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 .

black with white shoes

I’d want clarity. If there’s a policy, it should be written down and consistently applied.

If there is no policy, then there’s no policy and they don’t get to tell you what to wear.

How big of a place is it - is there an HR department? How good is your relationship with your manager? Could you point out the inconsistency of saying we have no dress code, but this is what you have to wear....

Our office (haven't been there in a year) is smartish casual. Polo shirts, fleeces, chinos, etc with comfortable shoes, walking boots is pretty much the norm. If we are out meeting externals we go smarter but suits are rare and not expected and I honestly can't remember the last time I saw someone wear a tie.

On the other hand my husband wouldn't dream of going to his office not wearing a suit and tie. He often puts a tie on for zoom meetings.

Sometimes they do but it's not that common. Sometimes it's only because one person in the past has worn ridiculous clothes. Some places say no denim except on Fridays. Bit mad. Still he who pays the piper and all that.

I'd be stuffed - I have a lot of red in my wardrobe, including dresses, trousers and a jacket. Even though most people wear jeans and t-shirt, it's still usually a sea of dark colours. I like wearing something brighten to break up the dullness. Not that I've been in the office for a year. I do have black and navy and grey in my wardrobe too, but it gets dull.

I work in an office and you can wear pretty much whatever aslong as you look presentable. Jeans are ok, but pretty much everyone wears black jeans and they arent fussed on foot wear.

FilMicNH224
I had the same with one ensemble I performed with. The neckline of tops as outlined, sleeve length, tights, skirt/trouser cut, if we did a charity performance then an accent colour would be dictated

I work in an office and we have rules but colour isn't part of it. Shoulders should be covered, no jeans or trainers except fridays. Basically smart casual, ties & jackets not required. I mostly wear ankle length trousers and a t shirt with cardigan or blousy type thing with ankle boots, loafers or sandals in summer.

Usually no bear shoulders...

Which would presumably be massive and extremely hairy?

I worked in an office in the 80s where women couldn't wear trousers except on half-day Friday and never jeans.

I worked in an NHS admin job (not patient facing) where we were supplied with uniform. Women could choose 2 skirts or one skirt and one pair of trousers. You were not allowed to order 2 pairs of trousers. That was in the mid 90s!

I hate dress codes like that it's so rigid yet vague.

What about a dark blouse which has small yellow or red flowers on it or a black blouse with white polka dots???

I agree if you are wearing navy bottoms you can't really wear black shoes.

I have been with the same company for over 25 years (ownership has changed twice in that time)

When I started I asked what the dress code was and was told they left that to my professional judgement. We went on to develop into casual Fridays (with rules) and the smart casual all the time.

But some offices dress more formally than the one I am based in.

I tend to wear dresses as they are easy or black jeans with blouses. Now I’m wfh and no dress code at all.

I don't understand rules like this. If you're not customer facing what does it matter what you wear? Surely the most important thing is the ability to do your job well?

I used to work in a non-customer facing role in banking. We had our HQ elsewhere in Europe and would occasionally get visits from managers from overseas locations. One told my boss that my hair colour (dyed reddish) "was not in keeping with the corporate image". Boss told me. I dyed it a brighter shade that evening.

That’s a bizarre rule. Especially the footwear. Why wants to wear blue with black shoes? And white shoes?!? Really? That’s super odd.

but burgundy dark green deep purple are all dark! and even in a dark suit office I would expect to see blouses and shirts in pink cream pale blue fine stripes or checks and probably red etc

but dress codes can be applied but they have to be written down and not discriminate between sexes or ethnic groups so you I don't think you can mandate make up or ban hairstyles from certain ethnic communities like insisting naturally curly hair is straightened or that men have to be clean shaven as some religions wear beards
I think no bare shoulders or legs is fine as is expecting closed shoes for H&S
if men wear suits and tie I would expect women to wear dress and jacket or a skirt/ trouser suit if men wear just smart shirt and trousers but not suits or ties then women would be expected to dress similarly
I worked somewhere when a new boss said dark nail varnish was a cross infection risk but pale pink or a french polish was fine !!! that was personal preference on her part as colour doesn't change cross infection risk

Seems reasonable to me. They maybe have implemented this because someone was sticking to the official rules but wearing really bright colours that just didn’t look professional. Maybe they could allow nude or tan shoes but other than that i would say that any colour other than black looks a little odd in a professional environment anyway. I’d kick up a fuss if they were specifying high heels or make up but this seems fine.

Everyone saying they CAN do this. Is that really the law? I remember being told (by someone who wore a pen-type thing through her nose!) that they couldn't sack you for what you wore unless they had informed you of the dress code when you took on the job. To be honest I felt sorry for her potential employers who might not have thought to write that in to the dress code.

I allways thought especially in certain careers Jobs that you defiantly have a particular colour codes/style of uniform work either provides mostly or you do,

Hoever i do find it bit strange that they are so particular and not a bit relaxed around work clothes as long as its not struffy or dressing in a provocative ways at your place of work,as its,
a behind the scenes,
not a working directly working with the public one to one etc.

Best of luck with your new role new job

This all sounds horribly dated. Like ‘no trainers or jeans’ in a nightclub when actually they can look really sharp. To look professional these days is more about looking groomed and well put together.

"I agree if you are wearing navy bottoms you can't really wear black shoes."

Maybe not ideal, but not everyone has the time and money to buy shoes in every colour they wear.

@PuzzledObserver

I’d want clarity. If there’s a policy, it should be written down and consistently applied.

If there is no policy, then there’s no policy and they don’t get to tell you what to wear.

How big of a place is it - is there an HR department? How good is your relationship with your manager? Could you point out the inconsistency of saying we have no dress code, but this is what you have to wear....

No HR department, just us 5 office staff, the rest of the company are field technicians. You made a good point about there being no official policy so how can colour of clothes be specified 🤷‍♀️l guess I just wanted clarification from a wider group of people that smart office wear didn't necessarily mean dark colours which is what the general manager seems to think . I wanted to question it in case it was me that was out of touch with things . I appreciate the feedback and feel sorry. For some of you end the uniforms you have had to wear 😊

@TableNiner

This all sounds horribly dated. Like ‘no trainers or jeans’ in a nightclub when actually they can look really sharp. To look professional these days is more about looking groomed and well put together.

The no trainers thing is not about the look of trainers but about keeping certain people away.

My husband is the boss of a large global home insurance department, he wears joggers and a hoodie most days he’s in the office, they have a wear what’s appropriate policy so casual most days, business dress on days clients or redundancy etc. I’ve never heard of dark business dress before! I’d wear bright white plastic platform shoes to prove a point, it’s ridiculous this day and age.

@RampantIvy

Wouldn't want to wear navy with black shoes

Why not? Is it a fashion faux pas?

Used to be.

And I admit, I wouldn't

Are companies allowed to impose those rules after the event, so to speak? If everyone's already wearing smart office wear already?

And what if a man was employed? What's the rules for them?