The Bank of England Dress Code

As I was searching for ideas of what to write about on my first blog I came across an interesting memo that was sent to all women employees working at The Bank of England. This is a portion of the memo:

“Look professional, not fashionable; be careful with perfume; always wear a heel of some sort — maximum 2 inches; always wear some sort of makeup — even if it’s just lipstick.” Shoes and skirt must be the same color. No-no’s include ankle chains—“professional, but not the one you want to be associated with;” white high heels; overstuffed handbags; an overload of rings, and double-pierced ears." http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2009/02/the_bank_of_eng

I think that this memo is self explainatory as far as how women are treated in this particular business setting. It is blatently telling women that they have to have a certain appearance in order to succeed at this job. I was shocked that a public institution especially, would willingly put something so sexist out there. This memo seems to state that in this particular business the appearance of a women is valued more than their actual skill. It also made me wonder if they sent a memo like this out to men that work at that bank, but i highly doubt it. This memo is one great example of the pressure that women get to look and dress a certain way.