Are Pantyhose a Must for Professional Women?

[sunnyd]

I work in a professional environment (business professional attire, that is) and hose are required for women wearing skirts. The culture is hardly conservative (our CEO usually has some expletive in our monthly letter

) but I just think it looks a bit cheap to not wear them in the workplace. I still despise them though, so I usually wear pants.

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 9/29/2009 2:52:25 PM
Author: Yimmers

Date: 9/29/2009 2:20:17 PM
Author: kittybean
I don''t work for a firm. I''m a public interest lawyer who appears in court several times a week. I know for sure that pantsuits are absolutely fine where I practice (the head of my office often wears them to court), so maybe I just need to invest in more of those.


As far as looking to women who outrank me . . . unfortunately, I think many may be more confused than I am. I have seen ladies wearing everything from motorcycle boots to Birkenstocks to peasant dresses with blazers on top in court.


Holly, ITA about bare legs in cold weather. It makes me cold to even think about it! I actually wear leggings or tights under my dress pants sometimes when it''s really cold and snowy so that lining on the inside doesn''t flash-freeze my legs. I am a big wimp.

Ditto - at court, I see other fellow female lawyers not in any type of suit, which I usually find unprofessional. However, I have worn dresses to court, but I usually have some type of nice jacket on top.
I don''t think I''ve seen female lawyers wear hose anymore, and it doesn''t seem to impact the Judge''s perception. Even the older female attys in my firm don''t wear hose. The only who did was my age, and wore them to stay warm.

Hey Kittybean, there''s a male attorney in our field who appears in court with...BLACK CROCS.

Believe me, all the plaintiff and defense attorneys talk about this, and find it completely wrong.

Oh brother. Personally I think those are ugly as it is same with those Birkenstock sandals. Anyway, kind of funny to picture a professional wearing those to court haha.

 

[musey]

Date: 9/28/2009 5:25:12 PM
Author: jcrow
i think it depends on the corporate culture. i don't know anyone my age who wears pantyhose. however, i do know that at some more conservative corporations, it is still a requirement for ladies showing their legs. so i'd say it depends on where you work.

Ditto. I've never seen a professional woman wearing pantyhose where I live. The only women I see wearing them are either in costume or on the more mature side, over 60 or so.

 

[LitigatorChick]

Going to Court is another matter. In the Court I attend, the judges will kick you out if you are not dressed appropriately (namely, an appropriate suit/shoes). I have heard of men admonished for wearing brown shoes in Court. It is a matter of respect.

 

[Gypsy]

I try to wear pant suits to interviews and formal occassions to avoid this issue altogether.

I did have an interview recently that was VERY last minute (I submitted my resume on Wednesday and they called me at night on Thursday to come in Friday morning) and only a skirt suit (black pin stripe) clean and no hose in the house (and I couldn''t stop before the interview to get them) so I went without, but I felt VERY uncomfortable without the hose. It didn''t seem to have an impact on my interview, but I was fortunate to be interviewing with only men and younger ones. I would have felt really REALLY uncomfortable if I had been interviewing with a woman.

For everyday work I have a lot of skirt outfits, and I wear those bare legged which is the norm where I work. However, if I worked somewhere more fomal I would consider wearing hose, though I detest them.

As for open toed shoes in business or professional dress environments I think that peep toes are fine, but completely open, not so much. As for heel height... 3 inches max.

People wear flip flops to work where I am now however, so that point is moot.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 9/29/2009 2:21:14 PM
Author: daydreamer
Very interesting thread for me as I work in a very casual environment and I had no idea this was an issue.

I''m curious though, why are skirts considered more conservative than pants? The only time I''d need to dress up would be for the interview and before reading this thread I would have for sure worn pants because they wouldn''t show my legs, which to me is more conservative (than the typical knee-length suit skirt).

Maybe because back in the olden days, women wore dresses/skirts? To wear pants was considered scandalous. Like George Sand - started sporting men''s clothing to many a raised eyebrow.

I think pantsuits only became popular a few decades ago. So the more traditional, conservative way to go would still be a suit with skirts. Someone else can correct me if I''m wrong...I''m only guessing.

 

[HollyS]

Date: 9/29/2009 6:07:32 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 9/29/2009 2:21:14 PM
Author: daydreamer
Very interesting thread for me as I work in a very casual environment and I had no idea this was an issue.

I''m curious though, why are skirts considered more conservative than pants? The only time I''d need to dress up would be for the interview and before reading this thread I would have for sure worn pants because they wouldn''t show my legs, which to me is more conservative (than the typical knee-length suit skirt).

Maybe because back in the olden days, women wore dresses/skirts? To wear pants was considered scandalous. Like George Sand - started sporting men''s clothing to many a raised eyebrow.

I think pantsuits only became popular a few decades ago. So the more traditional, conservative way to go would still be a suit with skirts. Someone else can correct me if I''m wrong...I''m only guessing.

I remember well my ''dressing for success'' days of aspiring to be higher on the corporate food chain. Suits, business dresses with hose. . . always. I might wear a blazer with a printed skirt for a less formal look. I didn''t wear a pair of pants to the office from 1986 to 1993. Seriously. And I''ve got the plaques and trophies from the civic business organizations to prove my seriousness.

Kids, today. They just don''t realize what those of us who went before had to suffer, just so they could be taken seriously in the workplace. That''s all right. I don''t need any thanks.

 

[ts44]

I am 28 and I don''t wear hose at work, although I do wear a dress or skirt nearly every day. Two older woman in my office do wear hose and it looks very dated.

We just hired a receptionist (the stepdaughter of one of the older women) and are spending most of our energy trying to tell her that wearing sleeveless shirts that are cut so low in the front you can see her bra and tattoos isn''t appropriate, vs. worrying about whether or not people are wearing hose.

Classy.

 

[MagsyMay]

Date: 9/29/2009 3:07:05 PM
Author: VegasAngel

Date: 9/29/2009 2:52:25 PM

Author: Yimmers

Date: 9/29/2009 2:20:17 PM

Author: kittybean

I don''t work for a firm. I''m a public interest lawyer who appears in court several times a week. I know for sure that pantsuits are absolutely fine where I practice (the head of my office often wears them to court), so maybe I just need to invest in more of those.



As far as looking to women who outrank me . . . unfortunately, I think many may be more confused than I am. I have seen ladies wearing everything from motorcycle boots to Birkenstocks to peasant dresses with blazers on top in court.



Holly, ITA about bare legs in cold weather. It makes me cold to even think about it! I actually wear leggings or tights under my dress pants sometimes when it''s really cold and snowy so that lining on the inside doesn''t flash-freeze my legs. I am a big wimp.

Ditto - at court, I see other fellow female lawyers not in any type of suit, which I usually find unprofessional. However, I have worn dresses to court, but I usually have some type of nice jacket on top.

I don''t think I''ve seen female lawyers wear hose anymore, and it doesn''t seem to impact the Judge''s perception. Even the older female attys in my firm don''t wear hose. The only who did was my age, and wore them to stay warm.


Hey Kittybean, there''s a male attorney in our field who appears in court with...BLACK CROCS.

Believe me, all the plaintiff and defense attorneys talk about this, and find it completely wrong.

Oh brother. Personally I think those are ugly as it is same with those Birkenstock sandals. Anyway, kind of funny to picture a professional wearing those to court haha.

I used to see a male attorney in court wearing black windpants (the kind that make the scratchy noise when you walk!), black high tops, and his suit jacket!