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Are Uniforms / Smart Office Wear on the Way Out?

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trash80

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Not sure thats true, a friend's partner was trying to join the WM Police and had stringent fitness levels to reach... maybe these are all forgotten about when you get your warrant card. :P
 
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AlterEgo

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Not sure thats true, a friend's partner was trying to join the WM Police and had stringent fitness levels to reach... maybe these are all forgotten about when you get your warrant card. :P

That’s not correct. The fitness standard for WMP is extremely low, requiring a miserly level 5.4 on the bleep test.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Indeed I agree with the base point - however 'presentable' is an subjective matter, and I cannot ever recall having considered a police officer unpresentable. However, I am 23, and I would not find tattoos, beards or an unironed shirt unpresentable.

I don't mind blokes having tattoos or piercings, they can look good, although perhaps piercings for the police may not be practical. ( I am thinking of having both done myself. :D)
 

Western Lord

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I believe French TGV drivers don’t have an official uniform and I regularly see freight drivers in jeans and comfortable clothes, stout work boots/shoes. By far the most appropriate attire for the job they do.
No SNCF drivers wear uniforms and as far as I know never have. No idea whether they get a "wear and tear" allowance.
 

underbank

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Not sure thats true, a friend's partner was trying to join the WM Police and had stringent fitness levels to reach... maybe these are all forgotten about when you get your warrant card. :P

A while ago, yes. My wife was turned down by several local forces simply because she wore glasses - in those days, only the Met would allow recruits wearing glasses. Presumably no longer allowable to ban glasses wearers due to the disability discrimination laws. I also had a girlfriend before that who kept getting turned down because she couldn't run fast enough over a set distance - she kept passing the other fitness elements and the theory/academic tests, but it was always the running that got her - otherwise she was fit & healthy and was just a few seconds short on the running tests - a real shame as she was ideal material. I think current entry tests are a lot less rigorous.
 

Tom B

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I'm ambivalent about uniforms; they have both positives and negatives.

I don't really like the current fad for dressing all staff identically, though. People aren't tailors' dummies, different jobs will have different clothing needs, and that should be recognised and suitable clothing offered.

I'm also old-fashioned enough that I like the idea of different grades and higher levels of authority/responsibility being made obvious in a uniform, whether it be by a different colour (blue for staff, grey for supervisors, for example) or by some form of marking (there's a reason the navy has those sleeve rings!). At the moment if you're sat in a train or waiting at a station and a member of staff comes past you have no idea whether it's a train guard, a platform dispatcher, a cleaner, a fraud inspector, a fitter, a driver or whoever. It doesn't always matter, of course, but sometimes it does, and if you can quickly identify them by their uniform then that has to be a good thing. The current answer seems to be "you can look at their name badge" but that's not something easily read from half-a-platform/carriage away!

I seem to remember that one of the recommendations of the Fennell Report into the fire at Kings X was that station supervisors ought to wear a uniform distinct from the ordinary station attendants. Reason being that, in an emergency, a fireman can immediately see who they should speak to etc.
 

Bletchleyite

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I seem to remember that one of the recommendations of the Fennell Report into the fire at Kings X was that station supervisors ought to wear a uniform distinct from the ordinary station attendants. Reason being that, in an emergency, a fireman can immediately see who they should speak to etc.

I've heard more than one person comment that the old VT "red jacket" uniform was really valuable because it enabled a passenger to pick out a member of staff easily and quickly from a crowd (give or take erroneously picking out Michael Portillo :) ) and that the new darker uniform removes that ability.

The "everyone wearing hi-vis with their role printed on it" approach that First like also works, but doesn't have quite the same look of classiness to it, it's a bit industrial in appearance.
 

greyman42

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That’s not correct. The fitness standard for WMP is extremely low, requiring a miserly level 5.4 on the bleep test.
I think people being unfit and overweight has become acceptable in society and as such Police officers can get away with being the same.
 

DavidGrain

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I am old enough to remember the days when every man who wore a uniform (policeman, fireman, postman, bus conductor etc) also had a row of medal ribbons. I was probably the last man in the office to wear a jacket while sitting at the desk. I even used to wear a tie at weekends.

I think anyone who is in a position to give instructions to the public, and this includes passenger train drivers, ought to have a distinctive form of dress.

What I dislike seeing is men wearing jackets with an open necked shirt with the collar of the shirt screwed up under the jacket. If I am wearing a jacket without a tie, my training at school was always to fold my shirt collar over my jacket collar.
 

greyman42

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The one that I have never understood is when people say that wearing casual clothing is more "comfortable" than wearing a suit. How are suits uncomfortable?
 

Bletchleyite

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The one that I have never understood is when people say that wearing casual clothing is more "comfortable" than wearing a suit. How are suits uncomfortable?

