July 30, 2015

JCPenney employee sent home for wearing shorts listed as "career wear" on JCPenney's website.

"I bought (the shorts) thinking they were pretty professional... They didn't show anything other than my legs, which I don't think is too provocative."
"JCPenney's dress code policy for store associates prohibits the wearing of shorts of any length," the company said in a statement. "This policy applies to both male and female associates."
To be fair, anything might be called "career wear." There are lots of different careers, and for some, shorts are the "career wear."

34 comments:

MadisonMan said...

What kind of career, one has to think, when seeing "career wear"?

Tank said...

The Dress Code prohibits shorts for men or women (I know that leaves various options LOL).

End of story.

B & N Dress Code does not allow women to show their shoulders.

Brando said...

"Career wear" or not, dress code is what matters. While her photo did not seem inappropriate for hanging around a backyard barbeque, it's obviously not something commonly thought of as professional for office or store staff.

And to say it'd take you "the whole day" to go home and change? Where do you live--four hours away?

Also, it's one thing to dress unprofessionally and be told to go home--it's quite another to go public with it and make a stink. That's the most unprofessional part of all this. What future employer is going to want someone who handles workplace disputes this way?

rhhardin said...

Bermudas work okay in STEM fields too.

It also is an out for the Peter Principle: screw up constantly in ways that don't matter to avoid promotion to a level you're not competent in.

Advice that manager types don't take.

Laslo Spatula said...

She's seventeen. Pointing out perceived hypocrisies is what teenagers do.

What does her mother dress like?

I am Laslo.

Scott said...

Career wear for an office worker is different from career wear for a hooker.

Matt Sablan said...

"And to say it'd take you "the whole day" to go home and change? Where do you live--four hours away?"

-- I think the boss should have said, "Take your last pay check with you then."

Laslo Spatula said...

"Career wear for an office worker is different from career wear for a hooker."

I've been to some offices where that distinction has been very thin.

Push-Up Bra + Low-cut Top = Don't Look At My Breasts!


I am Laslo.

Scott said...

@Laslo: Yeah. I saw some office worker ladies at One Penn Plaza awhile back in some sort of stretchy tube dress and backless high heel mules get into an elevator I was riding. They made Fran Drescher's character in The Nanny look like a cloistered nun. I was stifling a laugh and my female co-worker on the elevator told me to shut up.

Jane the Actuary said...

A dress code is a dress code. It's petulant and childish of her to claim that Penny's marketing of an item as "career shorts" means she is exempt from the dress code (and those shorts were not even particularly long, and not the "culotte/skort" variety, if that still exists).

But she is a child, so she gets a pass, I suppose, though good luck getting another job! It's the rest of the lot rallying to her cause, who don't have that excuse.

MacMacConnell said...

Why would a supervisor of a store selling women's clothing send a female employee home to change?

CWJ said...

At age 17, you make workplace mistakes like this. It's how you react to them and behave in future that determines whether you've learned anything.

CWJ said...

Being a wise guy know it all college kid, I was a slow learner. Unfortunately, today's social media allows the slow learners to torpedo their future prospects before the lessons eventually sink in.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I've never been to Hooters but I assume they have to wear pantyhose or something like that.

mikee said...

In the 1990s when my place of work started casual Fridays, it was noted by all employees that our CEO always wore about $1000 of casual, from Johnston & Murphy "Aristocrat" loafers to Sea Island button down shirt, with of course Bill Lundberg suspenders.

My Duckhead chinos, while admirably suited to my work in the lab, were an item of ridicule among the management. Thank God I never wore my Carharts.

Big Mike said...

Brando and CWJ are right. It's bad enough that the teenager made the mistake in the first place, it hurts her future career prospects that she goes public with it. Many employers mine social media data to determine which job candidate to hire, and she's just handicapped herself with them.

OTOH it's good that she's effectively modeling her employer's products. But a sun dress would have been a better choice.

Brando said...

