Annoying Coworker's Comments on How I Dress

[lkb]

Did some googling on the subject and there does seem to be some debate on whether over the knee boots are apprpriate for the workplace. I would assume several factors come into play:
The type of business and the job
The clientele
The clothes worn with the boots. Other site said a sheath would be fine but watch the length  (also avoid looking like a pirate  .
They also said suede is more appropriate than leather.

It could be a generational thing. I'm pushing 50 and I wouldn't consider them appropriate
and frankly the wrong kind of professional garb (I could change my mind on seeing the actual outfit on someone.) Maybe younger people don't have the Julia Roberts bias.

To keep with the movie theme (because we all know life is exactly like the movies, right?  , there's a line from the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada" in which Andie Sachs (Anne Hathaway) says something like: "I don't need to change. Miranda (Priestly -- played by Meryl Streep) hired me. She knows what I look like."
Nigel (Stanley Tucci): "Do you?"

It took some doing but I can picture a grey tweed sheath with leather over-the-knee boots looking good. That is, when the person is standing up. Somehow I just can't picture it looking right when the person is sitting (cross-legged or not), bending over, kneeling down (to pick up a pencil etc.), reaching up. Perhaps the co-irker sees something, the wearer doesn't.

One last movie reference: "Working Girl" when Sigourney Weaver's character first hires Melanie Griffith's. She says something about professional, classic attire. Melanie Griffith (in full 80's poufy hair and skads of necklaces etc. -- like Madonna in her heyday) says, "How's this?" Sigourney Weaver says she's fine, "...but I'd rethink the jewelry." Perhaps, just perhaps, that's what the co-irker was trying to say. Or, she could be a shrew, granted.

ETA: To add a comment that I thought to add after I posted this. Sorry.

[*inviteseller]

This is my first post (long time lurker) but I had to reply.  I recently left my job of 13 years (so many many reasons) but one of the things that was constant was my bosses constant comment on my clothes.  It is an upscale retail place and we all dressed nicely but she hated everything I wore.  Why?  Because I did not dress like her.  She wore long skirts and casual but dressy tops all the time.  She expected me (but only me) to also wear her type of clothing every day.  First off, she drove to work where I took a 45 minute bus ride in all sorts of weather, so when it was 15 degrees, I am wearing dress pants and a sweater.  Also, for my part of work, i had to do crawl into the display windows, run around doing deliveries, ect so dress pants made more sense.  And then there was the issues of just not that it wasn't skirts or dresses but she would tell me what styles I had to wear.  I am not a young girl and do not dress provocatively, but I am also small and the junior department is wear I had to shop and that bothered her that I was not dressed as matronly as her older, taller, heavier self did.  I went to work clean, comfortable and presentable.  If that outfit and others make you feel good about yourself (and as a fan of boots that sounds like a great outfit!) I say ignore your co-irker and continue to dress the way you feel comfortable.

[QuiltLady]

Good for you!      

My company changed to casual from business casual back in January.  I could wear jeans and a t-shirt every day if I wanted to and most of the 500 employees seem to.  I'm just not that into jeans and I much prefer a casual dress or a long skirt, even when I'm at home.  In the winter my favorite outfit is a dress, warm tights, and boots.  I wear my hair in pretty styles, various buns and braids with clips, pins, or hairsticks since my hair is as long as the bottom of my behind. 

It makes me feel good too and I totally understand.  Ignore the comment, as you did.  It's not your problem what other people think.

[Jocelyn]

I am also the office oddball.  Not more fancy or less fancy, just different.  These are my new shoes and I will totally wear these to the office once I'm finished my drilling gig:
http://www.fluevog.com/code/?w%5B0%5D=gender%3Awomen&pp=2&view=detail&p=36&colourID=3526

Work your weird.  People will remember you for being different and that is not always a bad thing.  Your co-worker is probably just jealous that she doesn't look as put together as you do.

I so very much want black over the knee boots but chunky calves make it not likely to happen.    Even getting knee highs is proving to be a challenge.

Those boots are awesome with sole!

http://www.bennettsboots.com/  This is an Australian company that makes wide calf boots.  I've got three pairs and have worn them to death.  Love, love, love them.  If you're not in Aus, I think they do ship overseas.

Catalogs that cater to larger sizes, like Roamans or Lane Bryant, often have wide-calf boots, too. Unfortunately, I come from a family that has large calves, so even if I were skinny I'd probably need wide-calf boots. Since I'm not skinny, it means I'd have to have boots entirely custom-made, and I can't afford that.

