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I work in finance at an office where the dress code is business casual. The finance (pronounced fin-ance ) aspect of it means that we have banks coming through on a weekly basis, so it’s highly encouraged to emphasize the business part in lieu of the casual. Polos can be worn, but are mostly discouraged. At least we don’t have to wear ties, but you get the picture. For two weeks out of the year though we get to let our hair down. We get to kick back and relax a bit. We get to… wear jeans.
For some of you, jeans are part of your daily attire for work. You work at one of those cool start-ups or workplaces where they, they give you the tools to be your own boss. For those of you that work from home, yes this is directed at you Fifth Harmony, well I’d be surprised if you’re wearing pants at all. Sitting there in your boxers, coffee stains on your tee shirt, and six-day stubble as you hammer out that last line of SQL code for the day before signing off at a chill 4:20 p.m. every day. Jeans would probably be a chore for you. In fact, that’s considered dressing up.
This article is not aimed at those in the above paragraph, although I’d appreciate if you keep reading. This article is for all of my business casual cubicle warriors. Sure, khakis are comfortable. Some would even argue that they are comfier than jeans. Others would argue that I shouldn’t be greedy; that there are many hard working people wearing full-on suits and ties to work. To those people, I salute you. You have that whole Wolf of Wall Street look about you and if done right, that looks v baller IMO. You probably would also kill to unbutton that top button and loosen that tie that feels constrained around your neck; like a metaphor for each work day choking the life out of you slowly, day by day. Maybe a few weeks out of the year you get to wear business casual to work instead of business professional, so if that’s the case you too can relate.
There’s just something special about a dress down week at work. It seems to give everyone hope. Coworkers are more relaxed. They’re walking around smiling and saying hello to each other. Metaphorical birds are singing a song and flowers are blooming (I live in the North so all the birds already flew South and the plants died… but you get the picture). There’s a certain feeling in the air that no issue is too tall to tackle. If you can’t figure it out today, that’s fine… because you’re wearing jeans. And through team work… and jean work… you can make the dream work.
Does it help that these jean weeks fall on three day work weeks for most of us? You bet your sweet ass it does. Mashed potatoes, turkey, and playing catch with the pig skin are on the horizon. Getting drunk with a couple old high school friends and even more high school frenemies are only a day away. While Tim is bragging about his sweet gig at Richard n Richard LLC and Michelle is going on and on about how she just got another promotion, you can smile and nonchalantly mention how you got to wear jeans for the past few days at work. They might think so what. But they probably also don’t realize how important this is to you.
So as I sit here in my cubicle typing away while that o so familiar feeling of denim hugging my dancer’s legs, I can only look at the calendar and think it’s going to be a great week..
Respond
@ellisnd02
@ellisnd
There’s two days a year we can wear jeans but only if you donate some money to a charity.
Do you work for Subaru?
No.
We get to wear jeans every Friday. Working for America’s most evil bank does have some positives to it.
You work at the Federal Reserve?
No, but we do steal money and charge exorbitant interest rates.
I think we work at the same institution, Cube.
I worked in a jeans office and I’ve worked in a suit and tie office. Turns out that sitting in a chair staring at a computer so you can afford a place to come home to sit on your couch and stare at a computer is depressing either way.
For some reason we had to work from home all week, so I’ve been wearing sweat pants and slippers since Thanksgiving night. I won’t even go to a store for fear of having to put on real shoes, and I’m choosing my lunches based on who has a drive through window.
Stretch jeans are a game changer.
I’m done with jeans
In the winter I wear long sweaters and leggings everyday, even jean day. Leggings are way more comfortable than jeans.
best part about working in San Francisco: shorts on fridays. or any day.
Wrong. SF is cold AF
An advantage of working in college athletics is wearing golf shorts is about as dressed up as I get outside of recruiting events and game day.
I write lines of SQL code and sit in a cubicle wearing khakis. I feel as though I should explore the private sector…