Can an employer specific what colour clothes and footwear you wear to work

[redshoes2017]

I work in an office of 4 women and 1 man. There is no official dress code for the company it's just a given that you wear in smart office attire. We are not a customer faced office we speak with customers by phone only - not sure if that makes a difference to my question........ The general manager has said that smart office wear means dark colours only - blue/black/grey/brown...... footwear has to be black or white only....... is this reasonable to specify the colour of clothing and footwear? Not sure if I'm out of touch as it's been a while since I've worked in an office or this is plain weird , I would be interested to hear what others think .

[anniegun]

Why don't you speak with your manager and ask him/her to explain the code? Adults can have conversations about these things

[Lampan]

I have worked somewhere where they changed the dress code, without giving anyone an allowance to replace clothes if necessary. Customer-facing though, not an office. It was OK for me as I was only part time and could wear the redundant clothes in my other job but hard for the full-time staff who suddenly had loads of workwear that they weren’t allowed to wear anymore and had to buy new stuff in the new colours.
I decided not to argue about it but went out of my way to find things that fitted the dress code but weren’t at all what the employers would have had in mind. If I were you I’d be getting myself some white boots and white patent shoes and maybe some clothes in dark colours but daring shapes and styles. But maybe that’s just me 😄

[Soontobe60]

Both my children work in large business, think well known online retailer and one of the top 5 accountancy firms worldwide.
Neither have a dress code. I guess ones is slightly more of an expectation - eg smart casual, particularly when meeting clients. If you stood outside their offices you wouldn’t think they were all highly paid accountants! The other goes to work in all sorts of outfits - doesn’t affect performance at all.

Having spent lockdown teaching in jeans and sweatshirts in school, were all now expected to dress ‘more appropriately’. Cant say its made me a better teacher though

[Kwiksavenofrillsusername]

I’d be tempted to wear a hideous pair of black and white brogues. Or white court shoes with American tan tights, just to make a point about the ridiculousness of the code.

[ThePricklySheep]

@sunflowersandbuttercups

Every job I've ever worked in has had uniform restrictions, even ones where you have to supply your own clothes. I've always thought it was normal.

What sort of restrictions though? It would be normal to specify ‘smart’, or even ‘no jeans or flipflops’ but to specify colours is unusual. Usually they leave it up to you to decide what smart is.

[SlatternIsMyMiddleName]

I am a solicitor so more than used to formal office wear. But even then I can still wear, for example, a red blouse or a cream top. I wear a lot of black but can still brighten up a bit with some colour.

I also like wearing blingy jewelry to relieve the monotony.

Just dark colours seems dreary and not entirely logical.

[RedcurrantPuff]

I’d get a pair of white shoes and wear them every day

[mumwon]

I firm use to work for a large professional company in the 70's - in the hot summers of 76/77 I wore tie waisted multicoloured cheese cloth maxi skirt & a short cheese cloth top with Indian style beads whilst the bosses were all suits & ties - no one ever said anything to me!

[purplebagladylovesgin]

I worked in local government and our expected dress was always clearly directed.

No brightly coloured tops, and tops must cover shoulders, skirts to the knee or below. No demin. Sensible shoes and covered legs (tights, hold ups or trousers).

This was 25 years ago but I always thought a clear dress code was normal.

[mumwon]

(ps op wear some big bling earrings!)

[Dulcinae]

Does the dark colour rule also apply to shirts / blouses? So no white blouses or shirts?

Also, I like navy blue as a "dark colour" but if navy blue shoes aren't allowed, then that rules out navy blue skirts or trousers.

[Midnightmunchi]

I thought general office wear seem to have gone more casual over formal in recent years. More obvious with men as in 00's was still full suits, now jackets and ties are less commonplace. Last industry was more chino/check shirt.

I imagine it looking little funeral like but I guess would make morning dressing decisions easier.

