访谈录 2008-09-09&09-11 便装礼拜五（在线收听）

Well you know the employers across the country have embraced casual Fridays. And many employees are happy to partake. But how casual is too casual? From open toes to exposed flesh, extreme dressing down can be a job hazard and there are some rules to follow. Our Jeremy Hubbard has a Sign of The Times.

At first it seemed like such a good idea, casual Friday, once a week, lose the suit, don the Dockers, dress down. But have we now lost our sartorial sense in a sea of flip-flops and cleavage, short bottoms and muffin tops?

Do you really think that this is appropriate for the owner of a company? No!

When did casual Friday get this casual and why on earth is this guy wearing those to work?

Has the boss ever said anything about your showing all your tootsies?

Not really, he looks at it but he doesn’t really care.   See, this is the problem.

For answers, we tracked down Clinton Kelly. He is the host to the popular TLC show What Not to Wear. It’s his job to tell people what’s wrong with their fashion choices.

It makes me wanna run away from her…

This offends us both, as New Yorkers. 

This poor woman hasn’t got a clue how to dress her body.

And on this recent casual Friday on this busy New York street outside Macy’s, he found plenty wrong.

I think you got a lovely cleavage.

Well, thank you.

There is a lot of it for work however.

Is this something you would wear Monday through Thursday or just on Friday?

No, and I’m not supposed to wear on Friday, either.

You not like your job or you’ll get fired?

Oh, I like my job.

Actually it is the fear of being fired that has recently started to reverse this trend of dressing too casually, Clinton says.

Well, you know when economy gets a little bit tough, you know, people start to dress a little bit better at work, because if a manager’s looking around the office and he knows he’s gonna lay off a few people, you know, if everything else is equal, he might be looking towards the ones who aren’t the best representatives of the company.

But clearly not everyone is getting the message. Maybe the Internet boom is when business casual first went bust. When billionaire bosses started sporting denim and T-shirts, we all loosened up a bit. And it was all downhill from there.

I think we finally got it right.

Cargo shorts weren’t far behind.

Oh, yeah, it’s a great place, you know, to steal some pencils and pens from work. But are probably not the best, the best look.

…And plunging necklines.

You know, too much boobage, too much cleavage.

The result -- business casual confusion!

Well this is a real issue especially with new arrivals to the work force college graduates that sort of thing. A lot of them truly don’t know how to dress, right?

Right! You know the average 22-year-old has no real fashion icons, you know, for the workplace. I mean, they, they’ve spent their time watching MTV and you know who’s your style icon then, you know, Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian, they aren’t gonna teach you how to dress for the workplace. You know they are dressing to go to the club or hook a hottie. You know, you know that’s not how you dress to the office.

So if you are more interested in hooking a job than a hottie, here are some casual Friday tips from Clinton.

First for men no T-shirts. It’s got to have a collar. And give the shorts a rest. Khakis are better.

For women instead of a mini-skirt, trying some walking shorts, but they can’t be above the knee.

And as for your blouse, just don’t show your bra straps or breasts.

I have a rule about cleavage in the workplace, and it's chest not breast. So as soon as you know soft tissue is seen in the office then you know you’ve crossed the line, somewhere.

As for blue jeans, ok, go ahead if your company dress code allows denim, and if they are dark enough, and here is the most important part, they gotta fit right.

And nothing too low-rise or, you know, the butt crack is goona hang out. Muffin tops are not good for the working environment.

Right, unless you actually work in a muffin factory.

Some of our fashion victims should have known better.

Did you think, you know, maybe it's a little bit too short. Or is that?

Too short?! Touches the knee.

Only when you look at it down like that…

Where do you draw  the line? What’s the one fashion thing you are not being able to…

Does this guy have a line?

You are the owner of a staffing company.

So you put people out there in the world and work. Are you giving them any advices on how to dress?

I tell them to dress corporate.

Dress corporate? Alright, so basically you say do what I am not doing.

I am Jeremy Hubbard for nightline in New York.

Well I went Casual Friday, tonight for sure. And thanks for Jeremy Hubbard.