While companies are allowed to specify how their employees should look at work, dress codes have been igniting debates for decades. After all, our jobs are demanding enough without the added pressure of worrying about what clothes to wear.

Unfortunately, it becomes even more infuriating when you have a micromanaging supervisor who just can’t seem to stop nagging you about your appearance. And this was just the case for Redditor rebelscumcsh. A few weeks ago, the man made a post on the Malicious Compliance subreddit revealing he works in upscale catering where the staff usually wear jeans and a simple t-shirt.

However, the user’s daily outfit included Converse Chuck Taylor shoes in bright, glaring red which seriously bothered his manager. “For months, she harped me almost daily until finally, she wrote me up,” the user revealed. But instead of getting himself into an exhausting argument, rebelscumcsh came up with a simple yet cunning plan. Read on for how the author maliciously complied and share your thoughts in the comments below!

Recently, this man shared how his micromanaging supervisor kept nagging him about the dress code

Image credits: D.C.Atty (not the actual photo)

But instead of getting himself into a long-lasting argument, the user maliciously complied

Image credits: TEDxLasPalmas (not the actual photo)

We managed to get in touch with the author of this post, rebelscumcsh, who was kind enough to have a little chat with us. When asked why he decided to share his story on the Malicious Compliance subreddit, the user revealed he simply thought it was amusing. “It happened 3 years ago and always makes me chuckle when I put my shoes on,” he told Bored Panda.

However, he did not expect it would attract so much attention but rather figured it would garner a few laughs and then get buried. As of today, the post has amassed more than 11.5K upvotes and several hundred comments with people applauding his little act of retaliation or sharing their own similar experiences.

Dozens of Redditor’s comments prove that many workers have issues with dress code rules at their companies. “So many employers want an employee pool of homogeneous appearance. Thing is, people are notoriously individualistic when it comes to how they look. We’re also a fairly stubborn species,” the user explained his thoughts on the issue.

Moreover, managers who keep nagging their employees about their looks can make the workplace feel awful. “In my particular case, I feel that she picked on me for a variety of reasons. Number one being I’m 20 years older than she is with a vastly superior resume. She was fresh out of college and had everything to prove,” the user revealed and added the woman simply didn’t like him. “Which is fine, I have her job now and she is no longer employed with this company.”

When asked about his insights on strict dress codes, the user told us they definitely have their place. “Industry-specific generally. You go to a five-star hotel, you expect each employee to look their best. They need to match, they need to be easily identifiable as an employee.”

“On an oil rig, it’s all about safety,” he continued. “Can’t be showing up to work in a pair of sneakers on a rig. Business people need to look like businessmen so that business can be conducted in a business-friendly fashion all business-like.”

HR consulting firm Randstad commissioned a survey of over 1.2K American workers across different industries to find out the present state of workplace fashion. Surprisingly, they discovered that while employees typically favor more informal and relaxed clothes at work, they’d still prefer some direction about what’s considered acceptable.

More than a half, 55 percent, of managers surveyed revealed they care more about performance than their employees’ looks. Almost a third of all workers revealed they feel uncertainty over what’s proper when the dress code is unclear, and 28 percent even mentioned that a coworker’s garments have made them feel uncomfortable at one point or another.

For years, there has been a certain trend of slowly drifting away from the formal and strict office dress codes, and the pandemic may have pushed it even further. Around a third of all workers (and 41 percent of those who work in environments with conservative dress codes) said they would rather have a relaxed, casual dress code than an additional $5K in pay a year. Moreover, another third revealed they would sooner quit their job or not accept a new offer than follow a strict, conservative dress code.

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Rebelscumcsh would like to give you one piece of advice, dear readers: “Be yourself, stay true to yourself, but recognize the bigger picture of the industry you’re in and, most importantly, pick your battles.”

This story inspired Redditors to open up about their own experiences, here’s what they had to say

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