Bank Of England Teaches Women How To Dress For Success / Unlike Whores

The Bank of England recently held a “Dress for Success” day, an opportunity the company used to teach its female employees how to dress, successfully, so that they don’t run the risk of appearing to be whores or dowdy housewives. As woman are so wont to do in professional workplaces.

In its memo to its female emplyees, the Bank of England presented such helpful guidelines as the fact that women must wear makeup and subtle perfumes and should always match their shoe color to that of their skirts, while making sure that their skirts reach their knees and that their shoes always have heels as long - as they are not taller than two inches. So if you wear your long skirt, but neglect to put on some rouge, someone might mistake you for one of those loose Banco de España women. And if you match your shoe color with that of your skirt but came to work in flats, well. Woe is you, sister. 

The Bank also asked its female employees not to carry purses that are too large, nor too full. Other infractions include wearing white shoes, ankle chains, an “overload” of rings and double-pierced ears.

Oh, and in case you were wondering whether our “whore” quip was merely yet another failed attempt at humor, ha! You’re really mean. And, also, ha! Guess again. Included in the memo the Bank of England issued to its vagina’d employees is the well-documented fact certain accessories favored by the ladies are ”professional, but not the one you want to be associated with.” They refer, of course, to the world’s oldest profession. Money lending Whoring. 

And how do successful men dress? Alas, there is no such memo to teach us. But if the manner in which Bank of England’s Mervyn King and Sir John Gieve dress are any indication, they go about with poorly tied neckties, pot bellies, disheveled hair and an air of gross misogyny. NY Mag provides a helpful picture of the two men in question:

"I find that flat shoes make women's legs look stumpy." "Too right, Merv. Too right. And chain ankles? So 1992, amiright?"

Not only is this memo a blatant example of sexism in the workplace - we think that much is fairly obvious - it’s also an indication that many places of business tend to view employees as possessions of sorts and thus begin to toe the line between an employer/employee relationship to one of parent/child. There’s a point at which a dress code meant to make employees equal and clients feel comfortable with the level of professionalism of a company crosses over and becomes a tyrannical attempt at micro-managing someone’s personal taste and wardrobe. 

Perhaps what gets us the most about this dress code is that it highlights the role women are often painted into occupying in the workplace - one must always be “put together” and “presentable” (buzzwords that sound better than simply saying “be attractive”) without seeming too available or too good looking. Make sure that you wear heels, ladies, but not too tall. You don’t want Stan in accounting to get the wrong idea. You don’t want the client to feel intimidated. 

We’ll be sure to follow this story and see what, if anything, come of it. Meanwhile, tell us: What do you think of the Ban of England’s “Dress for Success” memo?

El Banco de Inglaterra quiere trabajadoras sin escotes, tacones, ni minifaldas [20 Minutos]

The Bank of England’s female-friendly dress code [Telegraph]

Female Bank of England Employees Must Wear Makeup and Heels [NY Mag]