It’s no secret that when a person goes to work, they have to wear appropriate clothing. Whether it’s a specific uniform or something from their own closet that can be applied to a dress code, what matters is that the clothes are suitable for the job they have to do.
Still, there are folks who decide to go rogue and dress in a way that’s not acceptable. These instances are common enough for us to compile a full-blown list of them, and these are from only one online thread; imagine how many more others have!
Maybe even you have an example from your personal experience, or have witnessed one? Enhance our list by sharing these stories, and, of course, upvoting the most entertaining stories already here!
More info: Reddit
#1
We hired a guy from the Philippines at the metal shop, and he showed up for work in flip-flops. Had to explain to him about OSHA and safety footwear.
#2
When I was in grad school, one of our undergrads came in to lab with her midriff exposed. I don’t give a s**t about what people wear outside of safety concerns, and this girls stomach was right at the level of the bench. We were working on peptide synthesis and peptide cleavage that day, which include such hazards as trifluoroacetic acid (which eats through your skin), DMF, and piperidine (which can make you sterile). I told her she could go change, wear a fully buttoned up lab coat (that was encouraged anyway), or she could sit in her office and read papers. I’m fine with people my age and above hurting themselves at work if they want to, but I wasn’t gonna let some kid burn herself because she thought her belly ring was cute.
#3
One of the daytime janitors showed up for work with a shirt that said “send n*des”. We work at a high school, so the guy’s shirt was incredibly inappropriate. To make matters worse, representatives from the Department of Homeland Security were visiting our building that day. The principal told the guy to go to the janitorial closet and stay in there until the end of the day. He was fired that afternoon.
Almost everywhere we go, there’s a dress code that can be applied to the occasion. Theoretically, a dress code is a set of rules on what clothing must be worn, usually created out of social perceptions and norms.
When it comes to specific events that definitely need a dress code, often people who are expected to attend are informed about it. The list from which an appropriate code can be chosen isn’t a short one – it ranges from casual to various forms of formal and ties to festive clothes.
#4
I work in sales, we tend to dress more fashionable professional, suits, etc. We had a new guy come in… fairly well built dude, very into his appearance… wearing the tightest pair of dress pants I have ever seen in my life.
The issue was the guy was… uh… blessed in the undercarriage department. His prodigious member was clearly visible through the pants.
We had to to tell the dude like, good for you my dude but you gotta wear something else.
#5
I worked with a super duper hot and charismatic guy. Guy was so charismatic he could have started his own religion. He was so hot that you would lose your thoughts because he walked into the room. He was also married and exceptionally nice and kind.
There was a woman in my office who would wear the most scandalous stuff if she knew she was going to be in a meeting with him. It got worse and worse until one day she wore a lace bra under a lace shirt. You could see her areolae. We worked in a government office. She was asked to go put on a jacket, by her crush.
#6
Shear top no bra in an office environment. Her excuse. …she was heading out clubbing with friends after work and didn’t want to have to go home and change afterwork.
We’re not going to delve into what are the differences between each dress code, that would take way too much time and not every single one of them is relevant to today’s topic – work attire.
So, which of the dress codes can be applied to work attire? Well, it all depends on what kind of workplace it is. Some places where the job is pretty specific, like physical labor, healthcare or anything similar, usually have specified clothes they have to wear.
#7
I’m a teacher. One of my 9-year-old girl students once wore a shirt to school that said “Voted Most Flexible by your boyfriend.” 😳 My principal is truly amazing and said she would call mom for me, I was so thankful I didn’t have to have that conversation. Mom bought the shirt and she apparently didn’t understand what the issue was….
#8
While doing my intership. I had a colleague, an arts teacher, arrive at work with a night/cocktail dress, it was dark green, completely skin tight, and had a V shaped cleavage that went all the way down to her navel. We could even tell she was going commando since even a thong would mark.
She doesn’t work in education anymore.
#9
This girl came in with a white dress shirt but nothing under. You literally could see her b***s through it. As soon as she walked in not even 3 minutes she was asked to change.
For the former, pieces of clothing like comfortable and safe shoes, socks, and gloves are important. For people in this field, it is important that what they wear doesn’t restrain their movement and protects them from potential injuries.
Healthcare workers normally wear scrubs, which serve several purposes. For instance, it makes them easily identifiable, they are comfortable for any kinds of movements and protect medical staff against various bodily fluids they often have to deal with.
Additionally, scrubs are usually processed in such a way that they prevent cross-contamination, so the viruses or anything similar staff deals with aren’t spread further.
#10
One guy wore a shirt that said ‘nice to meet you, im the reason your mom’s smiling’. HR had a lot to say about that one 😂😂.
#11
Worked in a factory and my buddy Josh wore a shirt that said “Millions of my potential children died on your daughter’s face.” One of the older women complained and he had to turn it inside-out. 🤣.
