Let’s hit a hot button! So… the rumor is that they may be offering pants with the new Director’s suit… now, the fact that we have NOT seen any images of the new suit leaked from the NSD trip seems to me to be pretty good confirmation of this possibility, regardless… the cat will be out of the bag at leadership.
So where does the myst fall with this seemingly hot hot hot topic?
EXCITED! Hey look… the company has been working hard to rebrand and upgrade their image and this is a silly area to take publicity hits. They started the process last year with relaxing the “official yet non-required but suggested” stance on hose and shoes and whatnot. I also heard that last year they discussed pants with the NSD’s but some … er… ‘traditional” or “original” or “more seasoned” NSD’s had a fit… so it did not happen. But hey, this company IS in the business of making money (as it should be – hello DUH). They research such changes heavily before making these decisions. In fact, did anyone else notice on the new recruiting DVD folks are casual and in … *GASP* PANTS!!!!
So… your turn! Where do you weigh in on the great pant/skirt debate?
December 20, 2007 at 11:44 am
I see nothing wrong with pants as long is they are professional. I understand why the company has always been hesitant to allow pants. It opens the door for jeans, leggins, skinny pants, etc. On the flip side, with the skirts you always run the risk of someone showing up in a miniskirt.
My point is, there will always be people who don’t understand the difference between professional dress and casual dress. I welcome pants–it gets cold here! Whatever the recommended dress code is, I can respect it. If it’s strictly skirts, I can respect that and abide by it at corporate events. I’ve always dressed comfortably (yet professionally) for my sales appointments. If I can wear a pants suit to Career Conference, that would be great! This past year the wind was so violent and cold that I froze in a skirt!
December 20, 2007 at 12:59 pm
While I live here in Dallas where it rarely even freezes over, I do welcome the idea of the acceptance of pants. I mean, I think while we do need to keep a professional appearance and I do like skirts, hee1s, and even hose (yes, I have the whitest legs on earth!)…nothing is wrong with some black pants or khakis.
Shades is right…some people will not look good no matter if you ask them to wear a skirt, a ball gown, or pants. Let’s face it: some people just don’t know how to dress for their body type, are too cheap/poor/stubborn to wear updated clothing, or just plain don’t care about their appearance. Making someone wear a skirt is not going to change that.
Should we wear jeans and flip flops? No. But nice pants are highly acceptable and even expected. People are sometimes shocked when I show up at their home in a skirt and heels. At times, I feel bad because the guests are dressed super casually. I don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable or underdressed.
I am anxious to see how this pants thing pans out, especially with the new brown suits.
And may I point out…I serve people from MKC at the restaurant I work at EVERY DAY. Even Evette Franko gets to wear pants, and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us, too!
December 20, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Just had the color confirmed…. the new suit color is going to be a deep dark espresso brown. YUMMERS!
December 20, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Talked with the Director line… NO pants… Yes, I agree, it would be nice, but it definitely opens the door to the “I want to wear what I want to wear” issues
December 20, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Deep dark espresso brown??????? I guess we should have seen that coming with the current NSD suits being similar. But oh, I simply can’t imagine.
Frankly, I think pants would be BAD. I know the arguments for and against and yes I noticed that in the new video, but I just don’t think that women look as feminine in pants as they do in skirts. And we’re in a feminine business.
December 20, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Hi all! Just had to step in and say “yo”…lol
I went over to the “other side”, and can you believe they are comparing sex offenders and MK as stalking prey. OMG, that is ridiculious ( miss spelled )
I was going to post but thought it better to leave angry dogs lay in wait….lol
I am thinking that someone should sue that site for the treacherous things they say about MK, and the IBC’s, and NSD’s and SD’s
I am not like a sex offender stalking my prey. I do not stalk anyone. I love the MK, and I love to sell it.
Geez, can’t someone do something about the useless and downgrading speak?
Yes, it hit me wrong only because the one that comes over here to post sometimes, made a statement under today’s new “hate management” thread and since I was not stalked as a kid, I was forced, the statement made me very, very angry…..
Well, onto better things.
see all of you later, with love, Jeni
December 20, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Jeni, just delete that site from your bookmarks and NEVER go there again. That is how we can kill it off … just plain lack of interest in the lies and manipulation. THEY are the ones stalking us. kmh
December 20, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Yep, I am still on my PT boycott. Haven’t been there in months!
