RE: What do you wear to work?

[isotope]

Well, I used to work at the college I attended... and I could wear whatever I wanted. Most of the time I was hacking away right next to the PBX in a back corner of a basement, so it didn't matter anyway (probably only a dozen or two people even know that room exists). Now that I actually have a professional career, there is a formal dress code (pants of some sort and a shirt with a collar), but our R&D division is thousands of miles from management, so here, anything decent goes, as long as you're not meeting with anybody. I usually wear a polo shirt and jeans (the air conditioning is pretty cold). Others wear really ratty T-shirts, cargo shorts, and sandals. Technical management usually dresses up more, but you'll almost never see ties here.

--isotope

[tye]

One summer I worked at my college as a "terminal room assistant" (yes, it was a terminal room, not a computer lab -- this was a few years ago). We requested an air conditioner in our little "office" and were told "no". So I felt justified in wearing clothes appropriate for the temporature of the room.

It wasn't uncommon to find me sitting in shorts and nothing else with the televideo terminal and attached keyboard at the edge of the desk with my legs up on the desk to the sides of the terminal.

Since then I usually wear long pants (usually jeans) and a shirt (sometimes a T-shirt), both in good repair. Socks are very optional and shoes are somewhat optional.

For a couple of years one small company tried to get us to make a good impression on customers so I had to buy a bunch of dress shirts and ties. I still have the ties that I don't even bother to wear to job interviews anymore.

        - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")

[mischief]

> Socks are very optional and shoes are somewhat optional.

I never wear shoes in the office unless I'm walking inbetween departments. Of course, since I smoke, it's a bit of a hassle when I want to go for a quick bit of nicotine relief, but it's worth it. Besides, how else would I get to show off my Darth Maul socks?

[puck]

My previous job as a programmer/sysadmin for an ISP was somewhat more casual than my current job. It wasn't unknown for me to show up in shorts and t-shirt; usually removing my shoes quite quickly.

At my current job - where I'm a sysadmin - when I'm only in there for a part day (which is currently whenever I'm there - I'm part time) I can wear smartish casual which equates to cargo pants and whatever t-shirt I'm wearing. During the holidays when I'm there fulltime I'm expected to wear a shirt and tie. However they've seen the light and it looks like we're either going to move to a smart casual regime or a corporate uniform (which at least will hopefully be more comfortable than a shirt and tie).

Oh for the days where I could were shorts and t-shirts and when the customers came in they didn't think anything of it...