Friday, July 8, 2011

No More Office Casual?

07/08/11
Happy Friday all! I'm sure I've mentioned before that my office has had a "casual" dress code for the past 4 or 5 years. This has irked me at times, since people really push the limits on what is considered casual. In an office. But rumor has it that, as a result of our buy-out last year, our new company is going to restore the old business casual dress code. I know, business casual? Everyday? How can people possibly live like that? Really, all it means is that I can't wear jeans to work everyday (which I rarely did anyway), and that I won't have to see people walking around in track suits and tube tops anymore (none of this is actually permitted by the current dress code either - like I said, pushing the limits). But now that we may lose the casual dress code, I feel like I should get all of my office casual outfits out of my system. I kept the accessorizing at a minimum today, since the shirt has some embellishment.

Photo crash
How great is this photo crash? Jude and I had just returned from our morning walk, and he was confused as to why I wasn't rushing upstairs to feed him his breakfast immediately upon our return. And then decided to check out the delicious grass.

Dog days of summer
Speaking of walks with Jude, the other morning we took a long walk along the lake before work. There were all of 3 dogs at the usually crowded dog beach, so Jude had the lake mostly to himself.

Skirt: Old Navy
Tee: Gap
Sandals: Privo

19 comments:

  1. aww so cute Jude splashing about in the lake. : ) Office dressing can be tough, we have a more strict policy- but fridays are more casual and on days when the big boss is out we all tend to go a bit lax on the dress code.

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  2. It sounds so spoiled, but I don't know if I could ever work in an environment where we had to lean more towards the "business" side of business causal every day. I abhor trousers and most pieces of suiting and think I would just feel so miserable wearing them. Throw a cardigan on over your outfit and I'd totally wear something like that to work.

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  3. I could never work someplace where I had to wear a suit.  I'm considering transferring to our company HQ in downtown Chicago (it's closer to home than my current office, which is 25 miles out in the 'burbs), but I'm wary of doing so if that means i have to suit up everyday.  I can handle business casual, but I'll miss the option of jeans if I need them.

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  4. I think I prefer dressing nicer than our lax policy than being forced to dress more business-like.  But we may still have casual Fridays, which is definitely nice :)

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  5. Adriana Torres BonetJuly 8, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    Ugh, office casual in my workplace seems to be code for: polar fleece vests.

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  6. Ha!  Sounds like we work in the same office during the colder months :)

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  7. Would you have to suit up if you went downtown?  Or would a pencil skirt, pumps, button down shirt, and a cardigan suffice?  Since I am pretty casual, I always wonder how I would handle a more corporate dress environment (I probably wouldn't love it, but I've liked some of the creative suiting outfits I've seen on blogs).  Anyway, cute, comfy skirt and of course, adorable photobombing puppy!

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  8. I still have to find that out for sure.  I could handle a more business-like dress code, but definitely not actual suits.

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  9. I don't really even know the proper definition of "business casual" vs. "office casual", but I suppose since I'm a professor it doesn't matter all that much if I perfectly fit one of those categories.  I just try to overachieve within the dominant eclectic paradigm, but sometimes I wish we just wore suits.  I think my life would be easier if I just had several really nice all-season suits (I LOVE my DKNY suit, so comfortable) and just had to pick one of them and a colorful blouse each day.  Then there wouldn't be all this mixy-matching to go to work, and when I wasn't at work I could happily just wear quirky casual items with no worries.

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  10. "Office casual" may just be a term I made up.  What we have now is "casual," and it's changing to "business casual."  So no jeans, basically.

    I suppose having a uniform of suits would be pretty easy.  I see Fella spending all of 5 minutes getting dressed in the morning, because it's just a choice of which of his 8 or so dress shirts he wears each day.  I'm a little jealous of that (well that, and the standardized sizing that said dress shirts have, but that's another issue).

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  11. Again I am jealous of that skirt!! Jude is so adorable...love his tail!! I plan on wearing my new dress for my birthday tomorrow!

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  12. How far is your new place from the lake?  It must be close by. 

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  13. It's actually about 3 miles!

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  14. You'll be fine: I worked at a school where all female faculty/staff had to wear a dress/skirt and stockings every single day. No boots, either. Business casual can be tricky to define, but it's gotta be better than THAT! 

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  15. Hee, I love that your idea of office casual is still a pretty skirt.

    Looks like Jude enjoyed the lake!

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  16. haha, oh i love jude. chloe demands food every time we come in from a walk. after a year of trying to teach her to 'speak' on command now she howls when she wants her food.

    I know what its like to be in very relaxed dress code environment. while i doubt my current office would ever change it, I wonder how i would cope should i get a job somewhere the dress code is a bit more strict.

    I'm sure you will transition fine though!

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  17. I think it feels casual to me because it's knit, but I could probably still get away with this in business casual.  I hope.

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  18. The "speak" command really backfires, doesn't it?  Fella will have Jude speak for a treat, and then he won't stop barking.

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