[Livelovebehappy]

I’ve never heard of this rule anywhere else, but I guess an employer can pretty much make whatever rules they want, as long as it’s not illegal, and is aimed at everyone.

[WhorefinderGeneral]

I was told to stop dressing as if I was going to a hareem party in my first job in libraries. I was wearing a t-shirt and loose fitting trousers. Nothing was said about my purple and blue hair.

[redshoes2017]

@anniegun

Why don't you speak with your manager and ask him/her to explain the code? Adults can have conversations about these things

I did query the general manager and ask about the colour rule . She looked at me as if I was stupid and said that smart office wear was dark colours . Like I said because I haven't worked in an office for 20 years I thought this was maybe standard practice in most offices🤷‍♀️ I'm glad I'm not the only one to think it strange . With no official dress code in place I do believe the colour rule is just her interpretation of 'smart office wear'

[redshoes2017]

@Dulcinae

Does the dark colour rule also apply to shirts / blouses? So no white blouses or shirts?

Also, I like navy blue as a "dark colour" but if navy blue shoes aren't allowed, then that rules out navy blue skirts or trousers.

White blouses and shirts I believe are ok but I haven't thought to ask. I have only just started......

[BeakyWinder]

What a weird thing to insist on when you are not customer facing. Our finance director lives in her jeans and hoodies unless a client is in.

[houselikeashed]

Musicians are required to buy their own performance wear. Maybe a DJ, tails, or all black. Ladies need plain black formal wear, plus coloured formal dresses too. Usually no bear shoulders, definitely no bare tummies, and black socks for men.
Pretty restrictive, but it goes wit the job, so you just do it. No real problem.
(except we haven't worked for a whole year now. And can't afford any new clothes now for when we are allowed to work. Bloody Sunak).

[Dixiechickonhols]

I can see dark clothes but shoes thing is daft. If I wear a navy dress I wear navy shoes or boots. Men seem to wear brown shoes with navy suits. I can’t envision anyone wearing white shoes at all with dark business clothes.

[midlifecrash]

I've always worked in offices, with varying dress codes according to H&S, levels of formality etc - currently, no vest tops, shorts, cartoon t shirts, rips, flip flops etc. But even wearing a suit/ formal type dress, never been told what colours to wear.

[HotPenguin]

Yeah that's weird, especially in the summer. Perhaps there's someone in the office who wears lurid pink from head to toe and they need to rein him/her in?

[Hotcuppatea]

I should get a job there. 99% of my wardrobe is black or navy. I'd fit right in.

[RuthW]

I changed my job in 1991 and we we weren't allowed to wear trousers. I can't remember the year this changed as I never wear trousers anyway.

Actually very few people wear trousers anyway there even though they have started there since.

[SilentBob]

Oh lord this has taken me back! I once worked as a manager at a Beefeater and Premier Inn site. We had a ginormous folder which contained rules about everything so we could adhere to brand standards- down to how high/low team member's name badges had to be and where your knot should be in your apron (be that front of house or kitchen.)

On one particular day I was wearing a wonderfully matchy matchy grey ensemble- grey/pink silk top, grey paperbag trousers, hell- even my hair tie was grey. I looked wonderful (this was a fair few years ago, granted!)

I was marked down HEAVILY on a secret shopper audit for having the audacity to wear...GREY SHOES! They were flat, tick...leather (I know!), tick...unadorned, tick...but they were grey.

Never did hit bonus on my uniform scores with them. Looked great not hitting it though.

[Alexandernevermind]

I've never had to stick to a uniform in an office when I worked for large companies, but you were expected to be smart and dressed professionally always. One lady was told she wouldn't get a pay rise at her review unless she smartened herself uptrend! The staff in the visitors' centre all had matching m&s suits that the company paid for, which was fair enough.
A friend worked in a smaller local company and the staff had to wear navy skirts / trousers / suits and a white top. They did have a clothing allowance, which seems the norm.