Speedos and Bikinis Will Soon Be Appropriate Office Attire

GQ will soon re-purpose this cover for their annual office-wear issue.

​We've always figured the dress code in many Miami offices is a bit more relaxed than those in the rest of the country. Partially for cultural reasons, but mainly due to climate reasons. (Ever try wearing a three-piece Italian wool suit in this humidity?) Though across the country office workers are increasingly okay with relaxed attire. Even to the point, apparently, that 35 percent of U.S. workers think it's acceptable to wear a speedo around co-workers.

The survey conducted by Plansponsor finds that "Fifty-five percent of U.S. employee respondents to a recent survey said workers wearing casual attire are more productive than those wearing more traditional business clothes." Though an old-school 19 percent still characterize those that don't dress up appropriately as "slackers," and another and "38% of U.S. respondents said casual dressers in the workplace will never make it into senior management."

The most blog-baiting stats, however, have to be this:

Nearly a third (32%) of U.S. workers surveyed said it is appropriate to wear shorts to work, but only 18% indicated it is appropriate to wear sandals or flip-flops. More than a third (35%) said it is ok to wear a speedo or bikini at a work picnic or day at the beach.

Personally, we sometimes come into the office to type-type away on these little blog entries in our lonely corner of the office in shorts, and actually dare to wear flip-flops at the office of a paper that once ran a cover declaring "the scourge of the mandal." Then again, The Bitch who wrote that article is long gone.

The speedo and bikini issue though, well, we do think that's a little too much.

"It is never okay to wear a speedo around co-workers, not even at the company picnic on Bora-Bora during a heat wave. And frankly, this conclusion makes us doubt the veracity of the entire study," writes our Gotham counterparts at Runnin' Scared.

Though we think they underestimate the desire of some male workers to see their lady office mates in bikinis. They probably reason seeing Ralphio from Marketing in his mankini is a small price to pay to see Gloria from Accounting in a two-piece, so we believe the findings.

Not that we agree with the idea. We've got nothing against dudes in speedos or chicks in bikinis, but there has to be at least some professional modesty? At the very least, we'd have a hard time respecting the decision making process of anyone who showed up to a company event in so little.

Then again, apparently in the UK there is a movement to promote office nudity:

Steven Suphi, behaviour change specialist and leadership guru, believes stripping off in the office will help boost employees' confidence and develop trust.

She said: 'For most people in the UK going to work in the nude is a very daunting prospect.

'I believe this extreme process will help them push their boundaries and become a close team that trust each other enough to get naked together.'

Though, the survey did mention that Europeans have the most lax view of casual office attire. Maybe it's not a surprise they'd take it to extremes.