To think bare legs at work isn’t unprofessional

[Basketofkittens]

I work in a non customer / public facing role in an office. Today as it was hot I wore an nice knee length A-line skirt and a T-shirt. All very respectable. Think White Stuff style. With ballet flats.

One of the more senior managers pulled me up and said that bare legs and a casual skirt weren’t appropriate. She was wearing linen culottes and flip flops.

In my last job I would wear a maxi dress and sandals in the heat but there was no formal dress code. I looked at the dress code for this workplace and it’s smart-casual. Knee length skirts and smart tops are in the acceptable column. Flip flops are not.

Normally I would wear a smartish work dress with tights but it’s just too sticky and the office has poor ventilation.

I used to look after the health and safety in our 600+ office and we would not allow flip flops for health and safety reasons - falling downstairs etc. (Not my rules I hasten to add, but they had been in place for a number of years).

Surely it’s against the law to make women wear tights unless you also make men wear tights?

No way would I subject my fanjo to tights in this weather. Speak to your union OP.

I wouldn’t do very well in Cherry’s place of work

Nails are bright pink and blue gels, and the underside of my hair is rose gold (not that you’d actually notice that as I wore my hair down)

Today I wore 3/4 length trousers in a beige colour and a vest top (not a strappy one, but was sleeveless) perfectly normal for where I work!!

Bare legs is perfectly fine!

I don’t think I’ve ever worn natural/nude tights.

However it completely depends on your work environment.

I would have been staring at her footwear followed by requesting a copy of the dress code.
And I'd be going into work in flip-flops for ever. But then my pettiness knows no bounds

Also www.asos.com/asos-design/asos-design-8-denier-tights-in-beige-with-sandal-toe-detail/prd/6307664?&channelref=product+search&mk=abc&currencyid=1&ppcadref=1736028137%7C69749730404%7Caud-593378817762:pla-657857300147%26browseCountry%3DGB&affid=14179&channelref=product+search&mk=abc&ppcadref=1736028137%7C69749730404%7Caud-593378817762:pla-657857300147&_cclid=Google_CjwKCAjw0tHoBRBhEiwAvP1GFdj2Ek0RNpoRm7SXeDocc8y644eajbz7rWWlL0dYzFHYqipfDZIGVRoCaksQAvD_BwE&gclid=CjwKCAjw0tHoBRBhEiwAvP1GFdj2Ek0RNpoRm7SXeDocc8y644eajbz7rWWlL0dYzFHYqipfDZIGVRoCaksQAvD_BwE

It doesn’t always work, either. I used to work in a job where very, very casual dress was the norm- trainers, jeans, T-shirts, whatever. We regularly had technical sales people come to the premises dressed up to the nines in full business wear. It instantly puts up a divide tbh, and unconsciously you were put off buying anything from them because you would think that they just didn’t “get” you. It’s like they’d been beamed in from a different planet. Knowing your audience is more important than rigid dress codes.

that is mad full stop, but given that she was wearing flip flops, it's extra mad.

Ffs sorry about the long link...

I don't get what the issue is with bare legs. I'm a lawyer and I've met clients with bare legs, been in court with bare legs and no one has ever said a word. I'm inhouse now and tomorrow I'll be in jeans and flip flops as it's Friday. If your work doesn't specify no bare legs then I'd crack on and ignore anyone who says different. OP I'd have asked your colleague where in the dress code or staff policy it said bare legs weren't ok.

No she wasn’t wearing tights! I guess she thought that culottes didn’t count as bare legs? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Maybe the OP is secretly Kate Middleton, moonlighting as an NHS worker. I'm sure I read somewhere that the royal women aren't allowed have bare legs when on official duty.

The world does not need to see my varicose veins or the result of my aversion to shaving, so, if for some unfathomable reason, I ever wear a dress or skirt in public, it's going to have to be with tights.

And never anything on or above the knee at that.

