Uniforms - formal vs. informal?

[dk1]

Don't most European drivers not wear a uniform though? It's only guards/catering staff that do?

In that case can I change my vote on leaving??? Haha

 

[hooverboy]

I don't care what they do on the continent. What works there may not work here. Ties are certainly a no non here.



Correct.



OBVIOUSLY You have to dress appropriately for the environment. What you suggest above is certainly not, in my experience, suitable for the environment on the railway. I have been involved in procuring uniform for 1000's of people and if you told the focus groups involved that they had to wear a shirt, tie, blazer (!) and the right colour tights they would go mad! They want uniform that is:

• Practical
• Safe (where it needs to be such as safety shoes)
• Well tailored with proper size rangers for both men and women
• Well made
• Easy to care for
• Cool in summer
• Warm in winter
• Smart

I know how to write a letter thanks. I have done it often enough for matters vastly more important than many here ever will! BTW you don't start it dear Sir/Madam. Ever.

oh really?
then how do you address yours?

 

[hexagon789]

precisely, you need comfort, functionality and resilience in case of unforseen mishaps

The latter seems to wanting in a lot of things, they don't last well.

 

[DarloRich]

oh really?
then how do you address yours?

It helps if you know the sex of the recipient!

These days you should really know who you are writing to and I don't think there is much excuse not to find out. I would always start Dear [Title] [Surname] if i had not met the recipient previously. Once I knew them I may use the first name if they addressed me by my first name.

The only time i would use something else would be a letter to something like the gas board where you cant get a human name.

anyway - well off topic!

 

[hexagon789]

In that case can I change my vote on leaving??? Haha

Don't think it would change uniform policy somehow!

 

[Facing Back]

Yes, because when we are getting up at 0245 for an early shift we are really going to be ironing shirts, pressing trousers and polishing shoes!




you should have them ironed several days before you need them,or at least have an adequate supply.
nobody escapes ironing!
even when I'm away clothes get horribly creased from being stacked in a suitcase for several hours and I will usually spend the evening of my arrival prior to a customer visit giving them a good going over to look someway respectable.

If I can do that after an xx hour flight(sometimes with jet lag) then why can't you?

getting up early I do!!..by changing time zones!

Good quality cotton shirt hung up in the hotel bathroom and the shower run so the room is hot and steamy, I find the creases drop out after a couple of hours. You may have to put the edge on the sleeves again depending on the shirt. Works with suit jackets too. I'm way too lazy to want to iron after a long flight with an early meeting the following day...

 

[Starmill]

The new South Western Railway uniform is fantastic. It's much better fitting and makes you actually look the part.

Looking so good, in fact, that you'll never want to take it off

 

[bionic]

As one of the poor suffering crew I really couldn't care what the passengers thought of me wearing shorts or polos.

My responsibilities lie in the safe operation of the train. Period.

Now due to the ageing stock with substandard cooling systems I am well within my rights to cancel the service because heat is a distraction and being cooked in a cab is a major risk. Opening windows at 100mph = major distraction.

So if you are if the mindset that I should be wearing my Sunday best to sit in a metal box without ventilation for hours in end then don't be surprised when the train is cancelled.

Now northerns stuff is awful granted. But a neat polo shirt with trousers or shorts is sufficient.

Wearing a jacket or collar does not make me anymore professional. It's nonsense to suggest otherwise.

Totally agree.

But as a paying passenger, we have expectations that the staff should be professional and smartly dressed

Professional... of course. Done up like a penguin... no.

 

[hooverboy]

It helps if you know the sex of the recipient!

These days you should really know who you are writing to and I don't think there is much excuse not to find out. I would always start Dear [Title] [Surname] if i had not met the recipient previously. Once I knew them I may use the first name if they addressed me by my first name.

anyway - well off topic!

and if you dont.

then:
to whom it may concern

or dear/sir/madam
will suffice.

as I said, if you are dealing with someone you are not familiar with, then sometimes you need to hedge your bets.

might be a new customer, might be customs or border control of a foreign country.
you may not interface with the same person each time.

 

[DarloRich]

and if you dont.

then:
to whom it may concern

or dear/sir/madam
will suffice.

as I said, if you are dealing with someone you are not familiar with, then sometimes you need to hedge your bets.

might be a new customer, might be customs or border control of a foreign country.
you may not interface with the same person each time.

