We are dress coded....

I hate dress codes @ work and collages 

Hey,

DRESS CODE ARE SOMETIME MANDATORY AND MANY A TIME OPTIONAL. Say, guy working in radioactive environment, needs special apparel/ dress code as mandatory.Whereas, a company  introduce a color dress to distinguish them from other is optional. See the difference between the two. Earlier one was a safety measures whereas the second one is pointed towards Business promotion. Unless there is a real requirement for dress code, it is not to be introduced at workplace. It takes away the freedom of dressing.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE UNIFORM SERVICE AND THE CIVIL SERVICE. Dress code as per safety regulation is always accepted.

I think it is simple the rule book has been sent from Mother company since the Head of India do not follow the same why the others will follow? In case the company is serious they should provide the dress so that everybody wears it.

I think that if there is an official dress code, everyone - regardless of gender - must abide by and HR must enforce and police it, like many have said.
Flashy glittery dresses are never formals, and should be OK only at party times, and scanty dresses must be a no no. Yet, I see a different problem that women have, especially in India - which is the need to conform to "western style". Why should formal mean western? I know sarees are supposedly formal, but there is an untold pressure to have western hair style. I know of many very successful women who look "traditionally" Indian and that should be encouraged. There are several women who are NOT dress sensitive, and are forced to align up to western looks - only for peer acceptance. Isn't that ridiculous? Just as there should be no undue freedom for women to dress as they wish, there should be no undue pressures on their looks either. Simple and neat should be acceptable. I believe in real total equality!

dress code fosters uniformity and a work enviorment in any office. It helps a lot in reducing unwanted attention for any employee from other team members.

Maintaining discipline in office and abide by the rules and regulations of the company is very important for carrier growth. Think about your self not about the millions who don't care. It is your carrier and you have to be smarter than others.

Dress code is very important in a professional environment as it endorses
descipline and accountability to your mission. Informal wears should be allowed
only for those working on holidays.  If you are informal in your dress, you 
are likely to lose touch of class in your professional dealings.  This applies to 
both genders since any professional assignment expects same output from both men and women.

Tanima has rightly said, "no one can break the rule." If some one breaks the rule, whether a male or female member of the organization, it would have been treated as a sheer indiscipline on the part of the employees. Evidently, in the instant case which Kriti has referred, HR has failed to discharge its own duties and responsibilities. Had they discharged their duties and responsibilities properly there would not have been the case of failure to observe dress code by the female members. So, first of all HR people should have been taken to task for not getting the organizational rules implemented in proper sense. Once some HR man would have been made accountable, the evil of indiscipline would instantly have vanished when they could start doing their own duties and responsibilities.

 I happen to be from the Armed Forces back ground where dress codes are followed whether during work or in leisure. There is a Uniform (Working rig), the games rig, dinner rig, ceremonial rig and even the Club rig. It implies that the officer or the man/ woman is adorned in the rig suitable for the occasion and his/her spouse is appropriately attired. The term appropriate is relative and associated with the occasion. For example, a bikini in the swimming pool would be appropriate but not in a social evening.So would the display of biceps , triceps,calves and abs among men be in a gym or a sports ground and definitely not on the dance floor.Like Maruti Cars have at their outlets across the country. Every one wears a definite category of uniform clothing during working hours.I guess all this corporate dress coding is the resultant spillover of a non gender specific work environment where men and women work together.This has its roots in the western corporate culture where employees are comfortable with each other without much hue and cry about what and how much. The managements in their efforts to discover the causes of low productivity may have realised that while fashionably / trendily dressed women were comfortably working in their attire, while the male professional productivity went down as most time would be spent in oggling at what the co worker's dress reveals or conceals and the balance work hours would be lost in the stirred up imagination thereafter. I presume dress coding has been introduced, wherever, to properly harness male productivity. A lot is left to readers interpretation of the wordless expression. The type of coding would obviously depend upon the nature of the job or the corporate objective of an organisation. A company engaged in cosmetic upgradation or publicity or tourism ot Aviation may well encourage a slightly louder make up than possibly a banking company.I am sure volumes can be keyed on this subject. Thanx for the invite and warm regards.

Kriti, it is because of our society attitude towards woman's, even though woman's are there in every filed still people don't expect them to come with professional looks,people want woman to look good that is the only aspect every one notice,when we see a lady in our office we never think about what she is doing in flashy salwar in monthly sales meet instead of that, her colleagues ends up there with complimenting that she is looking good today.

maybe the rules are only for the men I guess

Hi Kirti, In your own message you state the following - "But as I looked around I could see all inappropriately dressed women. Only few top notches were rightly dressed. There were few who cared that they wore right clothes in office."  

Yes, they cared and the company too. They were rightly rewarded and became the "Top Notches". That they had the attitude to follow the rules laid out by the management (even if they might have seemed absurd at times) shows their attitude. It shows their dedication and respect they gave to their work and to the organization. That is why they grew in their career and became "Top Notches" or "Order Givers".

The rest dint care about these and thus remained where they were - "Order Takers" - that was the price they had to pay for not caring for what the company had to say, isn't it so?

Feeling  Jealous, Joking Kriti. It will happen,some girl's really can't stop themselves, If dresscode is really necessary then company should monitor that rules are same for everyone, no one can break the rule.