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 .

You are definitely not out of touch. That's a really odd policy (particularly the white shoe part). It sounds very outdated. Perhaps the manager is a frustrated academy head teacher....

When I started out in law 20 years ago sober colours were expected and trousers had only just been permitted in courts for women. But times have moved on. I'm the most senior woman in my team and I regularly wear bright colours to the office - red, mustard yellow, royal blue along with plenty of navy and black. I also have a pair of vertiginous red heels that I wear to meetings when I feel the need to really kick arse.

*I have seen some strange work wear in other offices that are embarrassing, like skimpy tops on young women with string straps & belly bare

Also strange coloured hair*

Very judgey to be embarrassed by someone else's choice of clothing, @D1sh0ftheweekend4. Unless they've got their genitals showing or something.

I certainly wouldn't be upset by a bare shoulder or a bit of midriff showing. And if someone wants their hair purple or green, it's their choice and no-one else's business imo.

I get that it's different if you work in the city or one of the top law firms, but anyone working accepts the dress code they impose (although I think they're ridiculously prescriptive, personally and I was bloody glad when that woman won her discrimination case about being made to wear heels).

Talking of Harrods, I know someone who went for an interview in a (shock horror) dark purple shirt. They didn't get the job

In my office (retail head office) we are meant to wear closed shoes in case we have to go work in-store last minute (not happened yet in my 16 years) but I struggle to find summer shoes which are closed so generally have peep toes.

But back to the original question, it's a daft policy! Loads of smart work dresses my wardrobe ranging from navy, grey, brown, orange, green, I even wear a top which is black, red & green 😱

I believe from my days of running uniform that if the company specify in anyway what you need to wear they have to fund it because it becomes uniform - so I suggest you ask the office manager what the policy for funding said office wear is

@iklboo

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

When I started work, back in the dark ages (1972), women were only allowed to wear trousers if it was a trouser suit. And that had only been permitted a year or two earlier.

It's really odd to specify a shoe colour. Whilst it's fairly common for employers to have rules on shoe type, eg no flip flops or trainers, the colour thing is strange. But overall as well, it's unusual for a non-customer facing office to have clothing colour specifications.

I had a city job ten years ago where we were only allowed to wear black, white and navy, and no open toed shoes. It was horrific but everyone seemed to accept it as the norm.

I left and am now happily self employed and rarely wear any of those colours

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

Surely you must know that's very unusual for a director of a big department in a global, non-startup type, business?

When I worked for Price Waterhouse in the 1980s women weren't allowed to wear trousers - remember when they brought that in - but even they allowed us a red jacket if we wanted one......

@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.

Aww, I rather fancy a pair of these

www.leonardoshoes.com/en/womens-brogues/black-and-white-wingtip-shoes-handmade

@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.

Really? I worked in local government from 1988-2000, and we wore jeans and stuff unless we had member-level meetings. Even the chief exec would come in in jeans sometimes at one London borough.

It was a bit more formal when I moved to a rural county council, but jeans were still ok as long as you didn't have committee/council meetings and weren't due in court. Two of the (male) solicitors shared an "emergency suit", that stayed in the office, in case they got an emergency court hearing (they worked on child protection cases, so this happened now and again).

Do you work for the Amish, OP?

I think you need some white Crocs.

@PuppyMonkeyBaby

Do you work for the Amish, OP?

I think you need some white Crocs.

That just made me chuckle 🤭

White shoes? The 1980's are on the phone, they want their shoes back.

Sounds quite weird. So wearing red, yellow or green would be unacceptable?

In my last company we had a policy of making sure that, if we had to go to a client meeting at short notice, our clothes shouldn’t embarrass a more conservative colleague.

I can see that clothes which show a lot of flesh wouldn’t be great in the office. Similarly, open toed shoes often gross people out. However, wearing colour should be okay.

Well, I'm obviously in the minority as I love a white shoe with dark colours as it totally lifts the outfit. happily wear black with navy too.

I've worked in many offices where there has been a dress code, and find that easier than when I've worked in more casual offices. I like getting dressed for work although appreciate it if there are dress down Fridays.

[quote Dobbyismyfavourite]@DuggeeHugPlease Same here I wear navy shoes with a navy outfit I just couldn't wear black shoes. I must be extra sad as I swap handbags too so navy, black or brown depending on what I'm wearing.[/quote]
That's not sad, it's right! I could never wear black and navy together including bag or coat. I wore navy trousers to work yesterday with navy shoes, coat and bag- blouse was navy/green and red, one of my favourites. I wear red or royal shoes/bag with navy or black, I also have a fabulous acid yellow pair of shoes which go with everything, particularly well with grey. Gold/ rose gold brogues also go with everything.

OP your manager sounds way too old fashioned. I'd be rebelling big style.

@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).

You can reclaim the cost of performance wear against tax.

Office staff like the OP and others can't.

Oh dear,it was much more fun when I worked in a largish office, way back in the 60's era..Women in particular, could wear what they wanted to, so there was a mixture of everything. Some older ladies tended to wear sensible and very neat clothes,in quite sombre colours.The younger girls,like me then, would come to work,wearing the new fashionable 60''s clothes, which could mean mini skirts, and bright tops,or some went for more of a hippy look.A lot of the secretaries, wore very slim skirts, smart blouses, and very high heels,and always had nice belts, as they looked great with their very slim waists..

Most of the men in our large office seemed to be middle aged,and mostly all looked the same, with their trousers and jackets and sensible shoes, But one day,a new guy started work with us, He was about 20,and good looking,and he was on trend in those days, as he looked like a young Elvis Presley, and brightened up our office.

We all got our work done perfectly,and there were no complaints at all about what people chose to wear.

You can reclaim the cost of performance wear against tax.

This is true. As a side note, this poster hasn’t worked in a year, so I doubt she has any tax to pay and/or reclaim against

I think some industries naturally gravitate towards a more conservative look. Finance, insurance and law come to mind. You want to exude solidity, stability, responsibility, all those kinds of values, in your clients. A bit boring is good here, you don't want to look too flamboyant to distract? Even if you are not in a client facing role it does set the tone.

If you work in a similar field, perhaps your employer is thinking along these sorts of lines, and specifying these colours is their way of communicating this? I think you can look dependable and conservative (if that's what they are after) in more bright colours too... perhaps they might be open to this if you tried?

Sorry, 'in your clients' does not make sense. Typo!

I’ve worked somewhere with a “predominantly dark coloured business attire” policy.

Very corporate. Didn’t bother me at all, but I am sure it did some.

I worked in quite a strict office where we always had to wear something in the corporate colour which was red. Fairly easy to do as it included jewellery and hair accessories so I'd wear a red hairclip or a red scarf. I can't imagine they have a leg to stand on if you came in wearing all white though, it may be a preference but surely they can't expect adults in an office to abide by a uniform they haven't provided?

Yes, they can implement a dress policy and put whatever they like in it, I suppose.
Bit weird though innit.