December 21, 2007 at 6:26 am
Yep, saw the pants on the DVD. I thought that it won’t be long now……
I agree with Shades and MK that there is a big issue with women on what is ‘casual and what is professional’.
I wear the beauty coat at appointments and it gives a professional legit feel to it. They seem to like it too.
I wear pants with my face on of course, to deliver products.
I guess when it is all said and done, The dress code does make us stand out. There have been studies, (I need to look up a link) where productivity goes up when people are dressed up. Down on those days when they are casually dressed.
Of course, I am probably a dying breed of the old school. I met Mary Kay Ash as some of you may have and I tell ya, she was pretty smart about business. Dress for the position you want, etc: I feel confident and get better service in stores when I am dressed up. I never felt that was right. But that is the way it is.
So I do think in the future, we will probably go to pants at some point. Will it be a good thing? I dunno, is it a good thing to be like everybody else? the competition? The work force? Only time will tell.
Does it matter to me? I am so mixed on it, I have a headache right now. I would probably do what the company prefers. I kind of like our being the stand out company.
Sorry for the book, but do want to share this, At the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas one year, there was a convention of ‘Romance writers’ there at the same time we were. Others at the hotel and the hotel remarked and made much ado about Mary Kay seemed to be living it, while they were just writing about it. Thought that was funny.
Have a Merry everybody!
December 21, 2007 at 7:11 am
I have another thought on the “dress code.” It is just a guideline and the goal is for the sales force to look professional. If the company allows pants, that doesn’t mean we all have to wear pants. So, if I’m more comfortable in a skirt, I’ll wear a skirt. There are many women who don’t like skirts. They may have issues with self image in regard to their body type in a skirt. Now, it may be unfounded, but shouldn’t someone feel confident in her appearance in order to be successful? If someone feels self conscious in a skirt, then she may give off that vibe to her clients and lose sales as a result. Maybe it’s far fetched, but I think it’s a reality.
December 21, 2007 at 7:18 am
Just my two cents on PT–I have only seen insulting immature articles on that site. The only reason I found it is because their members would infiltrate MK groups on MySpace. They would deliberately make rude or ridiculous comments on those boards to provoke argument. They would link to PT so I would see what that was. I was disgusted every time and the last time I think I viewed that site was maybe a year ago, but probably longer.
And I think kmh makes an excellent point.
December 21, 2007 at 10:24 am
So correct. One question! How do I delete from bookmarks? Yes, I am puter illiterate, and some days cannot even spell. LOL LOL
A Very Merry Christmas to all.
December 21, 2007 at 11:34 am
Wow this is a great topic. I just rejoined Mk and I gotta tell you personally it always bothered me that I “had” to wear a skirt. I have no problem doing it, and also I have confidence that I dress as a super sharp woman whenever I am on business. I only wore skirts to Company events, but at classes I was always business casual. To me that means dress slacks and a blouse. The problem that we run into is that not everyone’s interpretation of business casual or even professional is the same. And of course I believe the reason being is ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Now Im not going to go off on that tangent but Im saying it is there. So my take on it is, I believe if pants are offered its actually (could be)a good thing. Because if you provide a tool, in this case a “uniform” that people can utelize, you can limit the those bad “interpretations” that I mentioned. Make sense? Of course not everyone will make use of it and some will likely even use it as an excuse to wear their own pants in leu of the company approved ones. What can you do? Either way the problems will still be there, but maybe this way there will be less of a problem. You know the saying-You can lead a horse to water, but you cant make him drink. In a growing society where cultural and ethnic differences are entering the corporate workplace everyday, even major companies are changing their policies. You should see the way some of the people at my office dress! Yikes. It boils down to education and providing a tool. If you give those basics as a starting point then you can set the individual and the company up for maximum success. Which brings me to the last thought I have. Why should “uniforms” just be offered to directors? Why not raise the starter kit price by $50 and include a skirt and jacket? Can you see what that would do?
December 21, 2007 at 11:35 am
Hi Jeni–if you have internet explorer you can go to your bookmark menu and right click on the bookmark and it will have an option to delete.
