The right to bare skin in the workplace: fashion gurus debate dos and don'ts of summer wear
Shorts in the office, sandals in the boardroom — with heat warnings hitting many parts of British Columbia, some are questioning what's appropriate to wear in the office while still beating the weather.
JJ Lee, fashion writer and author of The Measure of the Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and Suit, is adamant that clothing concessions need to made as temperatures rise.
"There should be a celebration of the season," Lee said. "And at some point, you do have to wear clothes that won't make you faint while you're on the job."
Fashion and function alike, there is a line when it comes to showing skin though, regardless of gender.
"When you start dressing down to the point that you're saying 'I actually don't want to be here, it's too hot for me to work — I would prefer if I were at the beach or gone fishing,' that's where you draw the line," he said.
Shorts and sandals are generally not acceptable for either men or women, he told Gloria Macarenko, host of CBC's On The Coast.
Fashion 'wild cards'
Shelley Klassen, a Canadian fashion designer and owner of Blushing Boutique in Vancouver, agrees with Lee's verdict on shorts and sandals.
Other trends like sheer material or lacy see-through tops might not pass office scrutiny either, she warned.
"If you want stay cool, wear the natural fibers," she suggested.
But when it comes to baring arms, Klassen is all in.
"Sleeveless, you can breathe," she said. "If you are going to go sleeveless, go with a higher neckline."
For Lee, the best solution is simply have an open conversation between employers and employees about fashion dos-and-don'ts in the summer.
"No one knows what these other garments — these sort of wild cards that are being introduced in the summertime — are suppose to represent," he said.
"You're telling an entirely different story than you would tell for nine months of the year, and that can be disconcerting."
With files from On The Coast.
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