Casual Friday

Casual Friday has become Stupid!

Plum passed a preview of our survey results to some friends. Apparently, the results struck a nerve... we've decided to post Fash' email, with permission, of course. The comments by Fash Trash are her own and not representative of No Guru or Plum.

Casual Friday has become Stupid!

This survey proves it to me!  We have lost our way with Casual Friday.  It used to be fun when everyone had to dress up for work then on Friday you could show a little personality with your outfits.  But now that anything goes in the workplace Casual Friday has become stupid.

I bank at a credit union and hate going in on Fridays.  I think, “I am giving this woman my money? She looks more like I should be giving her spare change!”

But the thing that I cannot understand is how employers don’t care how their employees look!  Plum’s survey says that less than 8% even cared enough to have a clear dress code for Casual Friday!  This is unreal to me.  How can anyone take a business seriously if they don’t care enough to look like they mean business?

In my office the man or woman who dresses too casually is not taken seriously and not because of “what” they wear but because they don’t look like they have their sh_t together.  When they don’t care enough to put themselves together it looks like they would rather be home on the couch than doing their job … so why would anyone take them seriously much less give them a job with more responsibility? At another job I had, if we wanted take-out pizza on the Friday it was that person that was sent out for it.

It just seems like it takes so little effort to put a look together and to show that you appreciate your job … not to mention your customers.

 

Fash
… bitchy about fashion.

 

Editor's note: We edited Fash's original email a little bit, and we're adding this comic relief - Curb Your Enthusiasm on Casual Friday.

  ... read the full post and reader comments

 
Fash Trash's picture

First off, we at Plum were overwhelmed by the response to our Casual Friday survey.  Over 2,500 customers responded so far, therefore we can confidently state some preliminary results.

Not surprisingly, 92% of you say that people are dressing more casual today then ever before. We received hundreds of opinions about why this may be a good or bad thing, but it is clear that the workplace has generally become more casual.

We were surprised to see how many respondents have Casual Friday; a full 50%.  But not everyone likes it because there are hundreds of examples of how it has become ‘slovenly Friday’ for many employees. 

It seems that since most of the week has become casual anyway, Friday has now drifted into a situation where as one customer put it, “…the jeans you wore for washing the dog that are faded and ripped, with the matching vintage Duran Duran tee-shirt with mustard stains from too many hotdogs makes one look like a slob, not casual.”

With all the examples of wearing faded jeans, yoga wear, and sweatpants in a Friday ‘free for all’ the most surprising result was that more employers are not strict with the guidelines! Less than 8% of employers who have Casual Fridays have a strict policy. Almost 60% have minimal guidelines, and 30% have absolutely no guidelines at all!

We will let you know more results in a couple of weeks so watch for my posts.

 

Now for some fun... Casual Friday gone wrong at The Office

 

  ... read the full post and reader comments

 
Ed's picture

Casual Fridays - Love it or Hate it?

Category:

Is it possible that Casual Friday has passed its expiry date? Has the original intention become irrelevant?

We at Plum want to stay absolutely up to date with how our customers are dressing so we are asking the question. Do you love it or do you hate it? Is it necessary? Please fill out our Casual Friday survey  - you could win a $200 Gift Certificate.

The workplace has changed over the years. For instance the technology era has brought us “cool” places to work where casual dressing is the new suit! 

But everyone has seen cases where workers just don’t seem to get it when it comes to casual dressing for work. When the norm is casual during the week Friday arrives and for some it means one step above going to the beach! Is that how we want to represent where we work?

In an era where everyone is trying to get our economy back on its feet and competition for advancement in the workplace is prevalent, are we really getting what we originally intended from casual Fridays? It used to be a break from wearing a suit? Tell us what YOU think.

So, please post a comment here, and also take our Casual Friday survey  - you could win a $200 Gift Certificate.  ... read the full post and reader comments

 
Ed's picture
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