Dress codes do seem more relaxed for women, in part because no male supervisor wants to risk trouble by commenting on how a woman is dressed and also because while for men it can be very obvious how to dress (long sleeve and tie, or polo and slacks) it seems more amorphous for women (skirt length, open toed shoes vs. pumps, knee high boots vs. above-knee, pullover shirt vs. buttondown) and arguably the line is more hazy. But you do need to use your judgment and try not to stick out too much. And if your supervisor gives you a warning, take heed to it--unless they're insanely unreasonable just accept that they wouldn't be bringing it up if you didn't cross a line.

Kyzer SoSay said...

Women have lots more clothing options than men do. They might not look different, but they have so many terms for them that I cannot keep up. Shorts are shorts no matter who you are, however.

Unknown said...

she really stuck it to The Man. That'll show him

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Yes, women have a lot more clothing options than men. It's too bad that they generally suck. Seriously, all that clothing and still nothing to wear.

Took a little road trip last week. We went as far south as Carmel, CA (caught a couple of concerts at the Bach Festival, which we both used to play), and my husband made his habitual run out to the Robert Talbott outlet in Carmel Valley. I could've cried. All these scrumptious ties and elegant shirts and lovely sweaters for the men. For the women: sleeveless blouses, ultra-short skirts, low necklines, icky pastel colors. Yuck.

From Inwood said...

Will Hil be asked a Q about this whenever she lets herself be questioned?

Will The Donald?

Will this confirm to The Islamo-fascists that America is The Great Satan?

Will Prof A change her picture on this site to one with her wearing JCP "dress for success" shorts?

Inquiring minds want to know.

PS: Did the British soldiers in CBI or North Africa win WW II because of their uniforms with shorts?

damikesc said...

This is news...how?

The dress code says no shorts. Worker wore shorts.

William said...

She's a pretty girl, and she got her picture out there. So that's a win. She made her supervisor look foolish, so that's another win. Among her high school buddies, she has won the argument and is now a revered figure, right up there with Mother Theresa and Hillary Clinton.......The shorts look good on her, and, now, they're a little edgy. The store sells these shorts. They're ought to be a way to make this work for both parties. This is one of those rare cases where marketing people are being insufficiently cynical.

AlbertAnonymous said...

I read this far and quit:

"The teen, who goes by the Twitter handle @queenfeminist, had been employed for all of two weeks before the Friday incident that's since been labeled as hypocritical and sexist—and created an Internet firestorm."

And I love how the media writes these things "the Friday incident that's since been labeled as hypocritical and sexist..." Since been labeled "hypocritical and sexist" by whom? The antagonist @queenfeminist ? Gee there's a shocker.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CWJ said...

William,

She's sort of a North Dakota version of Daenerys Targaryen (Mother of Combines), or is it Mother of Oil Wells now.

Brando said...

"The teen, who goes by the Twitter handle @queenfeminist, had been employed for all of two weeks before the Friday incident that's since been labeled as hypocritical and sexist—and created an Internet firestorm."

Wonderfully weaselly use of the passive voice.

I guess feminist heroes are hard to come by these days. Forget that girl in Afghanistan who was threatened with murder for trying to get an education--this brave girl decided to dress inappropriately for work and called out her employer when they dared to criticize!

damikesc said...

As I say anytime this happens...

Only idiots use Twitter. Nothing good ever comes of the horrid service. Let it die on the vine.

damikesc said...

Also, is there a difference between feminism and whiny bitching anymore?

I'd hope to see feminists calling her out as being a useless shit...but they are going to end up embracing her.

furious_a said...


Also, there is no such thing as a "short-sleeved dress shirt".

Deb said...

According to the comments, she is a victim of the patriarchy. (Snort.)

mccullough said...

Best publicity JC Penney has had in along time. Brilliant work by the head of marketing.

Darrell said...

http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2015/07/62415Green3A3068.jpg

Freeman Hunt said...

Short career wear.