December 21, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Ah! Thank you shades of pink. Got it done!
appreciate the help, again, thank you.
lovingly, Jeni
December 22, 2007 at 5:59 am
With my shape, I normally wouldn’t be caught dead in pants, but where I work EVERYONE wears pants except the top woman manager. (hint hint) My normal MK dress is a black long skirt with white blouse (sometimes black depending on my team’s ordering this month) and my red jacket (which I have had for nearly ten years and feel like it is tattooed on me!). So even if MK offered on Section II I would be very unlikely to buy them; I have a hard enough time finding decent black pants in Pennington’s or Additionelle stores. You walk into any meeting and the Directors always stand out: great suit, great nails, perfect makeup and up-to-date hairdo. That’s often what encourages other women to join MK: They want to look like her! smile
So I vote for keeping the skirt … if you hate pantyhose/nylons, or it is too hot and humid where you live (like Dallas!) then wear a floor length skirt and close toed shoes without slingbacks, and no one will see your bare legs–ha! Have a happy Christmas, kmh
December 22, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I’ve noticed Laura Bush wears pantsuits a lot, and she always looks very classy. I love pantsuits, and would be thrilled to be able to wear one. But I can see where you have to draw the line somewhere, or you will get people wearing jeans and flip-flops! :-p
December 22, 2007 at 4:41 pm
You know – I hear the argument when people say that Kare, but at the same time you can have the same problem with skirts. In fact, we had a Director who liked her skirts short so even though she was tall, she ordered a petite… umm… let’s just say that we did not know whether we should “tip her” or “tuck a buck”! LOL We got a show when she was on stage!!!
So… you guys, I still say, it is not the article of clothing but the person.
How many skirts and dresses have we seen that have not exactly been the “image” we have in mind with Mary Kay. Uh… don’t answer that. 
Oh and hey… welcome to our new peeps!! We love to see your posts!!
December 23, 2007 at 6:06 am
OK, here is my opinion and it is just my opinion. I think that MK set up their dress code so that all would look professional. And I think that skirts are GREAT wear them a lot, and like them, however I also wear a lot of shorts they are to the knee not short. Why because I live in South Texas and if you have ever been to Corpus Christi you would understand. The wind here blows all the time. Most of the time it blows at least 30 mph. Well, once and it has been a long time ago I was getting out of my car and I had a skirt on and yes you know what is coming next it blew up over my head. Panties showing and everything. So I think that any kind of dressing is OK if it is done modestly. I have seen some ladies in dresses and they are so short that when they set down you could see everything that they were trying to cover up. I have seen some ladies in pants that were so tight that you could see everything that needed to be covered. And I have seen some in shorts that well you know could see everything that needed to be covered.
When I hold a SCC and there have only been two of those. One time I wored a skirt and the other time I wore a capri pant suit.
Personally I think that they need to keep the dress or skirt. The reason I say this and if you knew me really well you would be falling off the chair cause I am about as casual as you get. I think everyone has gotten so laxed in dress even in professional settings. I own a salon and we have a lot of little ladies that come in and you know they will talk about when they used to go to town to shop and they wore dresses and heals and gloves and all of them say they miss that.
I pray that everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
December 27, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I hate wearing skirts. Hate it. LOL
However, I think that skirts look better on me than pants because I am a bit…..*ahem*….”big-boned”. I am as big as the broad side of a barn. LOL
Still, pants or skirt – if it isn’t the right size, it will look bad, no matter what. Some women refuse to wear the correct size because they insist they can “still fit” into a skirt/pants 2 sizes too small. Ick.
December 27, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I hear ya MKShay!
January 1, 2008 at 3:21 am
I dislike how pants look on me, but I wear them for comfort primarily. I don’t like skirts any better really. I do like dresses though.
In relationship to Mary Kay, I just will never get used to including pants. No, it runs deeper than that. I firmly believe that when we cross that one single line in Mary Kay, that our other most singularly important aspect of recognition will be lost forever.
The initial most important aspect was lost when the Cadillac went to pearlized pink. They were no longer recognizable on the road. As a child, I could see one in a heartbeat, but as an adult I found it impossible to clearly distinguish one on the highway, or road for that matter.
I am a die hard. Give me pepto pink and pantyhose.