At my first real grown-up job, I thought one of the job requirements was to look like a bona fide real grown up. I wanted people to respect me and take me seriously and treat me like a real grown-up professional. I wore a lot of short skirt/jacket combinations. With nylons. Seriously. I wore nylons every day.
Now that I’m older, I have realized a few things:
- There is no such thing as a bona fide real grown up
- Anyone who appears professional is faking it
- Nylons aren’t all that comfortable
I now work for a software company. When I wear jeans, it’s not because it’s “casual Friday”, it’s because I’ve decided to dress up a little beyond my regular choices of yoga pants or sweats. (Today, it was yoga pants.)
I’d rather my coworkers respect my work than my short skirts anyway. And see absolutely no reason to ever wear nylons.
I work with engineers. They wear: jeans, shorts, t-shirts. Most of them don’t even realize that casual Friday is anything more than an urban legend. P. also works for a software company. He doesn’t own clothes other than jeans, shorts, t-shorts.
Both of our company’s holiday parties are semi-formal.
Rewarding people by throwing a party that requires that they wear clothing that they took jobs specifically to avoid makes absolutely no sense to me.
What I do know is that I have to somehow, in the next twenty minutes or so, find clothes that are not designed for the gym and that actually fit me.
I may end up in a paper crown and a leather mini-skirt. I have definitely given up trying to be a grown up.