When I was in the NHS ten years ago, I couldn't have piercings, more than one set of plain studs, no nail varnish, no 'unnatural hair colour' (a mahogany colour was too 'fake', apparently - all it had done was add a slightly deeper tinge to my already dark red-conkerish hair) and was bollocked for wearing 'unsightly' orthopaedic shoes because they had a light coloured sole Fuck you Hotter for making all your shoes with pale soles.

By the manager who click clacked everywhere in her superexpensive stilettos and hadn't been blonde for at least twenty years. If ever.

I wasn't working in reception, either.

I'm a nurse in the NHS, i don't wear tights in the summer with my dress. No one bats an eyelid.
And if they did, I'd be kicking up a right fuss if i was expected to wear hot tights without air con

I’m fascinated to know what Cherry does. I’ve worked in very formal environments but I’ve never come across somewhere that wouldn’t allow red nail varnish or a coloured blouse.

@Brefugee I reckon I'd go in, formal suit and flip flops. It would look bonkers, but at least strange manager couldn't complain!

Admittedly I work alone, but even when I didn't, I can't remember noticing other people's legs. Is that a thing that people normally do? I'd have noticed the kind of shorts that show the arse cheeks, and I occasionally noticed if a customer came in in their slippers, but other than that it just didn't register.
I don't think that professionalism can be measured in deniers, or at least it's a very unreliable measurement. I find actual attitude and performance are much better indicators.

Well, I'm in the NHS, in an office, and we are all currently in bare legs. I turned up for my interview in bare legs (but in a long skirt, because I prefer it). The band 8c manager who interviewed me was in a dress and bare legs. The other band 8c manager was in casual trousers and shirt, no tie. Somehow we all manage to do our jobs well now that we are working together.

I wouldn't rule out the NHS as a place to work OP. Chances are you just came across a manager who is a dick. They're everywhere.

It's time we got over this obsession with appearance and started respecting people for their actual abilities.

if you have effective air conditioning then maybe you can insist on tights although personally I think this is a very dated summer look and doesn't make anyone look "more professional " just more
Dorky.

If the weather is warm why not let people be comfortable? My old NHS office was inhumanly hot and mainly we needed to be able to just survive in it. If you have an office job what is wrong with flip flops? I have NEVER tripped up in a flip flops in 50 years so I can't see why they are supposedly a health and safety concern.

Tights in hot weather are unequivocally BAD for your health.

I'd ask her next time if flip flops have been made acceptable now and if she wants you to wear tights with them?

my legs would scare the crows but I do go bare-legged if I dont have meetings - also wearing a reasonably long skirt as we don't have air con
If my legs weren't mottled and wobbly, I'd go to meetings without tights

I'm on the fence. My work is fairly relaxed but no strapped tops, open toe shoes, shorts, leggings, chinos etc etc, and I wear tights every day (snag sheers are fab!)
Tattoos allowed, no issues with piercings/coloured hair/crazy makeup etc

Dress down days we can wear anything apart from football tops/offensive slogans

When I see women in tights in the heat I just think ‘Thrush’. Loads of women go to work with bare legs in Canary Wharf. However, flip flops are defo a no.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the royal women aren't allowed have bare legs when on official duty.

I think it's outdated etiquette. My mum, who was born in 1932, would have been scandalised at a woman going out 'with no stockings on' when I was a young child. By the time she died in 2011 she had kept up with the times and didn't bat an eyelid that my sister and I, and our daughters, would all be bare legged in summer.

@cherrysoup I like your style!

It sounds a bit unfair to me, especially if the manager was in flip flops herself.
To all those stating what a crime flesh/tan coloured tights are? Just be thankful you are not cursed with pale Celtic skin and varicose veins. I can assure you tan tights are a better option for me, as they support my sore legs and spare anyone else having to set eyes on my bare, blue-veined, raw poultry skin. Unless I’m just not allowed to wear skirts in summer full stop?