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About two years ago, DCist overheard a sadly familiar exchange by two young Republican Hill staffers on an Amtrak train from New York to D.C. As far as we could tell just by eavesdropping, one of them worked for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and she was complaining, or really just explaining in an emphatically loud voice, that the senator would not let female staffers into meetings who were not wearing a skirt suit with pantyhose. Pantsuits were not OK at all, and pantyhose were an absolute must. It was either a skirt suit with pantyhose, or it was nothing at all.
So we weren't too surprised to see this item on Jezebel noting the Republican fashion preference. Apparently, even female Republican senators (which one is it, we wonder?) adhere to the skirt suit and pantyhose rule.
Basically, pantyhose must be worn every day, she was told. Even in the summertime? Oh yes, and "no exceptions." Well, what about pantsuits? "Well, I suppose you can wear them," the supervisor sighed, "But you are going to need to check with the Senator herself whether or not you will need to wear hose under pants, as well. I'm not entirely sure of the Senator's stance on pantsuits at this time."
Let's just consider this an open thread for all the women of D.C. who are made to suffer the indignity of pantyhose even in warm weather. DCist salutes your willingness to put up with bullshit work conditions just to get ahead.
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Yes I'm sure men's suits, dress shirts, and undershirts are much cooler summer attire.
:-P
I am guessing this is a big rumor and another way to just bash Republicans/conservatives at DCist.
Two awful words merged to name an awful product.
Anyone who works on the hill deserves far worse.
Yes I'm sure men's suits, dress shirts, and undershirts are much cooler summer attire.
you forgot the tie--it's so refreshing to have a little noose tied around one's neck...
Commenter mutiny!
ArRRRR!!!
In the interest of fair reporting, exactly how many Senators dress codes have you examined, outside of Frist's, and the two Senator's mentioned in the Jezebel article? It seems that conclusions are being drawn from some very scant data. How many Repubican senators actually require pantyhose vs. how many Democratic senators? Any clue?
bosses with unreasonable dress codes?!? that can't possibly exist anywhere outside the hill!!!!
seriously though, bare legs don't belong at work, they just don't look professional. i always wear pantyhose with skirt suits to spare everyone being being forced to look at my pasty white skin. if you don't like hose do everyone a favor and wear a pantsuit.
so yeah, not seeing what the big deal is.
Yeah, I wear shorts to work. Suckers.
this is why i work in the creative fields. dress codes? ties? ugh all around.
It was either a skirt suit with pantyhose, or it was nothing at all.
Monkeyrotica is firmly with that second option. and by "firmly" I mean "hanging in an obscene arc."
All y'all oughtta be glad ya dont hafta wear sanitary napkin belts no more. You only have to put up with occasional Christian coworker who refuses to wear tampons because they're Satan's cottony little fingers. It's times like these I ask What Would Judas Do?
As someone who's worn women's stockings (usually stuffed in my mouth or around my wrists), I feel your pain and have maxed out several credit cards to have it inflicted upon me.
>seriously though, bare legs don't belong at work,
>they just don't look professional.
Say wha?? If anything doesn't look professional it's putting fake leg color over your real leg color. Pantyhose is seriously gross, not to mention old school conservative in the not-good way.
There is nothing long with bare legs, on the Hill or otherwise.
Hah. Funny slip. I obviously meant, "nothing WRONG with bare legs." Heh.
I hate Republicans.
:-)
I think we all need to ask ourselves one question: WWRGD? That's right, What would Robin Givhan do?
I think this article says a lot more about the strange ways of the House of Lords...er Senate... than about Republicans. I worked for a House Committee Republican staff for 3 and a half years and every female coworker I can call to mind wore pantsuits. This is a ridiculous article. Clearly bare legs in the U.S. Congress is unacceptable -- what would you do if male staffers decided to show up to work on a hearing-day with their hairy legs exposed? If you're gonna wear a dress, clearly there needs to be something between your legs and everyone else. It's a serious professional environment with a certain amount of decorum to maintain. But this article gives the FALSE impression that all Republican offices are living in the 1950s and forcing women to wear skirts if they want to work as equals in an office environment. This is clearly absurd...my staff director for a number of years was a woman who wore.......pantsuits!