OK - mine tend to be to an identifiable person, position or rank

 

[Facing Back]

Not ideal, but recoverable.

From my city days, I would advise as follows: for the love of God, do not combine a short sleeved shirt with a tie. That would be a one way path to sartorial destruction.

I hope you’re wearing Church’s? Preferably Oxfords, polished to a high shine. In a hot country Burwood-glossed-tan-leather brogues, or even loafers, might just about be acceptable.

I'd agree with that - short sleeves and a tie look very odd. I don't like short sleeves with a jacket either. But a short sleeves shirt with an open neck on a hot day seems perfectly professional to me.

lol I don't think Church's do steel toe caps and I'm told by people who seem to know these things that its tan with a light blue suit, especially in the summer or out of work. I happy to be told.....

I don't mind polos, shorts etc - I like to be able to identify staff easily so common themes, but well fitting and reasonable quality cut and materials look far smarter that poorly fitting, stained polyester.

 

[theironroad]

I'm not the smartest, but I'd agree that some fellow drivers should be banned from wearing shorts.....

 

[hooverboy]

OK - mine tend to be to an identifiable person, position or rank

fine if you sort of know them, but in some situations where you haven't got a clue who they are..just that they have the power to stop you entering the country, you need to keep it general and civil.

won't go into detail here too much but I've had a couple of "entertaining" experiences with customs officials and some of the equipment I use.
Mine got impounded because the document i provided(in their view) was not correct, and I needed to supply them a direct copy from london chamber of commerce,
That was a long day!!!...and I lost an extra 2 days work to sort it out.

 

[DarloRich]

I'm not the smartest, but I'd agree that some fellow drivers should be banned from wearing shorts.....

there is a different argument as to whether someone should wear shorts as opposed to whether they could wear shorts!

 

[Llanigraham]

But as a paying passenger, we have expectations that the staff should be professional and smartly dressed

NO.
As a passenger you can have an expectation that the staff do their job professionally. Smartness does NOT come into it.

 

[bramling]

From my city days, I would advise as follows: for the love of God, do not combine a short sleeved shirt with a tie. That would be a one way path to sartorial destruction.

Oh dear that’s me done for then, the last time I wore a long-sleeve shirt was probably in a school classroom last century. However you wouldn’t know any different as I tend to have something on over the top - at times when I’m visible to others at any rate!

 

[bramling]

Not long after starting I tripped over walking in the cess in my work trousers (the cheap, retains all water when walking in a siding in the rain leading to a really miserable day and wet seat, school boy type) and cut my leg open so I don't think wearing shorts would make a difference to the outcome!

At my location shorts are not permitted to be worn when going on the track, with paper trousers being issued to cover this possibility. Always presumed this was universal, at least for those with live rails?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Neither are short sleeved formal shirts, for that matter.

Hope I'm not visiting you for work, I don't even own any long-sleeved ones! I run very hot and need the ventilation

 

[theironroad]

At my location shorts are not permitted to be worn when going on the track, with paper trousers being issued to cover this possibility. Always presumed this was universal, at least for those with live rails?

Paper? Must be pretty thick to have any insulating properties. Or just so the drivers don't get any of that ballast dust on their manicued legs? Lol

 

[Bromley boy]

Oh dear that’s me done for then, the last time I wore a long-sleeve shirt was probably in a school classroom last century. However you wouldn’t know any different as I tend to have something on over the top - at times when I’m visible to others at any rate!

Hope I'm not visiting you for work, I don't even own any long-sleeved ones! I run very hot and need the ventilation

Guys, come off it. It is simply not a good look.

In my former professional life, nobody wore short sleeved shirts, anyone who did would be embarrassed to do so.

I’ve been in a meeting with a magic circle law firm tax partner, embarrassingly wearing a short sleeved shirt, where the (Italian) client remarked “in my country, only bus drivers wear shirts like that”.

Professional looking people don’t wear shorts to work, and they most certainly don’t wear short sleeved shirts.

Fact!

 

[tsr]

Professional looking people don’t wear shorts to work, and they most certainly don’t wear short sleeved shirts.

Just be glad you don’t see some of the people making the decisions about your train service, then! Signallers and controllers are often given dispensation to wear shorts at “warmer” control centres...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm an IT professional. While scruffy doesn't go (that said, I work from home mostly and wear a T-shirt and shorts when I do!) it's a quite informal industry - it's all about what we do, not outdated sartorial ideas.