[Minmom3]

This is my first post (long time lurker) but I had to reply.  I recently left my job of 13 years (so many many reasons) but one of the things that was constant was my bosses constant comment on my clothes.  It is an upscale retail place and we all dressed nicely but she hated everything I wore.  Why?  Because I did not dress like her.  She wore long skirts and casual but dressy tops all the time.  She expected me (but only me) to also wear her type of clothing every day.  First off, she drove to work where I took a 45 minute bus ride in all sorts of weather, so when it was 15 degrees, I am wearing dress pants and a sweater.  Also, for my part of work, i had to do crawl into the display windows, run around doing deliveries, ect so dress pants made more sense.  And then there was the issues of just not that it wasn't skirts or dresses but she would tell me what styles I had to wear.  I am not a young girl and do not dress provocatively, but I am also small and the junior department is wear I had to shop and that bothered her that I was not dressed as matronly as her older, taller, heavier self did.  I went to work clean, comfortable and presentable.  If that outfit and others make you feel good about yourself (and as a fan of boots that sounds like a great outfit!) I say ignore your co-irker and continue to dress the way you feel comfortable.

Junior is both sizing and style.  If you're a small person, petite is something you might want to look in to.  Size-wise, it's shorter vertical lengths between shoulder-breast, breast-waist/hip, and waist/hip to crotch (pants) and waist/hip-knees. I've seen many different styles in petite, it doesn't have to be matronly.  Of course, if you HAD to shop at the store you worked in, and it didn't HAVE petite, then you're stuck with only juniors...  I'm just trying to make the point that one is not limited across the board to misses vs. juniors.  I could wear juniors into my mid-twenties.  After that, it just didn't fit correctly on me.  I've NEVER been petite, even though I've seen size 18P in stores.  I've known people of all ages who could wear juniors and have them fit nicely.  It really does depend on a lot more than JUST your circumference.

[PastryGoddess]

I am also the office oddball.  Not more fancy or less fancy, just different.  These are my new shoes and I will totally wear these to the office once I'm finished my drilling gig:
http://www.fluevog.com/code/?w%5B0%5D=gender%3Awomen&pp=2&view=detail&p=36&colourID=3526

Work your weird.  People will remember you for being different and that is not always a bad thing.  Your co-worker is probably just jealous that she doesn't look as put together as you do.

I so very much want black over the knee boots but chunky calves make it not likely to happen.    Even getting knee highs is proving to be a challenge.

Try ones with scrunchy ruching (sp) on the calf.  I hav a pair and My friend who also has large calves went out and got herself a pair after borrowing mine for a week.

[LadyClaire]

I think knee boots are fine. In my office they'd be considered perfectly acceptable, as long as you're not wearing a super-short dress.

My fall/winter work wardrobe is boots, tights, and dresses or a skirt/sweater. Slacks fit me oddly thanks to my waist being 2 sizes smaller than my hips, so I have maybe one pair of work-appropriate slacks. It's just easier to wear dresses and skirts, and the tights/boots help keep me from freezing. Not that dress slacks are much warmer, really. Most of them are thin and the cold and the wind cut right through them, unless you go for lined wool ones, and then you've got the hassle and expense of getting them dry cleaned.

[Kari]

I had this problem with a coworker of mine (older man with a rep for being rude towards women). After politely dodging a few snarky comments about my jacket or boots because they were disguised as light-hearted jokes, he finally, undeniably, crossed the line. He approached my desk to ask me a favor, but this came out first: "What's wrong with your hair?" No "hello." No "excuse me." Not even a "your hair looks different." I had recently got chunky red highlights in my dark blonde hair. I loved it; it was a bold move for my normally blah hair, and I got lots of compliments on it, even from strangers.

Well, I stood up from my desk, and without a word I walked around Mr. Rude and went to attend to some photocopying that was "suddenly" necessary. When I returned to my desk, Mr. Rude was still there with his mouth hanging open. I smiled sweetly, "Yes, was there something else you needed to say?" He stammered a bit, collected himself, and finally asked his favor. That was a few years ago, and he's never said anything rude to me since.

[Auntie Mame]

I'm still amused that a pair of over the knee suede boots and a tasteful knee length skirt makes me a street walker.  If that's the case, then I am doing doing work way out of my job description.

