Berkshire Publishing operates out of picturesque offices in a turn-of-the-20th-century brick building on
But there’s a rebellion underway. It started last week, and intensified today with the newly instituted Wednesday “Dress UP Day.” The women are all in dresses and heels, and Scott’s wearing a suit and tie. Even David put on a sports jacket in honor of the occasion. But our hallway neighbor Mark Fischetti, an editor for Scientific American, is dismayed. He calls it the invasion of the body snatchers. We call it a chance to wear clothes languishing in the back of closets, and to warm up for some of the city visits and conferences ahead for everyone on the team. Liz and Erin say that it’s important to have a training regime for wearing high heels, so this is really a part of our corporate fitness program.
It’s been instructive, too. Jenn explained that their generation (under 30) doesn’t wear pantyhose. They might wear dark winter tights, but the ladylike flesh-toned stockings that I donned today (truth be told, for the first time in years) are simply unthinkable. They’ll go bare-legged, or wear trousers.
Once we got down to business at the staff meeting (the new clothes were a bit distracting), the discussion focused on plans for trade and professional titles. The perspective of our under-30 staff is a big help when planning both popular and educational publishing projects and I told them we would start applying the Pantyhose Paradigm when we look at book proposals: If the traditional approach doesn’t work, can we come up with the right new model?
One of the reasons our young staffers are so enthusiastic, in spite of the traditional format of our publications, is that our topics are very contemporary. But I can see that the formats are going to be getting a makeover, too.
I would just add that we’re very lucky to have a thrift shop right next door to us. In the 10+ years I’ve worked in our building, I”ve run down for head to toe new outfits when circumstances merit–surprise client visits, interviews with job applicants, funerals…
for the record, i don’t wear sweaters with holes to work or anywhere else! but it’s true, i also don’t wear skin-tone pantyhose and i don’t know many people of my generation who do. If it’s warm enough for me to wear a short skirt, then it’s warm enough to go bare leg. i won’t tread on anyone if they feel more comfortable in hose, but it seems to me that a woman shouldn’t have to think twice about wearing her own leg-skin in public. Also, it’s worth mentioning as both Scott and David agreed, pantyhose are useful for fine-finishing wood, so perhaps i’m not past buying a pair at least for my woodwork projects.
I’ll be honest, I don’t mind wearing suits, but those of us who have left, and will likely be returning, to “daily-suit-and-tie land” have some of ours nearer to the front of the closet probably don’t miss them on an emotional level.
That said, I had been talking about my purple tie so I guess it was put up or shut up time.
-scott