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Would this be a good time and place to ask why Canadian women wear what they wear to work?
Do you put money, time and effort into looking attractive at work, and if so, whom do you hope to attract? Do you want to look feminine? Or do you choose the most practical attire for the job, then wear it out before replacing?

I mean, do you think about it? Have you got a plan and purpose in the way you present yourself? Do you consciously design an outward image of yourself, or do you try to approximate a cultural ideal and follow fashion?
In either case, what is the advantage?

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I wear typical male work clothes, heavy jeans or coveralls, t-shirts and steel-toed boots. Rain gear a lot of the time. It's hard to find them in women's sizes which is a pain in the ass.

I arrive at work in my regular clothes though. I once wore an above-the-knee sarong and sleeveless top, general wear for me in the summer. From the atmosphere in the all male workplace I realized it was a big faux-pas. I now won't even wear shorts there anymore.

What kills me is that they occasionally work without shirts. I can't even show my arms without an adverse (in my opinion) reaction.

Truthfully, though, being self-employed leaves that open for me. If I have no meetings outside my home office, it's jeans, shorts, casual skirts, sarong and tank top, pajamas, whatever I feel like. If I have a meeting, funky up-casual -- I favour black cotton slacks and sweaters or a not-to-formal jacket or blouse. Sometimes skirts and boots. I like tailored stuff. But I could also go in a nice pair of jeans as easily.

Then there's the schmooze functions... And it depends on the level of function. I've done business in a formal evening gown... Self-promotion was never so easy as when I was winning an award at six mos preggers and wore a sparkly, strapless evening gown... I make a point of not being easily forgotten.

Basically I run the gamut.

Edited to add:

When I used to do acting/modelling, I could wind up wearing anything, and not necessarily by choice. However, I have worked both with and without clothing in that capacity....

[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]

[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]

I still don't think women, especially very young ones, give enough thought to how they dress and why; to what reaction from others (male and female) they want to elicit. After all, attire is a very important part of our relations with other people. It is a form of communication, of self-expression: it is the first thing you say to anyone who can see you, before you utter a word or make a gesture.

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I still don't think women, especially very young ones, give enough thought to how they dress and why; to what reaction from others (male and female) they want to elicit.

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Do you really think so?

I've always been almost hyper-aware of the image construct I create with the choice of clothing I make for an occasion. Physical image can almost be a language in itself, and in the way that the image is worn.

Some of us made conscious, independent decisions early; some late; some haven't yet. Some women go through stages and styles, depending on what's going on in their emotional life. Mostly, i think teenagers are far too sensitive to fashion, and far too judgmental of anyone who steps ouside the norm. It's understandable, but i still wish girls were more aware of themselves as unique individuals and braver in expressing their own taste.

But then, i'm always wishing girls were stronger, prouder, more confident, more aware, more articualte, more in touch with their own true desires - and that they wouldn't take any shit. Especially when i see a young one getting shortchanged, or an old one regretting her choices. Guess it just goes with the territory.

[ June 04, 2002: Message edited by: nonesuch ]

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Some of us made conscious, independent decisions early; some late; some haven't yet.

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True enough. I would be in the early conscious choices category. When I went into acting school right out of high school, I had an epiphany about the transience of image and set about playing with it. Sometimes used it as a suit of armour against the world... Mostly done with that now.

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But then, i'm always wishing girls were stronger, prouder, more confident, more aware, more articualte, more in touch with their own true desires - and that they wouldn't take any shit.

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At that stage, I'll have one daughter turning 20 and the other just turned 16.

Progress has been slow, that's for sure. I know that my generation wasn't nearly as liberated as we all thought we were in our youth. And most of the women I grew up with haven't progressed much beyond where they were at 22.

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It is a form of communication, of self-expression: it is the first thing you say to anyone who can see you, before you utter a word or make a gesture.

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I hate tailored stuff - I'm quite a bit plumper than zoot and could look a bit matronly in that suit jacket with shoulder pads, usually wear casual dresses or skirts. Women of a "Mediterranean" build, with a relatively small waist and little shoulders and big bust and hips, tend to look far better in skirts than in trousers or above all shorts (which I only wear for gardening or fitness cycling). Fortunately conference interpreters rarely have to be as conventionally dressed as bankers. My really nice stuff comes from places like Kaliyana (shops in Montreal on St-Denis street and in Ottawa on Rideau, by the market).

I'd look like an ageing streetwalker in the Britney Spears type outfits a lot of very young girls wear, but I like things to have a bit of a décolleté, nothing matronly and above all no nylons, which are truly a form of torture that should be abolished! And what the hell is wrong with sandals, there are many types of sandals other than Birkenstocks and beach thongs (I mean the thongs one wears on one's feet)...

In all seriousness, I cannot wear shorts because of the job I am on. Other women do, and to hell with the comments/attitudes of a few dinosaurs and a-holes, but I am personally uncomfortable with shorts. Even at home. I hate displaying my knee brace. And it gets very warm where I work. Last summer, it was so hot and humid that I was consuming a litre of water, taking salt pills and not needing to go to the bathroom until several hours after my shift was over. And our heatwave lasted 31 days. Thank whatever deity you revere I only work in an assembly plant and not in a foundry.

[editted to remove glaring grammatical errors and careless typos]

[ June 05, 2002: Message edited by: Catalyst ]

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I was just talking to a friend about this subject the other night. She had said how disgusted she was with all of the young women in her office that wore low cut tops and had bare legs and sandles.

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When I worked in a gov't office, I did not wear nylons or tights from May to September. Hate 'em. I also wore short skirts. I like short skirts. I also like longish skirts. I also like variety.

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I hate tailored stuff - I'm quite a bit plumper than zoot and could look a bit matronly in that suit jacket with shoulder pads, usually wear casual dresses or skirts.

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Urk!!! Can't wear shoulder pads! I like the clean lines of a tailored look -- I look a little like a toothpick wrapped in a doily when it comes to ruffly stuff, anything with too much fabric. Can't wear anything that's oversized, either, I look like a child wearing her mother's clothes. One size does not fit all! Shoulder pads tend to make for shorter sleeves, and my shoulders are wide-ish for the rest of me, so I just cut them out when I buy a sweater or jacket that has them. My arms and legs are quite long, so sleeves and pant legs are a constant problem for me. One reason I like skirts!

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In the heat of the summer (our part of the factory not being climate-controlled, I am planning on substituting scrubs for the jeans and t-shirt.

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What a great solution, Catalyst! Probably even more comfortable than shorts.

[ June 05, 2002: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]

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I confess that I regularly have a sweater or two and an extra pair of trousers hanging over a chair for days at a time.

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I'm forever dealing with clothes on my rocking chair -- blond guy doesn't put them in the closet, but they're not ready for the wash.

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Ask Monica.

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Hee hee.

Yeah, the on-duty clothes -- is a problem. What shape is this horse your b-in-l built, m'boy? Does it hold separate things separately? Now that you mention it, I remember that there is an ancient sort of dumb-butler -- like a wooden clothes hangar with legs -- stored somewhere around here: I could try dusting that off ...

On the rare occasions I have to be in the clinic, I have to throw on a lab coat and wear closed toe and heel shoes. Sometimes latex gloves. When I'm working a dinner or cocktail party, business formal is generally required. Latex gloves aren't ('cause it's not THAT kind of party ;).

Agh! I do not have time for shopping!!!