As a rule of thumb, if you don’t want people talking about what you are wearing or not wearing vs the quality of your work, you should follow these simple rules.

3in heels or lower. Chunk heels and flats are more appropriate, not to mention more comfortable.
Not wearing pantyhose or knee highs with exposed leg? Well you’ll get people focusing on something other than your work. Trust me, they are a pain and costly, but more appropriate.
Try to wear a suit, trousers and a top. The less you are selling your wares, the better.

uncomfortable (on body and in shoes) – Then find a brand and material that is right for you…stop buying the $1 cheapo drugstore brand that feels like a burlap bag.

constricting – Find a size that is right for your body.

yeast-infection inducing – ummm, wear undergarments.

i will not sacrifice my health and well-being in order to look like what some might consider profession. – Nor should you…however, women for decades have managed to wear hosiery without sacrificing their health and well being. For many, many years it was really, no big deal. All of a sudden, fashion changed and it became a big deal. Again, this is less about comfort and more about being “in style”.

by no means am i a slob. but i only wear pantyhose to church. – I’m glad to hear this.

uncomfortable (on body and in shoes)
constricting
yeast-infection inducing

i will not sacrifice my health and well-being in order to look like what some might consider profession. by no means am i a slob. but i only wear pantyhose to church.

To assert that women who don’t wear nylons (with pants even?!?) are slobs or sluts, is extremely ridiculous. There are much better indications of a person’s character, and much bigger issues to worry about. Furthermore, I think it’s arrogant for you to basically command how women must dress.

Wearing nylons does not make you a professional, nor does it even make you look professional. The way a whole outfit works together, as well as a woman’s confidence, character, and and personality, all play into professionalism. Anyone can wear nylons.

Myself personally, when I’m dressing professionally I like to wear a blouse and slacks with black dress socks and shoes.

Preface: Before women get all upset after reading this, let me say I am for equality between men and women, but that DOES NOT mean there should be a double
standard when it comes to professional and classy dress. As it stands today, women can get away wearing pretty much what they want in all environments –
work, school, the symphony etc. I’ve even read stories/postings and seen where women show up to school or work at professional environments in their PJ’s a T-shirt and flip-flops, and clearly just rolled out of bed…yet they still demand R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Men, on the other hand, are still expected to dress in a
shirt, tie, socks and nice shoes before they get respect. This is unfair and it’s time to do something about it.

So now that a recession is upon us and nylons are making a small come-back, perhaps it is time to fight against this nonsense and insist on changes. I think

those who think those who follow the New York/Hollywood fashion world a little too religiously when it comes to poor taste, especially in the lack of wearing

nylons or pantyhose, need be made to make a choice about their livelihood. I propose that those of us who have the ability follow this manifesto.

1. If you are in a business casual environment and are tired of seeing flip-flops and bare-legs, talk to management to get them to “spruce up” the dress code

to show professionalism to each other and to clients.

Tell them that it is illogical reasoning to assume that “I don’t see clients; therefore I should not have to wear nylons”. Are they robots and just sit at
their desks all the time? Do they not go out for lunch, and are they 100% sure that a client or potential client is not in their building checking out their
environment? Besides, their job is not there for their personal comfort, it is there to service the needs of their customers and their comfort. And yes,
That does include IT workers. I am in the IT field and have been so for over 10 years and have witnessed the decline has its roots in that field,

particularly during the “DOT COM” days in the late 1990′s. Just throw around words like “Application Service Provider”, “India” and “Outsourcing” to get the

attitude to change in the IT shops of businesses.

I’ve researched this bit and my conclusion regarding performance and dress codes is this. Relaxed dress codes do increase productivity, but ONLY for a short

period of time. After the novelty of a relaxed dress code wears off does one discover that people are actually more careless about their work, less customer

service oriented (honestly, do you believe that customer service has gotten better in the last 10 years in any industry?) and you see less productivity and

more tardiness. The solution, dust of the 1995 employee handbooks and move back to a formal dress code which includes shirt and ties for men, and nylon

hosiery for women.

Also, it appears that as the dress code has slipped in professional settings, sexual harassment has actually increased as women feel more comfortable baring

more skin. This is another good argument to bring up with your employers, because sexual harassment could end a company’s life and all the jobs within it

faster than you can say “Paula Jones”.

