Congress Dress Code Discussion

[EmseB]

Everything I read indicates that this unwritten rule was last enforced under Pelosi, who left office in 2011. Would you really carry something around with you to all your appointments for 6 years in case you needed to go to the Capitol, and they suddenly enforced an unwritten rule again?

Would I keep a suit jacket on hand if I worked in govt in DC? Absolutely. If I knew I had to go to the Capitol routinely? It seems like a no-brainer. Person leaves office to meet with other agencies, representatives, officials, etc...person puts on their suit jacket, which they keep in the office if they don't want to wear it outside in the heat.

[Daria]

Would I keep a suit jacket on hand if I worked in govt in DC? Absolutely. If I knew I had to go to the Capitol routinely? It seems like a no-brainer. Person leaves office to meet with other agencies, representatives, officials, etc...person puts on their suit jacket, which they keep in the office if they don't want to wear it outside in the heat.

 

Which works well if you're in an occupation where you are sitting at a desk, and then leaving to go to one meeting, and then coming back to your desk.

 

It works less well if you're in a job like journalism where you might be covering an event at the White House in the morning, then going to lunch with a source and while you're there getting a alert on your phone that the Speaker is about to make an announcement causing you to rush to the Speaker's lobby.   And you're making all these transitions on foot or on the subway, so you can't keep the jacket in the car.

 

Given that women aren't currently expected to wear suit jackets in either of the first two settings, and that a suit jacket would look out of place in both settings, it's not surprising that a female journalist might find herself at the Speakers Lobby without one.  Especially if, for the past 6 years, no woman has been turned away for wearing a professional sleeveless dress or blouse.  

[EmseB]

Which works well if you're in an occupation where you are sitting at a desk, and then leaving to go to one meeting, and then coming back to your desk.

 

It works less well if you're in a job like journalism where you might be covering an event at the White House in the morning, then going to lunch with a source and while you're there getting a alert on your phone that the Speaker is about to make an announcement causing you to rush to the Speaker's lobby. And you're making all these transitions on foot or on the subway, so you can't keep the jacket in the car.

 

Given that women aren't currently expected to wear suit jackets in either of the first two settings, and that a suit jacket would look out of place in both settings, it's not surprising that a female journalist might find herself at the Speakers Lobby without one. Especially if, for the past 6 years, no woman has been turned away for wearing a professional sleeveless dress or blouse.

And yet somehow men (male journalists, even!) deal with it all the time.

 

I still think a suit jacket is just not that hard. And maybe if one can't manage a suit jacket (or just sleeves in general) perhaps they should not be doing jobs that involve "all these transitions".

 

But I already acknowledged that haphazard enforcement is, of course, a problem. Interestingly, the response to the rule being enforced again was not, "Okay, now I'm aware we're doing this again. I'll bring my suit jacket next time." It was whining that the rules were unfair to women and covering one's arms is too difficult.

 

ETA for clarification, I don't think a business suit would look out of place in any of the scenarios you mentioned, especially in DC, so we're probably just talking past each other at this point.

Edited July 18, 2017 by EmseB