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This has been bothering me for quite a while, and I'm not sure if I should just accept it or if I should say something.

One of my officemates consistently wears a dress to work that shows a portion of her breasts. She has been working here for longer than I am, and she has been like this ever since I started, so I would think that the other staff don't mind.

I, however, find it very disturbing.

Should I raise this to management anonymously, or should I, as some might say, suck it up?

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  • @Downvoter, may I ask the reason for the downvote? Thanks.
    – Zaenille
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 7:17
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    Have you considered working somewhere where people dress respectably enough for you? Sure, you can't control others. But you can control your reactions - go somewhere where this won't affect you and hold your head up high for maintaining your opinion and level of acceptance and not going with what the rest of society says you should accept.
    – James
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 8:24
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    Related workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/42941/…. Please search the site first before asking questions, I marked this one as a duplicate.
    – user8036
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 8:58

2 Answers 2

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If this form of clothing is something you would encounter on the street then you have a problem. "A portion of her breasts", isn't really telling us very much but I will venture out onto controversial ground and suggest that a non-plunging neckline with 3cm of cleavage or less is probably professional (http://www.lifescript.com/well-being/articles/t/).

You need to ask yourself the following questions:

  • Is the clothing worn appropriate for the society you live in in general?
  • Is the clothing appropriate for the industry you work in? A law office tends to have more formal clothing than a fish cannery office.
  • Is there a company office dress code and if so, what does it say?

If this is all OK then live with it - the problem is yours not hers.

If you feel the need to complain: don't do it anonymously - if you genuinely believe it is inappropriate have the guts to stand up and say so, politely of course.

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    Hi Dale, the link you attached is invalid. Can you please put the correct link? Thanks.
    – Zaenille
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 7:03
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You need to accept it. You don't get to control other people's manner of dress, not in the street nor in the office. Don't report this anonymously -- whoever receives the report will almost certainly know it came from you because you are the new person. That will not be a good career move. Management will become very nervous about your ability to work with others. You need to figure out how to put her state of dress out of your mind and get your work done.

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