A Certain Type of Code Switch

I have been in the workforce for a little over 15 years now, and while I realize that in the grand scheme of life that is a relatively short amount of time, it does mean that I have been at this long enough to have some perspective. Most of my adult life has been spent working in offices and studios of various types. After I got out of retail and food service, I have worked in just about every type of office imaginable as I spent some time contracting and temping, as well as a decent amount of freelancing. I have worked in every kind of environment from Tattoo and Art studios, to insurance offices, and start ups. I have been customer facing, and back end supporting. But because in general most of my jobs have been specialized in the tech industry, I will admit that for the most part, the most professional I have ever had to dress was business casual. Slacks, and blouses, or khakis. Until my most recent job, I have never had to dress in truly "business professional" attire.

To be completely frank, I was a little surprised by the strict dress code at first, however as I have grown accustomed to the environment here, it begins to make much more sense. I work in an open office environment, and 98% of the people in my office are account executives and recruiters. So in general sales professionals, so it makes sense that they would have to dress professionally. However, I am an executive assistant, why the hell would it matter for me? Because everyone's time is extremely valuable, the recruiters and account executives here often do interviews, and client meetings via Skype. Due to the collaborative nature of the job, often you can see a lot of the office behind the person you are talking to. If your recruiter is dressed well, but there is someone walking around behind them in yoga pants and a dirty t-shirt it can be disconcerting.

All of those things being said, I am too individualistic to subscribe to some overly stuffy dress code, so I wanted to circumvent while still following the rules. I wanted to give some of the rules for my office below, and how I skim the line to maintain my individuality while still being compliant. Honestly going from a job where jeans and a t-shirt were acceptable to a job where my shoes must be polished was quite a leap, but I feel like I am handling it pretty well.

1. No tank tops

This one sucks, I won't lie. I work on the 43rd floor, directly next to a window that gets full sun for 6 hours of my day. Because Seattle is so far from the equator, when my alarm goes off at 5 AM, it is already daylight, and the last vestiges of twilight are generally still visible when I go to bed at 10. (I know I am not getting enough sleep, I literally have an entire podcast about how bad I am at sleeping.) So to say that it gets hot in my office would be the understatement of the century. To put it mildly I have a pretty clear idea of what the inside of a pizza oven must feel like to a large pepperoni deep dish. So not being able to wear tank tops is not a thing that I am willing to do. How do I circumvent? Well, I wear them anyway. I wear a small, light, mostly transparent "sweater" over them, and while I am at my desk, hidden by my monitors, I shed that. When I leave my desk, on goes the shrug. This allows me to be comfortable, and still adherent to the dress code. I have gotten some side eye for the transparent shrug, but since it is technically inside of dress code, no one has yet told me it is inappropriate, and I will continue to wear it as often as possible, until it gets too cold to do so.

2. No unnaturally colored hair

Listen, this one is a big thing for me. I realize that I am a 32 year old professional, but I have avoided natural hair colors for as long as I have been able to buy bleach. I have been blue for the last 2 years or so, and to hear that I had to get rid of my beloved blue hair was the worst thing I have heard in a long time. How did I get around it? Well, I stripped the blue out of my hair, and died 80% of it a deep ash grey. Grey is a natural hair color, and in probably less than 5 years it will be my natural hair color, but under the grey, for that hidden-when-it's-down 20%, I put in a deep navy blue. That way when I am off the clock I can put my hair up and still keep my punk-rock street cred while adhering to the dress code at work. Honestly, if my rapidly greying natural hair looks anything like the dyed grey, I will be very happy with my life. I have gotten a lot of compliments about it at work, and so far only one person has noticed the blue, and they winked at me and made the shush gesture, so I don't think they are going to rat me out.

3. Shoes must be polished

This one is probably the one that I hate the most. Polishing shoes is the fucking worst. I flat refuse to do it on most occasions. I know that there are people out there who think that polishing shoes is zen, or it's their happy place, but to be completely honest, shoe polish smells terrible and I am no good at it, and I usually just end up with black hands, a demoralized and frustrated attitude, and a sweaty red face. So how have I managed to circumvent this little tidbit? Well in two ways. My all purpose flats are suede, so no need to polish them. I also went out and bought a new pair of patent leather pumps, and a pair of cute patent leather booties. One is black, the other tan; therefore they could go with whatever I happen to be wearing to the office that day. I know this because they are both stored safely in the bottom of my locked filing cabinet. I wear sandals or my flats to work, and when I need to get up and walk around I put on one of the pairs of designated work shoes, and strut about to complete my task, taking them off immediately upon returning to my desk and generally maintaining my reputation as the office hippy. I never wear shoes longer than I have to and between my bare feet and my collection of plants, I am pretty sure that no one is going to take my title any time soon.

4. No facial piercings

I have through many jobs taken out most of the piercings I have collected over the years. But I have always kept my septum ring. I love that thing, it is my favorite, and I am never getting rid of it ever. However, this one was harder to circumvent. I can't have it out at any point during the day, so it has to stay tucked up into my nose. Bummer. But I did find comfortable jewelry that doesn't rip up the inside of my nose while it is up there. I bought a silicone curved bar that is meant for angel kiss and inverted labret piercings, and stuck it through my septum. Because it is a smaller curved bar, and also made of flexible silicone, it is comfortable to keep flipped up, and no one suspects a thing. As soon as 6 PM rolls around on Friday though, the bar comes out and the standard captive ball ring goes back in!

5. No leggings as pants

Truthfully, this rule annoys me more than some of the others. There are men in this office who tailor their suit pants so freaking tight they might as well be leggings, and there are lots of non-athletic, well constructed leggings that don't go see-through when you bend over. But I digress, this sexist rule exists, and it's stupid, and I hate it, but I also really love my job so... this one I had to think about. What I came up with was a way to kill 3 hated things about my dress code with one stone. No leggings as pants, no shorts, and no miniskirts. I like to wear my nice leggings underneath my shorts or mini skirts with tunic tops over them, and knee-high boots. This allows me to wear all my favorites while still adhering to dress code, and the look is really cute! I have been complimented on these outfits when I wear them by the person who enforces the dress code, so for now at least, I am safe!

I am not in general a fan of enforced dress codes, I think that they do nothing to increase productivity and I wish that as a society we would move on from the "judging a book by its cover" mentality when it comes to professionalism, but as long as I have to play by the rules, I will always push the envelope as far as I can get it! I urge others to do the same, without risking your jobs of course!