[BeagleMommy]

Did some googling on the subject and there does seem to be some debate on whether over the knee boots are apprpriate for the workplace. I would assume several factors come into play:
The type of business and the job
The clientele
The clothes worn with the boots. Other site said a sheath would be fine but watch the length  (also avoid looking like a pirate  .
They also said suede is more appropriate than leather.

It could be a generational thing. I'm pushing 50 and I wouldn't consider them appropriate
and frankly the wrong kind of professional garb (I could change my mind on seeing the actual outfit on someone.) Maybe younger people don't have the Julia Roberts bias.

To keep with the movie theme (because we all know life is exactly like the movies, right?  , there's a line from the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada" in which Andie Sachs (Anne Hathaway) says something like: "I don't need to change. Miranda (Priestly -- played by Meryl Streep) hired me. She knows what I look like."
Nigel (Stanley Tucci): "Do you?"

It took some doing but I can picture a grey tweed sheath with leather over-the-knee boots looking good. That is, when the person is standing up. Somehow I just can't picture it looking right when the person is sitting (cross-legged or not), bending over, kneeling down (to pick up a pencil etc.), reaching up. Perhaps the co-irker sees something, the wearer doesn't.

One last movie reference: "Working Girl" when Sigourney Weaver's character first hires Melanie Griffith's. She says something about professional, classic attire. Melanie Griffith (in full 80's poufy hair and skads of necklaces etc. -- like Madonna in her heyday) says, "How's this?" Sigourney Weaver says she's fine, "...but I'd rethink the jewelry." Perhaps, just perhaps, that's what the co-irker was trying to say. Or, she could be a shrew, granted.

ETA: To add a comment that I thought to add after I posted this. Sorry.

Just to clarify, the dress and boots left only 1/4 inch of skin showing when I sat and I also was wearing stockings so nothing was exposed.  They also aren't shiny, patent leather.  I'm also approaching 50, but my style of work dress has always been corporate with a slight edge and very age appropriate.  In previous posts I've mentioned how Annoying Coworker has seemed to target me for my individuality.

[lkb]

Thanks for clarifying. I do understand. I just wanted those in such situations to be absolutely sure that the co-worker's comments--while rude-- didn't have a grain of truth in theme. Clothes do make the man, er, person. I also asked my husband what thought. He said over-the-knee boots were not appropriate and said they do convey an image of the so-called oldest profession.

[Yvaine]

Thanks for clarifying. I do understand. I just wanted those in such situations to be absolutely sure that the co-worker's comments--while rude-- didn't have a grain of truth in theme. Clothes do make the man, er, person. I also asked my husband what thought. He said over-the-knee boots were not appropriate and said they do convey an image of the so-called oldest profession.

I think this is getting a little bit excessive and inconsiderate toward ehellions in this thread who have come out and said they are wearing them right now.

[TurtleDove]

I don't think you can make categorical statements about over the knee boots or any other article of clothing.  The same article of clothing might look lovely on one body type and wildly inappropriate on another, for example.  So much depends on fit and figure.  Certainly some over the knee boots are not appropriate for work.  Some are, depending on office environment.

[Yvaine]

I don't think you can make categorical statements about over the knee boots or any other article of clothing.  The same article of clothing might look lovely on one body type and wildly inappropriate on another, for example.  So much depends on fit and figure.  Certainly some over the knee boots are not appropriate for work.  Some are, depending on office environment.

I would disagree on body type for the most part, butI would agree on fit--I don't believe it's fair to declare an article of clothing inappropriate for one body type and not another, as long as the person is wearing the appropriate size.

i.e. it wouldn't be inappropriate for a size 20 woman to wear a size 20 knee-length skirt in an office, but it would be inappropriate for her to be stuffed into a size 12 skirt in the same style...but then it would be just as inappropriate for a size 6 woman to be stuffed into a 0 at the office.

ETA: And I would also agree that there are styles of OTK boot that would be inappropriate for most offices, just as there are styles of pump that would be inappropriate, styles of skirt, etc. But there are a lot of styles of these boots that would be fine in many workplaces.

[cass2591]

Thanks for clarifying. I do understand. I just wanted those in such situations to be absolutely sure that the co-worker's comments--while rude-- didn't have a grain of truth in theme. Clothes do make the man, er, person. I also asked my husband what thought. He said over-the-knee boots were not appropriate and said they do convey an image of the so-called oldest profession.

Well, a lot of people disagree with your husband.

I think it's best to leave the topic of prostitutes' sartorial splendor for another forum. Thank you.