The humble jeans ruffles feathers

Cutting across gender and social barriers, jeans are a wardrobe staple. This is why it is surprising that the Rajasthan State Labour Department has termed jeans as ‘indecent’ and banned its employees from wearing them on duty. “It has been observed that some officials/employees come to the office wearing jeans, t-shirts and other indecent clothes.

It is disrespectful and against the dignity of the office,” said District Magistrate Giriraj Singh Kushwaha, who passed the order.

From a style perspective, however, celebrity stylist Rick Roy argues that restricting jeans and t-shirts is not at all fair. “You can’t wear a Sabyasachi saree to work. Neither can you just wear a bikini, nor can you dress however you want. Dressing up correctly and for the occasion is something you should always do.  But calling jeans indecent and inappropriate is just wrong,” he adds.

Bharani Kumar, CEO at an information company, believes that there is no need for any such policies to be made in the first place. He shares, “We don’t follow any such dress code nor have we made any such policies regarding it. Employees are working here, if they are not comfortable, how do you expect them to work properly? Our only restriction is that they cannot wear bathroom slippers.”

Meanwhile, many youngsters prefer business casuals to formals. Ashutosh Sarda, who works at a well-known bank, feels, “Business casuals are allowed in my company. I have been wearing denims for 22 years now and if you are asked to suddenly wear formals, it’s just not comfortable. Even though I don’t like collared t-shirts, it’s way better than wearing formals.”

Further, some people believe that you need to strictly wear formals to be taken seriously. “A collar is a must. It looks more acceptable. If you are seen wearing casuals, people will not consider you important,” feels Trivikram Potuli, HR at a consulting firm.

Trivikram adds that the comfort level of employees cannot always be paramount. Shedding some light on the same, Meghavi Trivedi, an employee with an MNC, opines, “Formals are as comfortable as jeans and t-shirts. If people are talking about decent clothing, then jeans and tops at least cover your body completely unlike traditional dresses like the saree.” 

While the need to follow office decorum is understandable, jeans and t-shirts continue to be the preferred outfit for the majority.