#12
Best Buy. Halloween. 2003. We were encouraged to wear costumes. The girl that worked in the wireless department wore a naughty nurse outfit that you could 100% see through and red lingerie underneath. I think she lasted maybe 5 minutes before management sent her home. Impressive considering that management mostly consisted of a bunch of h***y a******s.
Then, people who work in offices, schools or anywhere similar are often expected to wear dress in business casual, professional attire and similar dress codes that make people look professional. Of course, it all depends on the workplace; nowadays some places are more lenient when it comes to clothes, yet that doesn’t mean that people can dress however they like.
For example, clothing that is way too revealing, like blouses with exposed cleavage, overly tight clothing, or anything that is too inappropriate in any other way is usually dubbed NSFW (or not safe for work). And yet, sometimes, some still think that wearing anything like that to work is a good idea.
#13
I worked at Lowe’s a few years ago near the start of the Covid, and for the most part it was pretty chill and easy going. Everybody had to wear a mask and they were even provided by the store, but one of the cashier’s switched hers out for one of these B**M facemasks made of leather with zippers. I had to do a triple take when walking out because I couldn’t fathom somebody actually doing that. Had quite a laugh about it in the parking lot and the manager quickly made her switch back.
#14
A high school Spanish teacher, from Spain, wore a black cat suit with a gold chain around her hips. She claimed she didn’t understand why it was inappropriate. Her across the hall neighbor gave her a school hoodie that was mid thigh, so it looked like a strange fashion choice. Don’t know if it really was a cultural misunderstanding or not, but she wore both the catsuit and the improvised “dress” well.
#15
I can’t tell you how many nurses wear hospital scrubs and don’t wear underwear. But it’s a bunch.
Today’s list is full of such examples. From a woman not wearing a bra to an office to a man showing up to a metal shop in flip flops – the ways someone can make poor fashion choices in the workplace are endless.
So, take this list as a handbook of what not to wear to your job or just a collection of entertaining stories about people who clearly weren’t overthinking their fashion – it’s good for both purposes!
#16
They weren’t workers or asked to change but, the “s**y witch” and “s**y nurse” costumes of two moms at a company Halloween party for employees’ children were pretty extreme.
We didn’t have another one.
#17
We hired a lady at our office, we have uniform shirts but get them made a couple of weeks after they start. First day she showed up in a shirt that was the deepest V cut I’ve never seen. She was very large chested and was not wearing a bra. We have a small office but it’s only me and my boss that are men in the office. Every one of the girls in the office complained to our boss about her shirt and she was sent home and told to wear something more appropriate until her uniform shirts came in.
#18
There was a widely-publicized ‘hack’ at a large amusement park in Florida that I worked for where women would come in wearing tops that would only just barely cover them. They’d get free T-shirts out of the deal.
After about a month of that, they were just asked to leave.
#19
When I was in high school there were 2 kids who were regularly given in school suspension for wearing shirts with naked women on them.
At my job now, a girl came in one day wearing leggings that were sheer, but you had to look *really* closely to tell. I don’t know if anyone would have noticed if her a*****e hadn’t started glowing. She got sent home for the day.
#20
When I managed a retail store we had an employee who seemed to own an entire wardrobe of Infowars/Alex Jones T-shirts. We had a uniform vest and every day he was told to zip up the vest or turn the shirt inside out. Every. D**n. Day.
#21
Had a coworker who “took care of himself” before coming to work but forgot to change his shirt.
#22
Worked with an 18 year old kid, the shirt had a pocket on the chest. Across the front it said, “Do you like my p***y?” And had a cat in the pocket. He couldn’t understand why it was a problem. He wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box.
#23
We had one woman who wore a floor length dress that was slit all the way up to her waist a few times. Would likely have been a hit at a fancy cocktail party, but HR spoke to her after she wore it in the office a few times.
#24
Had a (lead) worker (in residential construction) wear a drinking shirt. Not just distasteful, it was high contrast, big bold letters to the tune of something like “only job I care about is lifting a bottle to my mouth” or something stupid. I forget but it was bad.
It had been found out he was drinking on the job a couple days prior and this was his response. Along with empty mickeys in plain sight in the back of the company truck he had been given… Clearly there’s some mental health issues there holding him down but holy hell if this guy wasn’t the posterchild stereotypical bigoted-bully construction worker then I’ve never met one. I wanted to feel bad for a witnessing such a sad coping mechanism and had started to look into rehab and therapy options for him before shirt incident but no, there are limits.
He wasn’t asked to remove his shirt though, just asked to remove himself.
#25
Girl wore a handmade hawk tuah shirt for halloween, I had her go to the office to change. She didn’t understand why it was bad…I teach 7th grade.
#26
At my old job, I used to give new hires the welcome tour. We were a pretty casual office, jeans and T-shirts for the most part, but one day a noob came in with one of those ahegao shirts. We obviously sent him home.
The best part of that incident was that I had to explain ahegao to my boss and the HR department.
#27
Fruit roll up onesie – Halloween at work is always a bad idea.