Work Clothes

Meyer asked me this morning in the car why I always wear nice clothes to work. I don't usually think of the clothes I wear to the office as nice. My workplace has a pretty lax dress code (if it has one at all—I'll need to check the policies on the company intranet site), and I could count on an octopus the number of times I've worn a tie to work. (I've worn a suit to the office exactly once: when I came in for my interview. My boss-to-be even asked me, "Why are you wearing a suit?") At the moment I'm wearing a sweater over a button-down shirt, which is untucked; Target slacks; and off-brand, faux-leather dress shoes. It's not something I'd wear to watch SpongeBob on a Saturday morning; it's also not something I'd wear to a wedding.

I didn't say any of this to Meyer. And I answered his question about why I wear nice clothes to work by saying, "Lots of people wear nice clothes to work. It shows respect for the other people you work with." That was a terrible answer, but it was the best I could come up with. Still, I'm sure there's some reason why I wouldn't feel comfortable coming to work in shorts and a T-shirt. (I don't even feel comfortable going to the Olive Garden wearing shorts and a T-shirt.)