The Death of The Office Dress Code

The Takeaway | May 26, 2016

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The infamous 44-page dress code handbook issued by Swiss banking giant UBS back in 2010 has now become synonymous with employer overreach, to say the least. Men were advised on how to knot a tie, the company instructed that "glasses should always be kept clean," and that "women should not wear shoes that are too tight-fitting as there is nothing worse than a strained smile."

After much outrage and scrutiny, the UBS dress code has since been revised. But our notions of what's "office appropriate" continue to evolve, especially as more and more people work from home and the office, as work environments become more playful, and as the fight for workplace gender equality ramps up.

In 2016, the dress code just isn't what it used to be, as Susan Scafidi explains. She's the founder and academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University School of Law. 

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