Many people consider summer to be over once BTS happens. (That’s back-to-school, for those of you fortunate enough to have never worked retail). News flash: it’s still hot as b*llz here in the A, and will be for a while yet. Summer is my favorite season of the year, so I’m fine with that. But it is, admittedly, a difficult season for office-appropriate clothing.
Nothing illustrates this point as finely as the memo that went out at my office a couple of summers ago–a memo so strange I’m still chewing on it two years later. (You get memos at your work, right? Absurd. They always make me feel like I’m trapped in a Harold Pinter play). The tank tops must have been getting out of hand, because the powers that be found it prudent to remind us of the dress code.
Most of the no-no list was a big yawning eye roll: no flip-flops, no bra straps, no shorts… yeah yeah. We know. But I was totally thrown for a loop by #4: picnic clothes. Oh. Kaaaay?
I eat fashion rags for breakfast, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t any recent trend. But recalling the age of our office manager, I decided to ask my mom if it was generational slang. But she, too, was baffled. Both of us were picturing something like this:
I consulted my fellow office fashionista, who was equally clueless. We spent a quarter-hour speculating, but nothing concrete came of it. Even Google let me down. The mystery endures to this day.
Supposedly everything in the memo was from the employee handbook, but said handbook has mysteriously not been seen for years. A darn shame, since I would’ve loved to see what in the world she was talking about.
Readers, you are my last hope of solving this enigma before it fades into irrelevancy till next summer. What the hoo-ha-hey are picnic clothes?
(For your enjoyment: Did You Get the Memo? From Office Space)
Interesting post and a nice photo. That’s what I was imagining when I thought of picnic clothes.