Dressing down…
OK, it is Friday again, Thank God! How many of you work in an establishment that allows you to ‘dress down’ on a Friday? Literally, this means that you can dish the dress code and dress more casually. Now, unfortunately, I don’t have this privilige, as there is no ‘dressing down’ on Fridays at the hospital. It is really only if I have to go in on weekends that I have this liberty.
So, why dress down in the first place? I suppose it is a way of helping to mentally prepare the staff in any organization for the upcoming weekend after a week of slaving it at the workplace. Lots of folks also meet up with friends and co-workers on Fridays right after work for drinks at the ‘after work jam’ anyway, so having ‘dressed down’ there is no need to go home and change in order to enjoy the good vibes. However, I have seen some folks that take liberty of this and dress down and out if you ask me, including T-shirts and in one case I saw a guy in a track suit bottom! 
Would that be tolerated at your office?
It is always a pleasure to feast the eyes on the ladies on Fridays as well. Some of them dress down nicely in ways that show off their wares well, one of the nicer things about driving to work on a Friday and seeing the sights on the way!
Anyhow, I have to dress for work (not in jeans and a polo shirt either), so enjoy your weekend and share your ideas about work attire. TGIF again.
May 30th, 2003 at 9:25 am I love ‘dress down’ Fridays. In the summertime, it’s even more appealing to the eye when the ladies model the sundresses.
May 30th, 2003 at 9:26 am I’m sure you look lovely whatever you wear! LOL!!! I don’t work, so I dress down ALL the time! Have a great day! Hugs, Annie xxx
May 30th, 2003 at 9:38 am Dr. D, nice page. I saw your comment at Odobea. I agree. Please take a moment to visit Smile At Me and let me know what you think. I hope to visit Jamaica some day. Dave
May 30th, 2003 at 10:11 am Happy Friday to all! I work at a juvenile detention facility, so dressing down is the proper attire here. You cannot roll on the floor restraining a kid if you are wearing a dress. And if the men wear a tie, thats a choking hazard. So almost daily, its jeans and sneakers. (I’ve never had to restrain a kid in the four years I’ve been here, but I must be prepared just in case.) But today is my last day here! In one hour and 51 minutes, I am joining the ranks of the unemployed and moving to the big city. Cant wait!!! If I dont get a job teaching school in the fall, I’m going to nursing school. So whatever happens, I’ll be joining the ranks of those who either have to dress up or wear a uniform. That’s ok. I need a change.
May 30th, 2003 at 10:19 am I am actually dressed down as we speak… and I love it.
May 30th, 2003 at 11:39 am When I was teaching I discovered two things that interested me. When we had “Dress Up Day” the kids were infinitely more well behaved, and I think they learned more despite the distraction of the unusual clothing. The second thing was that students responded differently to teachers who dressed up for work all the time, than they did to teachers who wore more casual clothing. They were more likely to treat the dressed up teacher with respect, and the classrooms ran more smoothly. I realize that there are a lot of issues at play here, but I just wanted to point out that clothing DOES make a difference in how people respond to you. So….has anyone done any research at the hospital to see if the dress down day has any effect on the patients? Do they have more crises on dress down day, or are they in better health? As an employee I’d enjoy the freedom to dress down. As a patient, I might question it. And….the track pants are tacky!
May 30th, 2003 at 12:26 pm It’s surprising to me that the rules for every workplace have to be detailed in precise language and print in order to be observed. Yet the ‘Friday dress-down’ is not in any manuals but it is observed consistently and fanatically in all places where it will not impact in a professional way on clients (i.e. doctors).
May 30th, 2003 at 2:59 pm TGIF!!! You live on an island! Everyday should be a dress down day!!!
May 30th, 2003 at 3:04 pm While still in Nursing I did not ‘dress down’ of course I had to wear a uniform every shift. I did notice that the office staff were allowed to dress down on Fridays. Now that I am stay-at-home-mom I dress as I please (or as the activities I have scheduled call for.)
May 30th, 2003 at 3:33 pm How messed up is my office? Our dress-down day is Monday. Guess it’s cool in case you didn’t do laundry over the weekend. Our department is fairly casual all week long, but others we work with are usually suited, skirted and such. Suckers!
May 30th, 2003 at 5:43 pm You lcuky people with your fridays! I have to work saturdays, 5-2. yes… AM-PM… What sort of stuff do you wear on normal days?
May 30th, 2003 at 6:54 pm Wow. Lots of comments and to think this was a little spontaneous scribble before I went to work. Yes Ryan, a little ’scenery’ at the office, always make for a more productive and healthy work environment!
May 30th, 2003 at 8:00 pm Yeah, Buffy, I’ve noticed the “respect” issue with regard to my garb… One day I was dressed down like everybody else. I had someone coming to the office after working hours to assist us with a problem we were having, so I went down to the security guard at the front of the building to have them let him in. They told me that they had to have instructions from the Head of the Security Department or a signed memo from management to let the gent in, so I told the woman that I would write her the memo and give it to her… Her incredulous response was “Are you a part of the management team?”.
May 30th, 2003 at 10:45 pm A track suit bottom? If you count wearing scrubs to work as dressing down, then I do that quite a bit - and not just on fridays. Happy Friday everyone.
May 30th, 2003 at 11:42 pm TGIF handsome ~ so which drink are we having on me
May 30th, 2003 at 11:43 pm spelling sucks *shakes head* sorry!!!! Wrote quickly!!!
May 31st, 2003 at 1:18 am You know Doc. D… you should have seen this one Dr. we had up here for a while, a surgeon from hmm.. can’t recall, might have been S. Africa or Jamaica? (this was several years back, and we have had Docs from various foreign places.) He was this kind of rather overweight man, and on the weekend when he came in to do rounds he was some sight, he’d come in for his rounds in shorts and these sandals and bare feet. Sure, he’d have a shirt on too, with a lab coat thrown over… but he looked extremely casual for a doc, and it didn’t suit his build. Was hard to focus on the fact that he was a doc when one saw how he dressed, we do tend to have some expectations for some positions.
May 31st, 2003 at 3:55 pm I love dress down days. I returned to the work force only 3 years ago. I was a stay at home Mom too. At first I loved dressing up, but it became tedious after a while.
May 31st, 2003 at 5:04 pm Hiya! Have a great weekend! Hugs, Annie xxx
May 31st, 2003 at 8:34 pm Have a great sunday! Hugs, Annie xxx
June 1st, 2003 at 5:45 am Any day that I don’t work is a dress down day. At work? Scrubs.