heat. They are focusing on the wrong thing here and this is why things never change.

Well the issue is for many of us this is not considered “within reason”.

You’re not being “belligerent” if you question something or use a union to enquire about your rights.

Not everyone just wants to roll over and say yes mam in every situation even where a new rule is causing them discomfort and significant inconvenience.

I don’t think the outfits OP posted were more suited for gardening than an office lacking air conditioning. They were fine.

And on that point, I worked in government offices as far back as 2011 and they had AC, I think Op and her colleagues should actually raise that as an issue and see if something can be done too.

If men wore vests or short shorts or skirts I would say exactly the same thing, I know what is appropriate in standard indoor work places so wear that and none of it is

I do not see men wearing anything mentioned in the OP in the workplace yes I am sure millions of women will come on here and say they do I am not one of them

💯

I had no idea so many people had an issue with bare shoulders and uncovered armpits until I read this thread. I live in tank tops in hot weather, because I hate the feeling of sweating into a t-shirt sleeve and the sweat just sitting there soaked into the fabric all day.

So simply stick to that… Your top (whilst I wouldn’t feel comfortable with it at work - I don’t want people to see the texture of my bra) should be fine going by this. Sleeveless is fine as long as the shoulders are covered, after all.

(I often wear high-neck, sleeveless blouses at work. Simply keep a blazer ready in case I need it…)

I recognise the need for some dress standards when at work, but I can’t see what is inappropriate about knee-length skirts, especially in a non-public facing role.

Knee-length skirts have generally been acceptable office attire for generations! In my rather staid office yesterday, lots of women were wearing dresses and skirts of that length - to call that inappropriate in a UK office is frankly bizarre!

And I really don’t have time for those posters who say stuff like “in my day I had to wear a tight corset, thick woollen tights and couldn’t show a millimetre of ankle, so you should just suck it up.” Are women really expected to just accept stuff because women in the 70s had to put up with it?!
It’s like saying women shouldn’t be able to have mortgages in their own name, and should accept that marital rape is an oxymoron. What backward logic.

100% agree.

When I say it about men’s clothing it does seem a bit unusual and primarily comes with connotations of the clothing being simple, humble, plain etc.

Trying to abstain from frivolity, luxury etc.

I get what you mean, but on the flipside it's often pretty clear that many employees bring it on themselves by acting like children. In the present case it appears that the manager, fed up of people rocking up to their office job looking more ready for a potter round the garden, has brought in a dress code that really isn't that unreasonable. But instead of just getting up with it, recognising that the basics of an employer-employee relationship is that the employee does what the employer says (within reason), and tries not to be a pain in the arse, the OP is getting all belligerent and has been advised to call the union!

"Modest", when applied to women's clothes is replete with religious overtones these days.

Try saying it about men's clothes.

I agree with the dress code. You may have a nice-looking vest, but unless these restrictions are in place, young employees usually turn up half-naked, in miniskirts, thin-strapped vests, crop tops (believe me, I've seen it, and customers complain). Just get a couple of nice mid-length, flowy dresses, and you'll be cool all summer.

This! NHS too and there will be a official dress code somewhere, your manager can't just make up the rules, deffo speak with HR for guidance. My old manager used to say, as long as you can't see up it, down it, or through it, it's fine, no toes on show either,! Good luck.

There’s HSE guidance on heat stress and temperature in the work place. They can ask you to wear whatever uniform they like, but they can’t make you work in unreasonably hot premises. This is building management issue primarily, fine if they want you to wear trousers but they need to provide an office environment with a temperature where wearing trousers is comfortable.

As long as u are not dressing like u are Madonna ( wearing underwear as outerwear ) then what’s the problem ?

I think I'd be ringing my Union 😂. I'm currently wearing a sleeveless linen dress to the knee. It has three inch wide "straps" at the front.

It feels like they are imposing unnecessary religious or moral beliefs onto staff. As long as I look professional and modest, it shouldn't matter whether it's a skirt, a dress or tailored shorts.

Oh FFS. I'm Catholic and there's no conservative Catholic dress code for work.

That was probably in response to her (misleading) post title and without the 'benefit' or then having read all her posts

🤣

"Im unsure why so many posters seem to think
Shorts =
beachwear/scruffy/hotpants/swimming trunks etc"

Perhaps because OP has posted pictures of PJ shorts which, whilst she hasn't worn to work, nevertheless thinks are appropriate work attire

Is there a religious aspect from her? It sounds like a conservative catholic dress code.

Are men also included?

Surprisingly there is no law on max temperatures. I would have thought there would be restrictions above a certain limit. Still maybe worth raising working conditions.

https://www.gov.uk/workplace-temperatures

There’s no guidance for a maximum temperature limit.
Employers must stick to health and safety at work law, including:

• keeping the temperature at a comfortable level
• providing clean and fresh air

Not all older women. I celebrate the fact that I haven't worn tights (AKA pantyhose) since the Clinton administration. And I am quite happy that pantyhose wearing has pretty much died out totally, at least in the part of the US where I live.