Happy Path

Preparing for the Unknown

How do you prepare for a job about which you know almost nothing? That's what I tried to figure out the weekend after my layoff, which was also the weekend before I started working for the bank.

I'd asked Charles a few practical questions, such as what is the dress code? What are my hours? How do I get paid? I researched various options for my commute and compared travel times. But in reality, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, could have prepared me for the shock of what was to come.

One thing I wasn't relishing was the change of wardrobe. I used to say that I could show up for work in my bathrobe and nobody would care. People who work behind the scenes in tv are beholden to no dress code whatsoever. In fact, on the rare occasion when a producer would show up in a dress or skirt or neatly ironed shirt, people would start asking about their motivation. Funeral today? Job interview later? If I had to label the attire at my former workplace, I would call it comfortable. This, I know, is open to wide-ranging interpretation. The standard was jeans. But even within that standard, jeans ran the gamut from well-worn with frayed hems to a tailored dark wash. And the accompanying tops could be almost anything: tee-shirt, hoodie, sweater, oxford, tank top, jersey, sweatshirt. Old and faded or new from a lunch-hour shopping trip-all forms were worn and accepted.

Of course there were people who dressed better than the average worker. Typically, they were in sales or marketing and were possibly meeting with outside vendors or clients. But within the group of editors, producers, sound engineers, camera people, tape ops, productions assistants, and the related management, we were a pretty casual bunch. In an average week, I wore jeans three or four days. Otherwise, I might wear a dress if I was feeling it, a skirt in the hot months of summer, cotton pants whenever. I never wore shorts unless I was working off hours or on a weekend, but they were common attire for men in the summer. From May through September, the sound of slapping flip-flops echoed down every linoleum hallway. Occasionally I would see myself in the bathroom mirror and think I wore this to work? I should really try harder. But for the most part, I think I kept it respectable while still taking advantage of the nonexistent dress code.

At the bank, things were different. The dress code was Business Casual. This was designated as the attire to be worn when not meeting with external customers or contacts. For men: shirts with collars, slacks and dress shoes. For women: blouse or sweater, slacks, skirts or dress and dress shoes. On Fridays, we could wear jeans.

I combed through my wardrobe and calculated how many days worth of business casual I could pull off. Like most women I know, half my closet consisted of black pants. The materials varied, but many could be called into business casual service. My contract was late November through April and I had some winter dress pants that would work and a variety of boots that would be serviceable. Fridays were covered, no problem. But here's where I fell short: shirts, tops, blouses. I hate that word. Blouse. It's almost as bad as slacks. Both conjure up stiff, itchy, fussy pieces of clothing worn by octogenarians.

A quick survey of my closet revealed that I wore a lot of variations on the tee-shirt: fitted, graphic print, v-neck, long-sleeved. I'm not talking about a tee-shirt I'd wear to the gym with a sports logo or tourist destination splashed across the front, but the shirts still fell into the category of casual, minus the business. I'd never really noticed before, but I seemed to have an aversion to shirts with buttons. If I couldn't pull it over my head, I didn't wear it. This was going to be a problem. I was going to need reinforcements.

Although I resented my new job for making me wear these clothes on a daily basis, I didn't really mind the shopping. I was still planning on buying things that fit my style. It's not like the designated dress code was ball gowns or hot pants. The new clothes wouldn't push me to uncomfortable extremes, I just needed a few more options.