Dress Code

Dear Karen: Some of my employees dress sloppily or overly casual. What can I do to improve their appearance, especially when clients are at our office? Answer: There are productive ways you can help your employees promote a credible image every day, whether your company's dress code atmosphere is business casual or more formal. First, your company should have a dress code. "The policy should not be confusing or vague.

NOT everyone's gotten the memo yet, but the dress code from Echo Park nightclubs to Culver City galleries is changing. A renewed elegance is replacing L.A.'s relaxed signature style, thanks in part to a rising school of designers bent on creating clothes as sophisticated as they are beautifully made. The city's restaurant, architecture and art scenes have grown up, motivating women who once would have gone everywhere in jeans to up their game.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to suspend a high school dress code that was challenged by a student who had worn a T-shirt with anti-gay language. Tyler Chase Harper sued the Poway Unified School District in 2004 to overturn a policy calling for schools to reduce or prevent "hate behavior," including threats and attacks based on sexual orientation. Harper had been pulled from class for wearing a T-shirt that read "Homosexuality is shameful" on the front and "Be ashamed.

Arjun, a college senior with a wispy beard and forthright manner, breaks the rules just about every time he walks onto campus. He doesn't have to say a thing, or act out in class, or pick a fight. He only has to do what comes naturally to him every morning: Pull on a pair of jeans. That's enough to make him a habitual scofflaw here at Anna University, whose administrators have ordered students to toss out the T-shirts and jettison the jeans, at least on campus.

Question: I have a small company with a dozen employees. One young man I hired recently has been coming to work in clothes that are torn and dirty. Should I establish a formal dress code or talk to him privately? Answer: Create an employee manual that includes a dress code and make sure all your employees are aware of it and agree to abide by it. If your employee refuses, you can eventually discharge him if he doesn't comply. If he sues, you'll have written company policy on your side.

The crime log of the Beach Reporter listed an altercation involving a suspect who "was reportedly denied entrance" to a Hermosa Beach club "due to a dress code requiring pants." I guess the club has to draw the line someplace. Going Bono one better: It seems as though entertainment figures are getting more and more involved in politics. Doug Thomson read where a pop singer had apparently even taken over for John Bolton as this country's U.N. ambassador (see accompanying).

On those rare occasions when insurance executive Tara Guizot wears a suit to her Century City office, "people invariably ask me if I'm interviewing for a new job," she said. The trend toward casual dress has gone so far that Matt Smith, a 27-year-old Century City lawyer, is on a quest to establish "Tie Tuesday." He would like to wear a suit to work but knows he'd be ridiculed. Instead, Smith dons a tie every Tuesday and hopes other men in his office will follow. So far a couple have.

For years, Heather Berault proved her allegiance to the Lakers by wearing an oversized men's basketball jersey. Then, out of frustration, she began to fashion her own apparel, using purple T-shirts cut to fit a woman's body and gold glitter to spell out "Lakers." Fortunately, for Berault -- who acknowledges she's not an artsy-craftsy person -- sports marketers have begun to realize that many women want a more feminine way to make a sports-fashion statement.

Heights don't always scare those at Morning Briefing headquarters. Traversing the enclosed catwalk to the press box high in Calgary's Pengrowth Saddledome was fairly angst-free, as were drives over the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro. Driving over bridges is one thing. Climbing them is another. Now for $59 during the day, and $79 at night, brave folks can climb over the top of Purple People Bridge (official name: Newport Southbank Bridge) linking Cincinnati to Newport, Ky.