Insist that you feel that the business is applying a double standard against men by making them wear socks while girls can go bare. The employer legally has

the right to dictate a dress code in the U.S. as long as it is applied uniformly and fairly. If your business is casual attire, you might have to accept
requiring socks or opaque tights as well as pantyhose for a while. But those in business casual environments or smart casual which require socks at
aminimum, perhaps the time is right to introduce that women should have to wear hosiery, particularly if you are a man and have to wear a suit and tie.

2. If you are owner, in a hiring or decision making roll in your business, do not hire consultants or potential female employees who show up bare-legged. If

they can’t be bothered to present their best selves on a first interview, its indicative there could be attitude problems later.

3. Keep track of the aggressive female employees who complain if/when a new policy requiring nylons is implemented…put them on the short list of people to
let go when the company needs to scale back due to hard economic times.

4. Be aware of the “passive aggressive” types, who when given the requirement to wear nylons, simply refuse and try to “sneak by” by wearing longer pants and

shoes, but who you can still tell are not wearing hose when they sit down. Add them to your shortlist to let go as well.

5. Do not hire female lawyers. I’ve read about 60% of law students these days are female. I’ve also noticed the greatest trend (by reading through blogs on

the topic of professional dress and nylons is of women insisting on not having to wear nylons) are the women lawyers (Think Reese Witherspoon’s character
comment in Legally Blond “Pantyhose…it’s just not me”). OK, if there not you, you’re fired because I only want professionals, and YES professional dress

IS important. Besides, the US and the world need less lawyers anyways.

6. Do not transact business or monies (of significant value) with women who are dressed like slobs and do not wear nylons. If you are buying/selling a home,

or cars, jewelry or other goods of significant value where they make a commission, choose a man, or better yet a well dressed woman. I have turned down
service from women who dress like men (black pants, pull over shirt, socks or no socks) or slobs (bare legs, open-toed shoes) and have purchased big items

from a man instead. It is a little uncomfortable, but when the manager asks, I just say “Look, I’m spending a lot of money here…and I believe in all

aspects of professionalism. Your female employee does not exhibit the characteristics I consider professional, she’s got a nose ring, and a funcky visible

tattoo, and she isn’t even wearing nylons. Sorry, but I choose not to spend my money validating that attire.”

7. All things being equal, promote women who truly support the requirement to look professional and wear hosiery, demote or fire (see point 3) those who will

not.

8. Complain to the networks who let their anchor’s bare-legged. I complained about Katie Couric multiple times, and while it did not amount to much, I am
glad to see she moved to CBS, where she is struggling and may be leaving the network soon. I’ve also complained about Megan Kelly of Fox News multiple

times. I watch Fox news much less now because she is all over the place (and I’ve let them know that I’m tired of seeing her…I find her tacky,

unprofessional and somewhat smarmy). Also, guess what Megan Kelly is…that’s right, a lawyer (see point 5).

9. Do not support anything that Candace Bushnell produces, writes or sells. Candace is the brain-child author/producer of Sluts in the City, I mean “Sex and

the City”. She is an avowed pantyhose hater (that’s why her trampy characters went bare and helped propel the movement of bare-legs everywhere). Her latest

TV garbage is called “Lipstick Jungle” on NBC. More tackiness and ugly toes and legs. Ban that garbage from your television.

To conclude…I beleive the gender feminism has gone way to far and now men are second class citizens to women. We see it in the court system where women get

better treatment over men in custody and ad we see it in our popular culture where little boys have no honorable heroes and are told to suppress there boyish

ways and expected to act and behave like good little girls, and if they do not they are drugged you with Prozac. Yet, we discover left unattended,

women/girls are MORE violent, more dishonest more deceptive, less contrite and more aggressive than boys could ever dream of being as evidenced by this

latest round of aggressive girl teenage violence. I believe women/girls who have chosen to not wear hosiery is a symptom of this overall problem. We are

not teaching girls to GROW UP to be honorable women and ladies, instead we are allowing them to be the worst of MEN, tramps and sluts. The time is now to

reverse the trend while there are still decent and honorable men who can have the courage to look a woman/girl in the face and say, “No, I don’t accept this

nonsense…you will dress like a lady or I will no longer date you, no longer employ you, no longer let you have my money etc.”