To refuse to wear a uniform I can't do up without help?

[SophieWilson92]

Signed up to post this after reading AIBU for a while!

I work in a salon and a few weeks ago we got new uniforms with tiny invisible zips on the back. I work part time so I've got to either get DH to zip me before he goes into work (and wait for him to get home after...) or turn up at work half dressed.

DH loves winding me up about it, particularly when he gets home and I'm waiting for him like a child

I want to tell my boss I won't wear it because it's just not practical... AIBU?

Does it need to be just a touch larger? That may help.

OP, do men work in the salon? If so, ask for a male uniform. If they say no, tell them you ID as a man. 😉

Haha picklemepopcorn, it is actually a bit loose already as it's a 12 and I am usually a 10/12. The sleeves restrict my arms moving a bit which I think is part of the problem but to be honest I'd be surprised if I could reach it even without sleeves.

Definitely solving this one way or the other tomorrow - will talk to boss and if no luck I'm determined to get it myself when I get home. We shall see!

Sadly no men in the salon PositivelyPERF, I wonder what would happen if we did have one though... that would mess up the matching uniforms!

I used to do what thelampshadelady described so well.

These days I’d just tell them I’m not wearing a uniform I can’t zip up myself...they can order you a different style in the same fabric. Job done.

It would be terribly sad if one of the seams came apart next time you were struggling to get into it or out of it. Ahem.

I never seem to have issues with zips at all. Mil keeps complaining she doesn’t know how anyone wholly bed alone managed as she can’t zip anything up at the back.....probably pary of her helpless act though (thread for another time).

It's the sexist bit that's bothering me most I think PositivelyPERF, you would NEVER have a man wearing something he can't get off alone.

But of the three women there, you're the only one who can't get it off alone, right?

You're making me think of the corsets that our female ancestors used to have to put up with until not that long ago. I'm only 53 and clearly remember having to help my grandmother get out of hers.

Not sure what your point is steff?

Have you ever seen a male dominated workplace where staff are made to wear tunics that 1/3 of them can’t do up themselves?

I have problems with an old shoulder injury and short arms so have trouble with some zippers. Usually only ones on nicer dresses I only wear occasionally, I would find it very annoying to have a required uniform with an impossible for me to zip myself zipper.

I would have the zipper pull replaced to one with a hole at the top that can be opened in ways others suggested. If your boss notices just tell her the other pull broke or fell off and was lost.

Superglue a length of string to the zipper pull.

Not sure what your point is steff?

Have you ever seen a male dominated workplace where staff are made to wear tunics that 1/3 of them can’t do up themselves?

I can't say that I have ever closely inspected a male's (or female's for that matter) uniform or polled them to see how difficult or otherwise they find their uniforms. In the salon I go to the uniform is white dress shirts and black pants for everyone, male or female.

My point was, if 2/3 of the people wearing the uniform aren't having trouble with it, it feels more like a user error than a feminist issue.

Agree with steff

My point was, if 2/3 of the people wearing the uniform aren't having trouble with it, it feels more like a user error than a feminist issue

Except that men's tops fasten at the front, with very few exceptions. And are generally extremely practical, compared to women's.

Women's clothes are designed as if we all had a ladies' maid zipping us up in the mornings - fasteners at the back date from the era of having servants, with designers apparently unaware that times have changed.

So, yes, zips are a feminist issue, and don't even get me started on pockets

Can you not leave it at work, wearing something else when you arrive, put it on there and get someone at work to help you in and out of it?

Zippers and their placement can also be a disability issue. Even a small bit of arthritis in the shoulder or hand can affect one's flexibility, which varies a lot from person to person anyway, and can interfere with the ability to zip a garment from the back.

I often struggle to do zips up on dresses for work, DH always says 'let me help you' - my reply is if you're not here I do it by myself so....I'm fiercely independent

"It's the sexist bit that's bothering me most I think PositivelyPERF, you would NEVER have a man wearing something he can't get off alone"

but the other women can. It isn't sexist.

Get a slightly bigger size and get it altered.

but the other women can. It isn't sexist.

It is sexist. There are different ranges of flexibility across both sexes. If male uniforms did up like this, some would be able to do it and some wouldn't. The point is male uniforms don't do up like this.

Meanwhile, a bulldog clip and ribbon might be your friend..

So having different uniforms sexist?

Sounds inflexiblist as opposed to anything else.

If it was only 'inflexiblist', you'd find men with the same issue. This is a design feature of female uniform.

I really can't think of a single profession where a man is expected to dress with an invisible zip up the length of the centre of his back.

I can’t even think of any men’s clothing item that would even have an invisible zip? Surely they’re just to make figure hugging clothes out of non stretchy material - totally impractical as this thread illustrates, so no way would men be subject to that type of clothing on a regular basis ...