Jeans at Work—The Denim Taboo

From our CEO to our interns, here at indi, we all wear jeans at work. But in many offices across the country, jeans are off limits. Why is this ubiquitous, comfortable pant so taboo at work, even on casual Fridays?

Well. . .it turns out America’s favorite garment has a little bit of baggage. During the mid 20th century, jeans were adopted by members of the counter culture and used as a symbol of dissent against mainstream values. Jeans represented a threat to authority during a time when those in power wore gray suits or heels and stockings. But as members of the counter culture grew older and more conservative they continued wearing jeans. By the late 20th century, jeans were commonplace garb for Americans of all ages and political views.

Despite jeans’ contemporary ubiquity, some businesses feel that jeans still symbolize a threat to authority—an unwelcome symbol to most CEOs. Businesses that have an old fashioned view of jeans often cling to archaic dress codes and expect their employees to dress like Milton, shown below.

Such constraining dress codes could lead employees to rebel in other ways. We’re not saying that dress codes cause otherwise honest employees to burn down office buildings or steal thousands of dollars. We’re not even saying that employees should be permitted to look sloppy at work—we’re the first to admit that jeans can be quite dapper! But here at indi, we believe that allowing employees to express their personal style will improve their output. Hey, it works for us!

posted by: danielle on August 18, 2009 at 4:22 pm
filed under: Denim 101 | comments (1)
TAGS: history of jeans, jeans at work

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On 08-20-2009, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said

Now I know why my boss got really upset when I came to work without nylons on. I never saw customers, clients, the public; just coworkers. Why should they care what I wore? All the men had to wear ties, too. So silly!