Jeans day poll -- leggings

[v]

This has been a burning question for me (and is on my mind today because it is a fake Friday).

My company has jeans day on every Friday, company-wide.  The policy is that employees may wear denim of any color and sneakers.

Would you take that to mean that leggings would also be okay?  I can't tell where leggings (let's assume with riding boots, ballet flats, or Toms) fall on the casualness scale compared to, say, the green jeans and white Easy Spirits that would be allowed under the policy.

My office doesn't have many women, and those few women we do have are, for the most part, considerably older and not exactly fashionable.  The two other women I've seen wearing leggings aren't necessarily good gauges of appropriateness because, for example, they wear jeans and leggings whenever they want to (also, because they generally aren't good gauges of appropriateness).

Thank you

[idahome]

I think leggings would be appropriate in that situation. I think the point of a jeans day is to allow for casual dress. As an HR person I'm okay with leggings because I feel like an a person can still look more put together in leggings than some people look in jeans. Plus, it's fake Friday. Wear leggings and be comfortable.

[VillainV]

As long as your butt and crotch are covered, I think they're fine.

[raangoli]

Nov 25, 2015 7:03:35 GMT -5 VillainV said:

As long as your butt and crotch are covered, I think they're fine.

This. I wear them more often now (i.e. Not just Friday) since elastic waistbands are kinder to me. But I make sure my top is long enough.

[Deleted]

My company has the same dress code and people wear leggings.

[tacosforlife]

I think leggings, a tunic, and boots or flats would be just fine.

[steph96]

I would wear leggings but pack jeans for just in case someone says something.

My office actually allows leggings on business casual days, so I think you would be fine wearing them on jean days.

[genet313]

Whenever I wear leggings I "dress them up" usually with a blazer or a long fancy cardigan. and nice shoes. Butt and crouch covered. Frankly I think it looks more business appropriate than many jeans outfits.

[v]

Don't worry -- any leggings would be worn with a long top. But not a blazer. I got several comments for wearing a blazer this week (to a client meeting!) because that's over the top fancy for where I work.

My concern isn't really about what would fly from an HR perspective (we don't have HR in my office anyway). More so how it looks in a casual and very nice but male-dominated office where the median age is like 55. Maybe older. There's no-one in my office under the age of 30 and there are only 3 of us in our 30s. I love leggings with all my heart, but want to make sure I'm taken seriously (well, in the same way I would be if wearing jeans).

[RandZB]

I wear leggings with riding boots and tunics/sweater dresses on normal office days. It's a business casual office and I don't deal with clients very often, so it's always been acceptable attire.

[hamster]

I consider today a holiday. I'd wear the leggings and see how it goes over.

[VillainV]

Nov 25, 2015 8:13:05 GMT -5 v said:

Don't worry -- any leggings would be worn with a long top. But not a blazer. I got several comments for wearing a blazer this week (to a client meeting!) because that's over the top fancy for where I work.

My concern isn't really about what would fly from an HR perspective (we don't have HR in my office anyway). More so how it looks in a casual and very nice but male-dominated office where the median age is like 55. Maybe older. There's no-one in my office under the age of 30 and there are only 3 of us in our 30s. I love leggings with all my heart, but want to make sure I'm taken seriously (well, in the same way I would be if wearing jeans).

Honestly, I you dress them up (boots, tunic top or long sweater) then I don't think people will even notice. It really doesn't look any different or less casual than dark wash skinny jeans or ponte pants with boots and a tunic. I wouldn't expect old people to notice or care. I agree that this looks way more polished than jeans with a polo and sneakers, which is probably what some people in your office will be wearing...

[magdala]

Nov 25, 2015 6:08:06 GMT -5 v said:

My office doesn't have many women, and those few women we do have are, for the most part, considerably older and not exactly fashionable.  The two other women I've seen wearing leggings aren't necessarily good gauges of appropriateness because, for example, they wear jeans and leggings whenever they want to (also, because they generally aren't good gauges of appropriateness).

My office does not allow leggings period because of people like this. On days other than casual Fridays, my office colleagues wear suits.

[ijack]

I wear leggings on non jeans days, so I definitely think they're okay for jeans days

[cheezer]

I have mixed feelings about this but I work in a pretty uptight job (although since it's the California office pretty much anything goes). I am wearing leggings today. At least I think they're leggings - Ann Taylor called them leggings but they have a zipper so they're kind of like real pants IMO. I decided that the day before Thanksgiving is like when we worked July 5 and we got an email about it being a super casual day and the partners showed up in jeans.

[kimibrighteyes]

I think this type of leggings with this outfit are appropriate



These would not be appropriate:

[spunkarella]

They definitely can be appropriate, but I feel like I need to see the outfit to make a call. But I think you have good judgment, and anything you would feel comfortable wearing would be fine.

[MNH2013]

We are business casual all the time so I wear leggings, Friday is still jean day. There are mostly men in old man clothes or dad-wear.

[v]

Nov 25, 2015 12:01:56 GMT -5 kimibrighteyes said:

I think this type of leggings with this outfit are appropriate



These would not be appropriate:

I did wear leggings today, and my outfit is very much like this (though the grey tunic is of more casual fabric).  I'm still not 100% sure I'm supposed to be wearing leggings, but I took my chances today.

Surprisingly, the men in my office actually dress pretty nicely on jeans day -- nice button downs tucked into nice jeans with loafers. This is opposed to my business formal last employer, where partners (including the managing partner who implemented the formal dress code) for the most part dressed like lumberjacks on jeans days ("jeans days" being weekends and holidays because apparently no self-respecting law firm partner would wear anything other than a suit on "give money to charity, wear jeans one Friday a year" day).