Summer workwear

[luckylavender]

I read a lot on here about bare legs in the office in the summer. Each to his own, I wear below the knee linen skirts most of the time with bare legs, so there is little exposed leg visible.

What I never see is any discussion about bare arms. In my opinion there aren't many people who can get away with bare arms and look professional and they are so much more obvious than bare legs.

I wondered what other people think, without being goady.

Yes, you're right - most women's arms are hideous and should never be exposed.

Or...they're just arms, get over it.

FFS, when will we stop obsessing over what women's bodies look like?

😄 at not being goady.

Lovely response, thanks. I have read some vitriol on here about bare legs and I deliberately posted in Chat not AIBU. I'm talking about office professional work wear, not women's bodies in general.

But why does how womens' arms look matter in relation to whether they can do their job or not? And why is no one policing mens' arms?

I just think that any standard that women are held to that men aren't is sexist.

I think I've confused myself re apostrophes in my crossness 😄.

I don't think in this case women are being held to a standard that men are not. Short sleeve tops are fine, men roll up shirt sleeves, or wear short sleeve shirts. Women can and do wear sleeveless tops, which I agree does not look very professional.

I work in an office that is pretty casual and many people do wear sleeveless. I don't though, it is just a step too far imo.

@15minpaidbreak - I think men are held to much higher standards when it comes to office wear so your comment is meaningless. Men would not wear sleeveless clothes in most offices. Women regularly do.

Dying to know what it is about a bare arm that is unprofessional?

@luckylavender, but you didn't mention sleeveless tops in your OP, you mentioned bare arms.

Are you seriously suggesting that if you visited your GP or lawyer and she was wearing this, you would have doubts about her professionalism

Actually, @luckylavender, maybe you're right - maybe women wearing sleeveless tops in summer at work is the single example of an item of women's clothing being more practical than men's 😂.

Gosh the vipers are out today aren't they? What's the difference between bare arms & sleeveless tops?!!!!

I was merely asking why bare legs provoke such indignant responses & said I wore them myself, whilst no one seems to mention bare arms.

Go on, shoot me...

I'm not a viper 😄, I'm just fed up with the ubiquity of micro-sexism.

It's difficult to generalise on these threads as workplace dress codes vary so much.

personally i dont mind bare arms or bare legs. especially if it means someone is cool and can do their job better. BUT i'm really not keen on seeing people's breasts, so dont like all those really low tops i see in some offices - both during the summer and winter

A lot of people a deliberately misunderstanding you op. I agree it often looks more like beach wear than office wear and therefore isn’t very professional. A short sleeve is much better. I don’t mind bare legs but I do think short skirts are also not ideal for professional environment either.

Men definitely have less choice over what to wear in a professional environment, but actually sometimes some women probably do themselves no favours by choosing inappropriate clothes. Lots of people will say this is sexist or whatever but in reality (not mn!) most people agree with this, at least in my view.

I don't think the OP actually mentioned a gender in her OP.

I think a man in a sleeveless vest top would look much more unprofessional than a woman in a smart dress such as the one a PP put a picture up of.

But I do take your point that a sleeveless top can be very different, e.g. A tight, very strappy top I would wear at weekends or on holiday but a smart top which just happens to have no sleeves is very different. But in that case I don't think that is necessarily about arms for me, it's more about the amount of chest I'd have on show.

To answer your OP, a) I've never come across the concept of bare legs being unprofessional, although I realise others have had different experiences l and b) I don't know why arms might be any different!