Corporate wear: should mens blazer be dark?

st1tch

Hi,

Would appreciate advice here..apologies if this is a ridiculous question. I was sick of navy/ dark work clothes so bought a blazer for work which is a bit brighter - a slightly brighter shade of navy than normal. It does stand out a little.

One of the senior managers at a meeting made then made comment about it being gay. Of course there's nothing wrong with being gay and it was a stupid comment, however I work in a highly political corporate environment and as I looked around absolutely everyone was in different shades of black, grey and brown. Is anything non-dark considered flamboyant!?

I'm not sure of the 'rules' about this, and as it stands will find it hard to wear the jacket again after this - and it wasn't cheap!

Any thoughts?

baby and crumble

Unfortunately some corporate environments are very stuffy and anything outside the standard navy/grey/brown/black is often frowned upon.

Tbh though how unbelievably unprofessional is your senior management to make a comment like that??!!!? I'd keep wearing it just to piss him off but I appreciate that may just be me.

Op, perhaps you can keep wearing it so long as everything else screams "corporate" and "dark". So, navy trousers, plan white shirt, conservative tie, brown leather shoes. Nothing else outside the norm.

dudara

It doesn't sound "controversial" to me, though it's hard to judge without seeing the office you work in.

But seriously though, what a blundering comment from the SM. Best thing to do is laugh it off and shoot back with a quip. As long as you are well dressed, well presented and in line with the standards expected, you should feel free to wear what you like.

Bored_lad

It doesn't sound from your description that you should have any problem wearing it at work. I would advise you keep wearing it if you want but maybe try pair it with a plain white shirt and pair of plain trousers and good brown or black shoes nothing too loud.

Now that comment from the senior manager sounds completely unprofessional and I would just try laugh it off and keep going.

RainyDay

Bored_lad wrote: »

Now that comment from the senior manager sounds completely unprofessional and I would just try laugh it off and keep going.

dudara wrote: »

But seriously though, what a blundering comment from the SM. Best thing to do is laugh it off and shoot back with a quip.

I have to disagree about 'laughing it off' in relation to the 'gay' comment. As long as you keep laughing, the comments will keep coming. You need to challenge this. You can do it jokingly, as in "You say that like 'gay' is a bad thing" or something more direct, such as "Are you familiar with our organisation's diversity policy" or "Are you familiar with how equality legislation operates in the workplace".

eviltimeban

If that's the culture of the place, you have two choices:

1. Don't rock the boat and stick with the classic business dress;

2. Work somewhere else where someone wearing a light jacket isn't classed as "gay".

lizzyman

st1tch wrote: »

Hi,

Would appreciate advice here..apologies if this is a ridiculous question. I was sick of navy/ dark work clothes so bought a blazer for work which is a bit brighter - a slightly brighter shade of navy than normal. It does stand out a little.

One of the senior managers at a meeting made then made comment about it being gay.

Your manager is either a neanderthal or very repressed.

I'm not a fan of blue blazers other than classic navy but if it was me I think I'd wear it everyday just to annoy him/her. Bonus points for also wearing loafers without socks

st1tch

lizzyman wrote: »

Your manager is either a neanderthal or very repressed.

I'm not a fan of blue blazers other than classic navy but if it was me I think I'd wear it everyday just to annoy him/her. Bonus points for also wearing loafers without socks

I'm not a fan of them any more either ; )