Kim & Co TSV 11/07/24

Battiola73 said:

One summer when the weather was very hot, female colleagues turned up wearing beach flip flops. Bearing in mind to get to our office you had to go up and down 4 flights of metal stairs and two metal walkways. They were told by Health and Safety that they weren’t safe and should wear “proper” shoes. They threatened to walk out as they thought it was wrong to be dictated to as to what they wore. H&S said that if they signed a form, that if they had an accident whilst wearing flip flops on the premises, they would not hold the company responsible. Strange no one would! They never wore them to work again,

I know I’m an old fogey but some of the clothes they wore to work that summer, I wouldn’t even wear on the beach.

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Up with Old Fogies!

candycane said:

Work colleagues were always turning up to work looking as if they were going to the beach and were always told to either go home and change or go and buy something to cover up. Except when I worked for Edinburgh Council and people were better dressed on "wear your pyjamas to work" day than they were in their normal clothes.

CC

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Back in the Dark Ages (early 1970's) when there was no air conditioning in offices, of course, the men in the office had to wait for permission to remove their jackets when there was a heatwave (yes, we did occasionally get them then)! For the females, sleeveless dresses or blouses were a no-no, short sleeves at the very least and preferably long sleeves. Won't tell you where this was, as I'd have to "dispose" of you if I did.

Back in the Dark Ages (early 1970's) when there was no air conditioning in offices, of course, the men in the office had to wait for permission to remove their jackets when there was a heatwave (yes, we did occasionally get them then)! For the females, sleeveless dresses or blouses were a no-no, short sleeves at the very least and preferably long sleeves. Won't tell you where this was, as I'd have to "dispose" of you if I did.

I worked in offices during the 1980's and apart from one which was a big modern building I don't remember there being any air con either. There was a guy in the one of these offices who used to keep checking the thermometer and once when it was reading over 80 degrees, that he said that we should all walk out 'cause we don't legally have to work, we never did we just opened up a few more windows and we did have a couple of fans but they used to blow the paperwork everywhere (Now that's old school)! Another place was an extremely old building, our workspace was surrounded by small offices where all the caseworkers and other deities worked and these offices had the luxury of large windows - we didn't and there was quite a few people whose personal hygiene left a lot to be desired so you can imagine how unpleasant an environment is was on a really hot day! One day I was saying how lucky those were who had their own offices cause they don't have to put up with the smell. I'll never forget Carol who was a personal assistant who spent a lot of time in her boss's office told me that it wasn't necessarily better as they weren't necessarily any more clean and sweeter and it's not just the armpits I gingerly said "should I be asking you what you mean?" and she said yeah the bloke's got a sweaty crotch! He used to keep some of this files under the table and when Carol had to retrieve them she'd be knocked for six. Are you sure it's his crotch? Yep she said lol!!! I asked no more questions!

historymystery said:

Back in the Dark Ages (early 1970's) when there was no air conditioning in offices, of course, the men in the office had to wait for permission to remove their jackets when there was a heatwave (yes, we did occasionally get them then)! For the females, sleeveless dresses or blouses were a no-no, short sleeves at the very least and preferably long sleeves. Won't tell you where this was, as I'd have to "dispose" of you if I did.

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Had to wear tights or stockings too and no open toed sandals. That was in the late 60s/early 1970s.

Warning - long boring story

Yes, I started work in 1974, for a bank in the City of London and all the dress codes mentioned above applied to our office.

I remember that hot summer of 1976, we girls had to get permission to go bare legged rather than wear tights (American tan was en trend).

We had a south facing office with very large windows, no blinds and no aircon. Back then everything was paper-based so we weren’t allowed to open the windows.

On the hottest day one of our section heads was so hot that he defied management and opened his window. He got more and bad tempered until 2.30pm after a stream of calls from our New York office, he ripped the phone out of its socket and threw it out of the window.

The manager sent the filing clerk out to retrieve it and gave him money to buy ice lollies for all.

48 years later I can picture the scene vividly.

