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 .

[clareken260]

I work in an office. Pre covid, smart office attire, booted and suited, etc. Post covid, if you accept that, then much more relaxed. Formal if customer facing, but otherwise Jean's (clean, not cut, not frayed) and tshirt, jumper etc. No big logos, no strappy tops, no obvious cleavage.

[Iwantmychairback]

@iklboo

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 a company like that too.
In Winter some of the women chose to ignore the rule and come in trousers. They had to stay seated at their desk if the boss made an appearance......

[altiara]

Smart office wear does not mean dark colours. It might in that managers opinion, but that doesn’t make it true.

[pollymere]

Eww WHITE shoes? I hope they pick up on everyman wearing grey, blue or brown shoes. No boots allowed obviously.

I have worked for companies who have expectations but gave me an impromptu job interview when I was wearing navy chinos. I own red suits and green dresses. I think these colours are very restrictive and masculine.

I also own red, green, blue, brown, oxblood and burgundy shoes (which match the various outfits I wear obviously). It would make me hand in my notice!

[Frazzledstar1]

I’ve worked in offices for years in a mix of corporate and more casual environments and I’ve never had an employer dictate a colour scheme that’s really odd.

[pollymere]

I would probably adhere to it for a while but make sure that my very large breasts were in push up and not minimizer bras...

[Sparechange]

There was a fairly well known PR agency which specified that women weren’t allowed to wear sling back shoes or knee high boots with skirts because the founder didn’t like the look of them.

It was relatively notorious in the industry that they would order women what to wear and issue them with vouchers for clothes shops which would be deducted from their salary, and someone would be sent along with them as a designated personal shopper

[WhorefinderGeneral]

I remember being sent on a weeks relief to another library from the one I normally worked at. I was told the Chief Librarian there did not like bright colours worn. I had a brightly coloured patchwork mohair cardigan I had made and wore it every day that week despite it being hot weather. Not one word was said or that I called her by her first name rather than Mrs .... Everyone else was terrified of her, I wasn't she turned out to a very pleasant woman albeit a little strict.

[Nearly47]

I've worked in a place where we had to wear company colours (blue and navy) but we did receive customers occasionally. Is a bit silly of your manager but not difficult to follow. A few blue shirts and navy or black skirts or trousers and you are all set. I think is perfectly legal to have a policy like that.

[ElizaLaLa]

@D1sh0ftheweekend4

The company that I work for has a dress shoe, hair, finger, tattoo & cleanliness code/policy with examples of how to dress
examples of what not to wear

I've noticed that some employees, probably "the favoured ones" get away with more relaxed rules

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

What's a finger policy?

[csigeek]

They can but that makes it a uniform and therefore they should be providing it else it counts towards deductions against NMW if anyone’s pay is anywhere near that it would be an issue and HMRC would view it as an underpayment.
You can claim tax allowance for uniform.

[CuthbertDibbleandGrubb]

@bellocchild awful reasons, to say women should dress a certain way (or not a certain way) because of male reactions.

What I think should actually be illegal is forcing women to wear heels, and not allowing trousers to be worn if someone chooses to.

[bellocchild]

@CuthbertDibbleandGrubb I really don't think so. It was appropriate and far less restrictive than a dress code for youngsters of 17 or so.

[Flatoutonsofa]

You may want to look into this. There's something about tax allowances if work specifies certain attire. I'm not sure, but someone will know. I worked at a place once where the management wanted to do this but eventually shied away because of complications.

[KateLink]

No, they can't, unless it is personal protective equipment or official uniform, which in this case it isn't.

There was a case a couple of years ago where an employer tried to insist female employees wore high heels. It didn't fly!

[Unsure33]

We have a dress code in the staff manual . And no visible tattoos. You would hope you would not need to do this but you would be surprised at what some people turn up in if you don’t have a guide .

Then you have the embarrassment of asking them to tone things down .

The tattoo thing is very clear . You can have as many as you want as long as you cover them up at work .

Then one lady in her 50s had a huge tattoo done all over one leg . And got upset as we said it would mean she had to wear trousers . She signed that she had read the handbook so her problem not ours .

I know what you are going to say about not affecting work but we had regular visits from a client/ customer who definitely would look down on women having tattoos and as an employer we are entitled to have a dress code.

[Unsure33]

Sorry or men as well. I meant to say

[Mummyyyyyyyyyy]

@topcat2014

Fascinated by the white shoes thing - are you in Essex in the 80's?

🤣🤣🤣

[Sarahrellyboo1987]

It’s not unreasonable and perfectly legal for an employer to specific colours and styles.
However, I would ask to see the company policy.
Seems a bit dull to insist on only dark colours.
White shoes? Eurgh

[MarieIVanArkleStinks]

I'd have to buy a brown dress like a monk's habit and search down some hideous white shoes on Ebay, then show up to work like that. Perhaps with my hair in plaits, too.

It's the sort of challenge my dear old mum would have risen to admirably, and has, in the past. As a teenager I remember
screeching at her that she couldn't possibly go work in that state to register a point but she will did it. WTG Mum!

(My school dress code was grey or black. I still got sent home for wearing my Goth clothes. Well, they WERE black ...)

[Crimeismymiddlename]

I used to work for a large retailer. The sales assistants were provided polos and told to wear black bottoms-no leggings or shorts. Black socks only, black shoes only. Managers had a strictly set of rules. No flowers on shirts being one-however micro check, pin strips and block colours were allowed. No bare legs ever, tights had to be 40 denier or less, only buttoned, collared shirts, only black v necks, or a suit jacket when cold, no unnatural hair colour, the most bizarre being that only smart black shoes could be worn, no boots, work shoes or doc martins-fucked my feet right up as on feet for ten hours a day-and doc martins are smart! My new job is no jeans-look smart. It’s nice being treated like an adult with the ability to dress appropriately. Your manager is being very old fashioned, it’s an office, as long as you are all appropriate it should be ok. The only reason I can think of for this is one person totally took the piss and rather than deal with that one person they made ‘rules’. Managers that do that are the worst.

[bpirockin]

I'm probably in the minority here, but having worked as a legal secretary as one of my first jobs, I rather liked the idea of having a similar dress code. It justified having two different wardrobes, and my staple items were good quality and lasted for ages, meaning if I wanted to treat myself for my social wardrobe, the money was there. It also enabled a lot more mix and match/rotation.

[Jammysod]

It's a bit odd for a non-customer facing office. We can dress casually, but no ripped jeans, trackies or revealing clothing (strappy vests, low cut tops, short shorts etc... This including men, 1 lad used to come in wearing low cut, nipple bareing tops!)

As long as it's the same rule for everyone, I don't think I'd challenge it though.

[helpIhateclothesshopping]

Brown or black shoes would make more sense than black or white, very odd! I've never really worked in an office, just schools and places that have uniforms generally. I'm quite enjoying wearing scrubs for work at the moment.

[Ferret27]

Poor you ...Any policy Or person that suggests white shoes should be shredded ...is he a sexist dinosaur! Or do the men wear white shoes! That straight away sounds like an unreasonable request based on gender ... Neutral colours i can understand ...it's just not very 21st century if you never meet clients or the public...!