Question:
I used to work in a fairly physical environment where it was OK to wear nice
jeans and (clean) running shoes. I am a person who absolutely, positively
hates socks. You will never see a pair of socks on me voluntarily.
One day one of the bosses tweenies told me that the boss wanted me to wear
socks when I was at work. Since I was wearing LONG pants and shoes, it was
very difficult to tell (unless you really, really looked hard) that I wasn't
wearing socks. In other words it wasn't like I was wearing shorts or
something and it was really obvious.
Answer:
I think socks comes under the heading "Professional appearance",
meaning whatever your boss thinks it ought to mean.
I am still wearing jeans to work, since our newly merged office manual
states "Appearance in keeping with local standards." Thank ghod for
Santa Cruz-- "local standards" are shorts with a Hawaiian shirt and
flip flops. In comparison, I'm downright formal.
I cannot wear the usual 'dress shoes' or 'dress sandals' required with
'business professional dress'. I have to wear a lace-up flat 'walking' shoe
in order to accomodate my orthotics.
What I do is keep aside 2 pair of lace ups only for wear to work so they
don't get all scuffed and dirty. A pair of black shoes and a pair of brown
shoes will cover you. I'd make sure my 'work shoes' were clean and polished
and neat, and never had a problem.
Dress codes so long as they don't contravene religious or medical
requirements, and so long as they do not require dress commonly considered
'obscene' (in environments where this is NOT a requirement...think "Hooters"
for example), are perfectly legal.
Your employer CAN mandate the jewelry you wear (except religious jewelry),
the makeup you wear, how you wear you hair and/or facial hair, and whether
or not you wear trousers, legwear, etc.
You go with it. I would never wear a pair of hiking boots to work even
though I would not have to wear dress-pumps. I wear a pair of shoes that
still look professional (albeit frumpy) but meet my needs as well