I used to rebel by wearing proper stockings. What, they're gonna check?(And if they did, whee!)
I've always maintained that if male staffers were required to wear panty hose, that ridiculous requirement would be lifted.
It makes no sense that an article of clothing must be worn that shreds at the slightest provocation. Has anyone checked to see if Hanes has any undue influence in town?
...what would you do if male staffers decided to show up to work on a hearing-day with their hairy legs exposed?
Mmmm... take pictures?
Yeah I have no sympathy. Try wearing a t-shirt, dress shirt, and long pants to work everyday in the summer when it's 95 degrees and humid out.
Costuming sends a powerful message. Bill Frist is sending the message that his managerial processes are stuck in the 1950s.
I think the main problem with this rule is that these women were unable to wear pant suits. Why are they required to wear a skirt?
I worked at an association that followed the stockings rule, but most of us younger employees ignored it. I think its just a generational thing and the older folks need to get with the times!!!
At $5 for one pair of flimsy stockings, maybe women should be paid a bit more, eh?
Man, I'm feeling a flipflop/crocs argument thread coming on. Or maybe that's just the Ferragamo stilleto I'm wearing... IN MY PANTS.
This stocking thing is a slippery slope. First women start going barelegged at work. Next they're wearing white gloves after Labor Day. Before you know it, I'm swaggering around in a tartan kilt with my hideously augmented junk dragging a furrow down the shag carpet. What am I supposed to do when my employer refuses to provide an ADA-compliant junkwagon so's I can drag the differently-enabled boys around the office?
I think the main problem with this rule is that these women were unable to wear pant suits. Why are they required to wear a skirt?
Yeah. These are two separate outrages. The whole enforce-the-gender-divide thing if pretty unreasonable. I do, however, plead ambivalence to the pantyhose debate. I'm generally of the opinion that anyone who gets red-faced and blustery about any article of clothing (including Crocs, you seething bureaucrats) needs to have their standards thrown back in their face. But professionalism isn't necessarily a bad thing, either. Problem is: I don't know why smooth, voluptuous bare legs denote unprofessionalism. Truth is: pantyhose are kind of weird, if you step back from them. They're all glossy and discolored. But then again--my propensity for smooth legs is an arbitrary standard too, isn't it? Hence my ambivalence, and my general belief that pant suits are probably the best way to go, failing the unreasonable dress code of some Republican jackass.
I certainly don't mind pantyhose (particularly as cover-up for stubbly legs), but the first person who tries to mandate that I wear them is getting a swift kick in the gonads/ovaries. Same goes for anyone who tries to tell me that I'm not allowed to wear pants. Back in elementary school we had a substitute teacher one day who told the girls in our class that all young ladies are to wear skirts and hats, and scolded those of us who were wearing pants. As soon as word got out that she was wasting precious class time on frivolous, sexist lectures, her ass was gone. And that was fifteen years ago! It wasn't ok then, and it isn't ok now, particularly in an allegedly professional environment.
monkey sez:
I thought you just called that "Wednesday."
These super-anal professional dress codes are an antiquated tradition that only perseveres due to its being a tradition (i.e. the next guy does it, so we must as well). But what practical value is there in the modern workplace for suit jackets, shiny leather shoes, and neckties? None. It's all a matter of some bullshit facade of prestige and keeping up with the competition.
"the first person who tries to mandate that I wear them is getting a swift kick in the gonads/ovaries"
this is redundant. ovaries are gonads.
True, but gonads has a better ring to it than testes.
Just a further example of DC's pathetic fashion sense. Why does everything in this town revert to the lowest common denominator?
You mean boat shoes, blazers, and sundresses?
Male or female - they should all have to wear pantyhose.
But to make it fun they should get to choose if they wear them on their legs or wear them on their heads like a bunch of convenience store robbers. It would be awesome to see who wears which style :)