When it comes to office wear, distinguishing right from wrong can be pretty tough to define. Especially in an environment that couldn’t care less if you rocked up to work in baggy jeans and flip-flops every day, it becomes quite tricky not to overstep the ‘work appropriate’ boundary. But even in the marketing environment, how you present yourself goes along way in creating your personal brand.

To shed some light on this sometimes puzzling matter, we asked the 24.com marketing staff what fashion faux pas they’ve seen. Through the chuckles and cringes, we were glad we weren’t any of these people.

Baffling ensembles:

This girl who works in one of the floors in the building I work in came in a sequined hat, very short shorts and tights. She looked like she was going to a dress up party.

A guy once came in what looked like a fishing rod. He had a bait-like wheel thing that came over his head.

I came across a girl who wore what I like to call ‘the curtain’. It was a dark winter-like material that looked like she’d inherited from her grandma. My aunt has the same exact curtain in her home, passed down from her grandmother - the same exact curtain!

My team and I have a garment we call the ‘smock of despair’. It’s like this white sheet that is (badly) sewn into a dress. One day I was sitting in the office feeling very hot. So I decided to take off my clothes and wear the smock instead… for the rest of the day.

One day at the station on my way to work I saw a girl who wore what looked like blue running shorts over tights and a blue peculiar shirt under an avocado-coloured jacket.

T-shirt mishaps:

A guy I worked with came into work with his shirt inside out. When I and a few other people made him aware of this he was adamant that his shirt was actually the right way around. Later on in the day, he came up to me and said that he was too embarrassed to admit that it was actually inside out.

A journo I once worked with wore in an ANC T-shirt. As a journalist you should know never to come to work in any items of clothing that suggest your political affiliations.

Too cool for corporate:

I know of a girl who in a corporate setting wore teeny tiny pants. Although it was for casual Friday, it was still inappropriate for work.

Dressing for the job you want:

A maintenance man once came into the office wearing a suit to do some maintenance work.

Casual taken too literally:

I have these Aladdin pants that from time to time I’ll wear to the office. Everyone in my team says they look stupid. But I don’t care what they think. I look fabulous in them.

I know a guy in our office that walks around with flip flops, gigantic toes and jeans.

I once wore this bright gold fancy dress to the office, which I’ll never wear again.

Crocs are not appropriate for any office environment.