When I was teaching, my first headteacher didn’t let the female staff wear trousers. That was fine in hot weather, but not as much fun on playground duty on a cold winter’s day. The next headteacher said we could wear trousers but did draw a line at low V-necked tops. I guess he didn’t want the children to get an eyeful if we bent over to talk to them.

In the summer one side of the school was like a furnace and as the windows only opened a tiny bit (for safety) it was unbearable. Thankfully after a few years of teaching in a sauna, I changed year groups and was moved over to the cool side of the building.

They do now have air conditioning.

candycane said:

Work colleagues were always turning up to work looking as if they were going to the beach and were always told to either go home and change or go and buy something to cover up. Except when I worked for Edinburgh Council and people were better dressed on "wear your pyjamas to work" day than they were in their normal clothes.

CC

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Funny you should say that - it was exactly the same where I worked. We had dress down Fridays where you pitched up in casuals and paid a fine (for charity). I’ve seen people turn up to work in stuff the charity shops would just fling into the recycling bins! And this was a (very) professional office! In fact the junior staff were far better dressed than the seniors and above

I've so enjoyed reading all these posts, remembering and laughing about the differences between then and now - really took me down memory lane. It was a different world, but I often wish I could get some of those years back again.

Kim & Co Soft Millennium Narrow Leg Crop Trousers
QVC Price £49.00
Todays Special Value Price £37.98
P&P £3.95

Regular

Petite

Add chic, easy-to-wear fashion to your summer wardrobe with these gorgeous soft Millennium crop trousers from Kim & Co. The lightweight, viscose-rich fabric will help you to say cool and stylish through the height of summer and the narrow, cropped, block colour design is bang on trend. Pair them with smart and casual looks alike, from a blazer and heels to a T-shirt and trainers.
Light and stretchy - style and comfort combine easily in these elegant short trousers. They're made with a lightweight viscose fabric, with nylon and elastane in the mix providing a touch of stretch for a cosy fit.
Match and mix - complete your look with Kim & Co's matching jacket designs; perfect for creating a beautifully coordinated look and great worn separately too for a versatile range of outfit options.
Choose the look for you - which of the five colours will you be going for? Will you opt for a classic Black or Navy look, channel holiday vibes with the safari-utility look of Sand or Copper, or are you going for a pop of colour with the Green?

• Two slanted pockets at the side seam
• Invisible elastic at the inside waist
• 80% viscose, 16% nylon, 4% elastane
• Machine wash cold

Colour options:

• Black
• Copper
• Green
• Navy
• Sand

Battiola73 said:

Had to wear tights or stockings too and no open toed sandals. That was in the late 60s/early 1970s.

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There was a Time that if you didn't wear tights or stockings you were considered "poor". And right up until I took early retirement in 2006 I covered my legs. Now I can count on one hand the times I have actually worn tights since then - but I do wear longer dresses or trousers.

mina said:

Ideal World used to do offers of full length and cropped bengalines 2 for £16 which have worn well and been brilliant over the years, so I wonder what Kim's prices will be? £25 each? (if we're lucky). You can get them on amazon from £14 and probably cheaper elsewhere.

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Bit late to ask now but what are “bengaline” trousers can I ask?!

Is it the fabric or “style”?

Thanks!

I believe it's a type of rayon and cotton material, according to wikipedia or a durable, fine-ribbed viscose spandex, according to another google. Whatever it is, it wears well and is comfortable. I've had my £8 IW bengalines for years and definitely got value out of them.

mina said:

I believe it's a type of rayon and cotton material, according to wikipedia or a durable, fine-ribbed viscose spandex, according to another google. Whatever it is, it wears well and is comfortable. I've had my £8 IW bengalines for years and definitely got value out of them.

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Thanks a lot!

I’m usually quite good on fabrics etc but had never heard the term Bengaline before in my life!

Sounds like a kind of stretchy “canvas” trouser then?!
Now I know

The colours of these trousers were pretty boring and what about that longline waistcoat? Looked awful on everyone.

CC