- Wearing a jacket indoors is too warm, and the shoulder pads they always have sit awkwardly on me
- A suit is normally accompanied by the garrotte known a a tie

...to name two.
 

greyman42

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- Wearing a jacket indoors is too warm, and the shoulder pads they always have sit awkwardly on me
- A suit is normally accompanied by the garrotte known a a tie

...to name two.
I have never found jackets uncomfortable indoors. Does your jacket fit? A tie is perfectly comfortable as long as it is not too tight. If you have a belt on your trousers, you don't fasten it too tight as to be uncomfortable.
 

Bletchleyite

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I have never found jackets uncomfortable indoors. Does your jacket fit? A tie is perfectly comfortable as long as it is not too tight. If you have a belt on your trousers, you don't fasten it too tight as to be uncomfortable.

A jacket is uncomfortable simply because I run hot. In any office environment I am comfortable in a single layer of clothing (i.e. a shirt or polo, and ALWAYS short sleeved). A second layer makes me too hot.

But re the shoulder pads, I don't find it comfortable when clothing does not move with me, if you see what I mean. No jacket other than one without shoulder pads will do that, however expensive or perfectly fitted.

A tie is not comfortable, ever. It is a garment of repression, not smart appearance. Fortunately, working as I do in IT, it is very, very rare that I have to wear one - smart shirt and trousers are nearly always acceptable.
 

greyman42

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A jacket is uncomfortable simply because I run hot. In any office environment I am comfortable in a single layer of clothing (i.e. a shirt or polo, and ALWAYS short sleeved). A second layer makes me too hot.

But re the shoulder pads, I don't find it comfortable when clothing does not move with me, if you see what I mean. No jacket other than one without shoulder pads will do that, however expensive or perfectly fitted.

A tie is not comfortable, ever. It is a garment of repression, not smart appearance. Fortunately, working as I do in IT, it is very, very rare that I have to wear one - smart shirt and trousers are nearly always acceptable.
Fair enough.
 

nlogax

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I can't stand wearing suits..gave mine away to charity shops, bar just one for special occasions. I work in IT and wearing a suit really isn't expected when working with clients. Business casual has become the norm in most parts of our industry and I'm grateful for that.

No problem at all with the slow death of the widespread suit and tie requirement in the wider business world. Re. ties, I'm with @Bletchleyite here - "It is a garment of repression, not smart appearance". Nail on head.
 

Raul_Duke

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I've found from bitter experience the smarter someone looks the bigger idiot they often turn out to be, as long as someone is recognisable i do not care.

So by this logic, if I’m lying in my hospital bed, and the consultant turns with a roll up on the go, mucky trainers, fake Adidas three stripe trousers from Skegness market and a t shirt with a marijuana leaf on it then I should be good to go?
 

STEVIEBOY1

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If it is a uniform jacket it is almost guaranteed not to fit nowadays.

Tailored uniforms went out of fashion a long time ago (due to the cost) and instead it seems that everyone gets issued* cheap shoddy Chinese stuff which even a shonky shop wouldn't touch. And which looks like something a rather dodgy boys school would issue, too; why do so many current railway uniforms look like iffy school uniforms?

* Assuming the ship hasn't been hijacked en route, of course. :rolleyes:

Yes I agree with you there, alot of uniforms in many industries/shops etc, do look like cheap school uniforms, which perhaps defeats the object of having a uniform in the first place.
 

DavidGrain

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I rarely wear a tie now although I used to wear one even when not at work. There was a time when I had over 100 ties and was noted for wearing very psychedelic coloured ties such that sometimes I was asked to switch my tie off!
 

bussnapperwm

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I rarely wear a tie now although I used to wear one even when not at work. There was a time when I had over 100 ties and was noted for wearing very psychedelic coloured ties such that sometimes I was asked to switch my tie off!

Same here.
 

Clip

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The one that I have never understood is when people say that wearing casual clothing is more "comfortable" than wearing a suit. How are suits uncomfortable?


I'm guessing because most are off the peg and they try to fit every shaped body where that's just not possible.

A tailor made suit is possibly the best investment a man really. I've stopped wearing ties now though unless I'm seeing a client.
 
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STEVIEBOY1

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I rarely wear a tie now although I used to wear one even when not at work. There was a time when I had over 100 ties and was noted for wearing very psychedelic coloured ties such that sometimes I was asked to switch my tie off!
I travel sometimes with a small tour firm that specialises in rail holidays and a couple of their tour managers wear some fabulous ties, some are rail themed, some are just bright and eye catching.

As I have mentioned elsewhere on this forum, even if we could not afford a full school uniform, we still had to wear a tie, either the school's tie, or if not, they would accept any tie, with Vee or even round or roll neck pullovers. Failure not to be wearing a tie resulted in lines, detention or even the cane!
 
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