Dressing in the work place (employment, payment, temporary, job)

[Social Democrat]

Well sorta, hopefully the moderation doesn't move it - I posted this here as I see so many women that speak right up, so here goes:
I work at an insurance company (I know, boo!) which are generally pretty conservative. What I have noticed here (and it seems to be happening elsewhere) is that several women dress a little more provacativly than the norm for an office. It's mainly the amount of cleavage exposed that catches my eye so to speak. I know these young women don't dress that way for me but I don't get why they dress like they are headed out ot a nighclub or something and then come into the office. Married or single, it doesn't matter
I'm very good at keeping my eyes up but it is a distraction. One or two even pull their tops up, repeatedly, in meetings which just brings more attention to them. I was really taken aback on Holloween when one woman I was giving a payment to said just stick it in here and let her coat pull back to show a whole lot of her girls ....I turned about 20 shades of red and just handed her the money and ran!
I'm not a prude by any means but I just don't understand the "new" dress code....any thoughts ladies?
Thanks!

[YaFace]

Just pull the trigger and ask them out already. If not just enjoy the view. There was a huge thread on this not too long ago.

[CSD610]

The only thought I have ever had about situations like that was to tell them to cover it up and put it away until after their day job business hours are over. After that they can stick them out there all they want and get busy with their "night job". That pretty much took care of the temporary lack of endowment restraint when it affected their employment options within the company. I've always been quite conservative wen it comes to fashion with all pieces and parts covered that should be covered in public (in my opinion) and I have never been treated like a "Trollop" by anyone because of the clothing I was wearing.

[mitsguy2001]

As I posted before, this reminds me of 2 double standards that are personal pet peeves of mine:

1. The fact that many establishments (such as workplaces, schools, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc) have very strict dress codes for men, but allow women to wear basically anything they want. And in the rare case that someone actually does have a dress code for women, they start whining about how it's unfair and it's discrimination.

2. The fact that women can dress provocatively at work, but if a male coworker looks at her, she accuses him of sexual harassment, and ruins his career.

[YaFace]

This the best exact same thing as the cleavage thread, but if someone accuses me of sexual harassment for looking at a low cut shirt and I somehow get fired for it, that person better watch themselves, because they would find it here what actual harassment really is.

[KittenSparkles]

Originally Posted by YaFace

This the best exact same thing as the cleavage thread, but if someone accuses me of sexual harassment for looking at a low cut shirt and I somehow get fired for it, that person better watch themselves, because they would find it here what actual harassment really is.

what is this supposed to mean?

[manderly6]

It has been proven that distractions at work once in a while make you more productive. So in the spirit of making everyone a better worker I say we need more cleavage.

[Social Democrat]

Thanks for the replies everyone - I was hoping to hear from women about this but maybe more will chime in. In the meantime I will search for the "cleavage thread" that has been mentioned!

[marie5v]

It's unprofessional and tacky. One possibility is that it's a kind of workplace fashion that has taken hold - women tend to dress like those around them, especially if they think those women look good or if they seem to be successful in some way. So a couple of women with cleavage can quickly lead to everyone thinking they ought to have some, or at least that it's OK, especially if they are too young to know better.

Another possibility is just that some of them are generally bad dressers, who are too heavy up top and can't find clothing that doesn't show too much. This is a real problem for many women who are very large busted - it actually takes some skill - and some money - to find clothing that looks good and also doesn't show a lot of cleavage.

The incident with the woman who told you to put the money "there," is just plain unprofessional - halloween or no, that's not right. If I were a supervisor, I would institute a dress code around there, but if you don't have that power you might need to just look elsewhere as much as possible.

In one place I worked there was one woman who wore really sexy clothing, too sexy, but the boss just loved it so it was allowed to continue even though it was definitely against the company policy. Once she left, I noticed a lot of the women stopped dressing that way, and then we got a female supervisor who made it clear it wasn't appropriate. So if you're not the boss, then you probably can't do a thing about it except maybe document, if you are concerned someone will accuse you of looking in the wrong place.

[YaFace]

Originally Posted by KittenSparkles

what is this supposed to mean?

I meant if something so horrible happened to me where I was fired for looking at cleavage, I would probably get the person who reported such BS fired somehow, and ruin her life too. (false accusations, email to husband she is cheating, etc.)