As one of the few members here who's not an office jockey of some sort, I can vouch that there are indeed some occupations, such as mine, where a skirt of any length would be inappropriate. Long skirts would provide safety from scalds and burns but run more the risk of getting caught in machinery and just generally getting in the way while climbing all over these pieces of cooking equipment. Understand that he ovens I work on are big enough for several people to stand inside, you you have to have a ladder to work on a lot of our stuff.
Shorter skirts would be less likely to get caught on things, and generally would not get in the way, but they offer no protection from other hazards like hot fryer oil, and other chemicals that get on my pant legs. In addition there is modesty issues. About a month ago, I found myself having to actually lay down in a hot bar to get a bolt started in a hard to reach spot. As I lay there, my legs, spread and open facing the sales floor. I was in a similar configuration as a woman who was about to give labor.... my crotch right at the line of eye sight with children and people in wheel chairs.... oh yes... I'd have made a few blush for sure...
Not a good place for a maxi....
All that being said though, I do long for the day when I can attend less "work related" work functions (like our annual ESOP meeting, and the summer company picnic) in a skirt or dress. The ESOP meeting is mandatory uniforms for everyone for whatever reason (some say it's so we know our place.. but we get paid for it so whatever...), the summer picnic is voluntary and "off the clock", and I suppose there is no practical reason for me
not to wear a skirt to such an event, other than I just don't feel like dealing with the drama... thus I do not attend the picnic, because I have nothing to wear!
On another matter, at my home-store in Lebanon (where most every woman who works in the deli wears skirts for religious reasons) I observed one young lady who was cooking and wearing a long slender floor sweeper. Not only was she RUINING the skirt by allowing it to drag on the kitchen floor, but she actually tripped on the hem and grabbed the deep fryer in an attempt to stop her fall. She didn't fall, nor get hurt, but I can imagine the numerous was this could have ended worse.
Okay... I get it, you can't tell a woman she can't wear a skirt because... well she's a woman and they're free to do whatever they want, but she just about deep fried her hand... Oh well....
religious freedom and all that nonsense...
crfriend wrote:This remains a bit of a bone of contention. Many of us -- mainly elders -- think that being bare-legged is only for the most casual of occasions and one simply does not look "properly dressed" unless some form of legwear is employed; the youngsters, of course, think this is rubbish and that bare legs look just fine and are acceptable anywhere and at any time. And, we'll leave that at that.
I myself generally don't care for wearing tights, hose, or leggings under my skirts or dresses, but do so when the weather calls for it. If the temps are above 50 for the day then I go barelegged. Granted, days closer to 50 would call for a longer skirt, late spring through early fall I frequently wear either knee length or higher, or a very thin gypsy skirt. In fact, I've got a beautiful green tiered one that a slip is REQUIRED to wear because otherwise you can literally see right through it, in any light.
This goes for footwear as well. When women started serving in numbers in various armed forces around the world, some level of confusion was had on footwear and whether separate patterns would have to be deployed to fit the woman soldier. It turns out that there wasn't enough of a statistical difference to warrant that and that a boot for a small man would fit and average-sized woman just fine. It cuts the other way as well. Once I nailed the size, it turns out that a female-marketed size 14 in US shoe-sizing fits my US (male) size 12 foot just fine. I just won't put up with anything i can't walk in for an extended period of time; I need to be practical.
This is also true of restaurant shoes that I wear. "Tread-safe" is the brand Walmart carries, and I noticed they are now selling shoes unisex. The box has the mens and womens size on the label. Why? Because they're restaurant shoes, all black, and styled so as not to be flamboyant or push vanity... thus there is no reason to genderfy them. They're practical, dull, black, and boring.... the perfect unisex wear!