I don't do jackets either, a garment that exists only to be taken off and put on the back of the chair the second I walk in an office serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

I think the Dutch have it right - they make things like jeans and a shirt look professional enough.

 

[Bromley boy]

Just be glad you don’t see some of the people making the decisions about your train service, then! Signallers and controllers are often given dispensation to wear shorts at “warmer” control centres...

Oh, I’ve seen them. The people making those decisions are relocated to a location next door to my depot periodically.

Frankly, I’m never more embarrassed to wear the uniform than when I pass them by, it’s like walking past a zoo.

 

[56 1/2]

Shame shame and triple shame on those who demand their vision or standard of dress of others, it is a form of reverse power dressing and simple bullying. I would be very sharp if I ever met management that made staff wear uncomfortable or restrictive clothing in my name.

A uniform should be a collection clearly branded items, all made of comfort materiel, staff come in different shapes and sizes, they perform their duties in different ways on lines and duties of very different characters, let them chose the items they feel best in, obvious no nos when size or age conflict with an item. I am sure that most main line guards would chose shirt and tie, perhaps de-formalising at the week end to open polo. Shorts short or shorts long why not especially if weather demands, tailored shorts can be a euphemism for exactly the same as sticky uniform trousers grudgingly shortened. I would rather a driver chose to drive stark baby naked (with cap) than for a service to be canceled with a failed aircon. A shabby hi viz looks awful, better cut and a style to suit railway work, wider range of sizing and issue two sizes, one for over a winter coat and one for over shirtsleeves, change them regularly, HiViz do not wash well. Staff who have personalized their work wardrobe are far more positive about keeping it looking good. Now where do we start on the Scotrail kilt???

 

[Bromley boy]

I'm an IT professional. While scruffy doesn't go (that said, I work from home mostly and wear a T-shirt and shorts when I do!) it's a quite informal industry - it's all about what we do, not outdated sartorial ideas.

My brother works in the IT industry: based on the way he presents himself, it’s a rare field where, so long as you’re good at what you do, your appearance doesn’t matter a jot.

 

[DennisM]

Professional looking people don’t wear shorts to work, and they most certainly don’t wear short sleeved shirts.

Fact!

Putting ‘Fact!’ after your opinion doesn’t make it so,

Fact!

My brother works in the IT industry: it’s a rare field where, so long as you’re good at what you do, your appearance doesn’t matter a jot.

I’d say that sounds like something that should also be true of a train driver. If they drive the train safely and to schedule who cares how smart they are in the Coffee shop queue, or for their walk from one end to the train to the other.

 

[Bromley boy]

Please delete - misinterpreted - sorry

 

[bramling]

Guys, come off it. It is simply not a good look.

In my former professional life, nobody wore short sleeved shirts, anyone who did would be embarrassed to do so.

I’ve been in a meeting with a magic circle law firm tax partner, embarrassingly wearing a short sleeved shirt, where the (Italian) client remarked “in my country, only bus drivers wear shirts like that”.

Professional looking people don’t wear shorts to work, and they most certainly don’t wear short sleeved shirts.

Fact!

I feel I’m probably digging my proverbial hole deeper on this one, however in all honesty none of us is going to win a beauty contest - shift work sees to that! Having cuffs visible or not beneath a sleeve probably pales into insignificance by comparison...

Nonetheless you’ve got me sufficiently bugged such that it’s quite probable the next batch of shirts I buy will be long-sleeve!

 

[LOL The Irony]

I think the Dutch have it right - they make things like jeans and a shirt look professional enough.

They smoke weed in cafes and they go crazy over a Belgian F1 driver. They can make anything look good.

 

[Bromley boy]

I feel I’m probably digging my proverbial hole deeper on this one, however in all honesty none of us is going to win a beauty contest - shift work sees to that! Having cuffs visible or not beneath a sleeve probably pales into insignificance by comparison...

Nonetheless you’ve got me sufficiently bugged such that it’s quite probable the next batch of shirts I buy will be long-sleeve!

Shift work certainly doesn’t help with these matters.

As my rather old school dad taught me: shirt cuffs must always be below your suit jacket sleeves, the bottom of your tie must be just below your belt.

That advice has always stood me in good stead.