Dress code at work, double standards?

[Freak12345]

Yesterday it was over 30 degrees and I made a mistake, I wore shorts with a blazer but the shorts were tailored and not skimpy hotpants/daisy Duke shorts or anything at all, slightly longer.

Anyway I got pulled into the manager's office and told to not wear them again, which fair enough I understand and I won't.

I was told the code is 'smart casual' however noticed the manager who told me off was in flip flops.

Later noticed the assistant manager had slippers on- well those fluffy slip on slipper-type things, and another staff member was in tracksuit bottoms?

I don't see any of those as smart-casual any more than tailored shorts, maybe they were all told off separately but I'm not sure, just seemed a bit off?

Is there a back story with the manager?

In writing, via email, so you have a record.

Hmm.
I don't think blazer short, shorts are appropriate, or vest tops, or flip flops but imo the only item that is a H&S issue are the flip flops and they should be banned. Apart from that my rules are that I don't want to see nipples, underwear, or bum cleavages, and preferably no hairy chest below the equivalency of the 2nd shirt button.

I don't think blazer short, shorts are appropriate
Not quite clear what you mean by this, but I don't see what's wrong with smart tailored shorts that hit a little way above the knee. I used to wear dresses/skirts of that length when I worked in an office, as did many colleagues.

Have you time travelled from the 1920s?

Many years ago (1970s) my boss in local government told me off for wearing a pair of smart pants. I asked to see the rule where pants for women were forbidden because there was nothing in th staff instructions.. He said it was an "unwritten rule". I said well if its not written down it doesn't exist so I think you will have trouble getting that past the union". I continued to wear pants when it was cold. He never said another word although I know he did resent me for it. I never wore anything revealing or sporty.

Another staff member has just turned up in a full length spaghetti strap dress with her bra on show..pfffft

Interesting that male colleagues can wear shorts...

I would send a follow up email asking for a copy of the dress code your manager is referring to and an itemised list of which clothing items are deemed 'smart casual' and which aren't, as the current wording is too subjective for staff to be able to follow it correctly without more guidance.

I would mention that you have certainly seen male colleagues wearing shorts and so you would also like clarification on whether the dress code is gendered, and if so, whether that has been checked against the company's equality policy.

I would copy HR in.

I would imagine you will then be able to continue wearing shorts and your manager will wind her neck back in.

There's a picture of the male operations director on their social media page in shorts. Tbh I've got another job interview for different reasons so will see..

Take a screenshot and embed it in your email!

Oooof that's still very short for a work environment. I'd say knee length at least to be acceptable.

I just hate the sound of skin on skin slapping as people cross their legs around the boardroom table. None of the men would ever wear shorts or short sleeves at my work though.

What’s the difference between shorts and a skirt? Ridiculous.

You hate see bare legs at work? Are you okay?

@800wowi was just going to say exactly the same thing. A white vest top on a slim small busted woman with a natural tone trousers can look very classy, it would look horrendous on me with my big bust, it would look trashy and unprofessional. It's hard to make a blanket rule but I guess 'no shorts' is one here.

Personally flip flops seem way more casual to me so I think OP there is a double standard. This in itself can be tricky though, pretty flip flop type sandals on a pedicured foot is different from plastic looking beach ones with hairy toes and fungus ridden gnarly nails. Personally I would think a no feet on display rule is fair for a work environment

I've seen two of them today in those slipper/slider type things. Looking at a girl right now with her bra out. Massive double standards and doesn't bode well for me.

The op said the length of the shorts, was about the same.as the length of her blazer. Personally I think they need to be just above the knee in an office environment.

We are not allowed to wear flip flops. It’s a health n safety issue. Sandals require to have backs on them.

It is double standards from the management.

I wear long floaty cropped trousers with a top. My office you can wear trainers

My shorts are longer than my blazer I must've said this wrong

Places still have strict dress codes? We can wear whatever we want as long as it's clean/tidy and not offensive. Bikini would obviously be a no but tshirt and jeans with some Sketchers is fine. Plenty of people in shorts this week.

I get it if it's an actual uniformed workplace like McDonalds though.

I agree that having the policy would be helpful, just make sure that the way you ask doesn’t come across as confrontational because you don’t want to damage relationships here, just understand the boundaries.

She said they were cycling-short sort of length, which to me is maybe 2 or 3 inches above the knee and perfectly acceptable.

This is interesting actually.
I have an idea (admittedly gleaned purely from watching The Good Wife and reading chick lit about the fashion world!) that there's a 'rule' in New York about women only wearing tights if there's snow on the ground and otherwise going bare-legged.
Is that at all true ie are there women in NYC offices with skirts/dresses and bare legs?

Say you want a definition of smart casual, including footwear- and that everyone should adhere to it.

This is so true, even details like what shoes things are styled with makes a big difference to how the fundamental same item would look. Tailored shorts which are not tight paired with brogues looks totally different to tighter shorts (which are the same length) paired with stiletto heals.