It’s fashion week in Paris, and I want to give away another book.
Punk Rock HR Contest: Fashion Disasters
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Punk Rock HR and Team Building is for Suckers by L.Ruettimann is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at punkrockhr.com.
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I also have a shoe story: I went to a my alma mater for a recruiting event in the fall. Suit, hair and makeup were all pretty spiffy. The problem? In my rush to get out the door, I forgot to change out of the funky brown slippers I was wearing to walk the dog that morning. My lovely black pumps were left behind in the car that my husband promptly drove 30 miles away after dropping me off.
I conducted all interviews seated, with my feet hidden behind a corporate banner. Thank god I remembered THAT.
When I returned to work after maternity leave, against the recommendations of more experienced moms than I, I wore reuseable cloth pads in my bra to soak up any “leaks” that might happen while I was separated from my daughter. Well, not only did I soak through those, but my shirt as well, so I had to walk around with a wet shirt for part of the day. I thought all was well when it finally dried until I looked in the mirror – total stains down the front of my shirt.
I was in a “stand up” meeting one day when a co-worker pointed out I was wearing one black flat and one navy blue flat. It flustered me at first but I remembered I had another pair at home.
My worse fashion mistake at work?
I was working for the State of Utah. I usually dressed pretty conservative, but one day, I decided to go all granola to work…flowery peasant dress, with ribbons up the bodice etc. Hey, this was the Rockies! So not my usual work-wear, but I felt like doing something different.
When I got to work, I realized that this was the day I was supposed to address a group of human service providers to explain the Request for Proposals bidding process — at the state capital building. With the Governor there.
I had less than an hour, but I managed to run across Temple Square, into the mall, into Nordstom and buy a whole new outfit –skirt, blouse, hose, shoes and make it to my presentation on time! It cost me about $200 to rectify that fashion mistake before it became a fashion crisis — I learned my lesson the hard way!!
Does one’s whole wardobe count?
When I was graduating from Michigan State University, and working as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service, the only opportunity to schedule interviews at the Student Employment Center fell during my work day.
I would do my best to schedule my 30 minute interview appt. around lunch time, carry a suit in my post office jeep, and go to the Center where I would switch out of my mail man apparel like Superman, jump into a suit and tie, interview, and then switch back into the mail man costume to resume my appointed rounds.
One day the interviewer was running late, and caused me to work past my lunch period. Not wanting to miss the interview opportunity, I hung out – did the interview and then rapidly switched back to mail man mode and ran through the rest of route.
When I got back to the post office, my supervisor asked me why I was wearing a light yellow shirt instead of my required uniform shirt. I had been so rushed I left the shirt I had worn to the interview on all afternoon without really noticing!
I already have the book and will be reviewing it soon!
@jennifer, man, I’ve been there. That combined with new-mommy poochie belly sticking out of the bottom of a button-down I was convinced I could wear post-partum = guys in the office calling or IM-ing me from right next door in order to not have to look at me in a face-to-face meeting. Or maybe it was the dark circles under my eyes? Or the pump sitting on the desk? Or the tears every time someone said the word “baby?”
I’m sure lots of working moms of infants have it together, but I sure as heck didn’t.
I normally don’t wear skirts but I was feeling particularly flirty that day so I wore a black pleated skirt with black tights. I felt really good about the outfit and felt on my game that day. Until I went to used the restroom later that day…. as I left the restroom, I knew something felt different and then I realized that I had walked out and down the hallway (passing about 25 other people) with the back of my skirt tucked into my black tights exposing my backside. Guess everyone else thought I was “flirty” also.
Law school graduation: bright, sunny day in late May. I arrive at the auditorium & realize my mortarboard (funny hat) is back in the apartment, six blocks away. Jump in the car and Andretti to and fro, mortarboard in hand. Arrive back at theater and dash to my spot *just* in time for the pompous and circumstantial proceedings to begin.
After taking my turn to collect a sheepskin from the dean up on the stage of the packed hall, numerous classmates started giving me a thumbs-up and hearty “way to go, man!” Others looked at me with puzzlement and disdain — I had no idea that so many were so emotionally invested in my academic success or failure, apparently….
Afterwards, as I greeted my family, there was the same distribution of big smiles and puzzled frowns. Eventually, my Grandma (a smiler) said sweetly, “Congratulations, but why did you have to wear those silly glasses?” What? Oops. In my haste to get back inside for the commencement, I’d sported my coolest, raddest surfer shades throughout the whole event. By accident.
And so began the rabble-rousing, anti-establishment portion of my career….
Ok, I think I’ll win this hands down.
I was working for a government ministry as an admin assistant. It was a Friday, and I was going out later, so I put on a denim dress that came down to mid-thigh. This was in Victoria, Canada, where they create hippies, and it was the middle of summer – and in the Ministry of Environment where the dress code was shorts – so this wasn’t inappropriate, though I wouldn’t have worn it if it wasn’t Friday. I paired it with some new, brown high-heeled leather sandals. I didn’t realize till I got to work that they added a few inches in the wrong place, and the skirt was actually shorter than I remembered.
That’s not embarassing in and of itself. What’s embarassing is that I got my period unexpectedly. So I wished my panies out in the sink and put them in my locker to dry.
(Oh, yes, and everybody knows what’s coming next, except me, who for some reason didn’t…)
A fellow employee had dropped some files all over the floor, so I kneeled down to help pick them up. When I went to stand up, I underestimated the high of my shoes and went sprawling… legs open… in the middle of the hallway.
Thankfully not too many people saw…
OKAY, POLL CLOSED. I’LL ANNOUNCE WINNERS TOMORROW!
What a shame I missed the cutoff.
I went to work one day (I maintain that I didn’t sleep well and dressed in the dark) with a purple shirt, navy slacks, and black shoes.
It took absolutely forever for people to stop calling me Professor Plum.
@SM Nice. That’s a very euro 80s look, too.