Why were all the girls wearing such high-heeled shoes? Ouch!
Ladies, would you ever wear a strapless top to work (assuming you're not a hooker)?
Were they told in advance to dress like skanks?

I'm with you erinjsnark! (waves!!) Ahem. Anyway... more than a few of the woman were dressed like total skanks at The Donald's pad (I'm looking at you The Hyphen). Tube tops might work in a different kind of "dress for success" atmosphere... like the one Heidi was asked if she worked in.

The men dressed much more appropriately IMHO.

Skin=ratings. I'm sure they were encouraged by Mark Brunett to show some. I never see women dressed like that in my industry.

In New York, high heels are the rule. Yes, lots of women do wear tank tops in corporate environments, the dress code varies from business to business. Granted, I'm sure that most of these contestanta were trying to work the sex appeal angle, but women in NY do dress like that for work.

A lot of the women were wearing tank tops when selling lemonade, but it seemed like many of them were wearing blazers over them when they first showed up at the New York Stock Exchange and took them off when they were outside. Probably at Mark Burnett's suggestion.

Yeah, but the tops (especially the tube top) were, imo, completely innappropriate for business wear. Lots of people take their jackets off in their offices. These women couldn't because they'd be mistaken for hookers.

And I do work in a business office in Manhattan, and I wouldn't dare wear what these women did. No one in my office would.

High heels are the rule with business suits for women. Flats don't convey power the way heels do (or so I've heard).

i agree that strapless/tube tops/spaghetti straps are just not appropriate for work! I'm in NYC and have never seen this on anyone I respect professionally.

Heels -- they didn't know they'd be hawking lemonade. I would have done the same thing.

On another note, there are a couple of trolls on this show! Sam is a freakish looking dude -- when he stood up in that suit, he looked like a little boy in his dad's suit! And why the long face?

I noticed one of the tube tops was held up by the tacky clear plastic "bra" straps. Oy.

However, if we may, are eyebrows considered "fashion"? Because there were more that a couple women who must have had a drunk waxer/plucker/shaver. I don't know anyone's name, but damn straight I'd point & scream at the brows if I saw them on my corner (where the men sold the lemonade, funny enough).

I will agree with the high heels being the norm here in NYC, but not really tanks and tubes. Even in the industries where dress codes are a little bit more lax (ie advertising/media/publishing/fashion etc..) you still wouldn't wear a tank top with mini skirts. Yeah you can dress down in pants and sweaters, or even jeans and t-shirts during the summers, but you wouldn't DRESS LIKE A HOOKER.



I HATE those. I just don't get them. They'll never be quite "invisible" so they end up looking super tacky. If you must insist on looking like a tart, then at least invest in a fucking strapless bra.

Oy indeed. That look screams "back of the Victoria's Secret catalogue"

I work in advertising and no one dresses like a Melrose Place extra — especially not anyone above entry-level. In fact, we had a memo about office appropriate summer casual day dressing -- if your underwear has to be seen to wear the outfit, or you can't wear any at all, it's not good for the office. If you could wear the same office 1.) clubbing, 2.) to the beach, or 3.) washing the car, it's not good for the office.

To paraphrase Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl, the original Apprentice, "dress shoddily, they remember the dress. Dress impeccably, they remember the woman."

No snark that not a single one of these women is bigger than a size 6? Yet we have the whole pu-pu platter of male body types?

Hee. "Pu-pu."

I agree with all of you on the skankwear. I was like WTF???! These are supposed to be professional women for godssakes! But then again, I guess the skankwear worked. I mean those chicks got away with selling warm and narsty lemonade for 5 bucks a pop.

The skirts! Those caught my attention. The attractive black woman--Oma-something?--had my respect because she seemed the most normal. Until she showed up in a suit that really did look like it came out of VS. So short you couldn't wear thigh high hose with it. And then a similar minidress. And a midriff top that rivaled Daisy Dukes. She seems a little older to me and she is not coming near the range of age appropriate clothing. Or even remotely close to business appropriate.

Amen nolita!! That is one of my biggest peeves.

And I had to laugh at Oma-something's "You don't know me/Federal Witness Protection Program" shirt. They sell those things on the street here in D.C., 5 for $10. I always wondered who was challenged enough in the fashion department to buy one. Now I know. And no, I don't think cutting it up to make it a belly shirt makes it any better.

To me it kind of showed that men have it a little easier when it comes to dressing for something like this. Men have basically three levels of dress: casual, what I like to call dockers/button down, and suit. (Well besides formal). Whereas women (I am one) have all these levels of casual and not. Skirts, shoes, length of skirt, hair, accessories, all affect the dressy level of a particular outfit. When the women went to the apartment (ugh, I'd rather live in my skankhole basement apartment than that tacky place) that really showed. They had no clue how to dress. The men would have all worn suits and been appropriate. That said, the women still took the skanky road, which probably wouldn't have been my choice. Especially when one of the judges is female! IMHO, it shows bad judgement.

But maybe I'm just bitter because my boss lets the cute girl in our office get away with more.

You're right that men have it easier in that it's much simpler to just fall in line with the uniform -- you make a couple of color choices, but otherwise you just go with the flow. But as a man who has to dress somewhere between business casual and business formal most days (except for those rare days when I can wear jeans to work), I am so jealous of the ways that women have to express their individuality in their work clothes. It's easier for men to avoid making big mistakes (as we saw last night, when the women made terrible mistakes and the men were basically passable), but it's also much harder to really stand out.

Well, the guys in my office all stand out. Of course, blue/white striped shirts with purple/yellow/green paisley ties will do that. Seriously. That's what my boss wore to work this morning. With reallyreally light khaki pants. And a braided belt...folded in a knot at the end (circa 1987).

lawtalkin'guy, if you're having trouble standing out, you should really consider adopting the above style. :)

Is it really inappropriate to wear a tank top under a blazer? Because that is how the women were dressed originally. A lot of women just won't take off their blazer throughout the day, so all you would see is a small part of the top of the tank top under the jacket. I understand that what is appropriate is highly dependent on the particular office, but unless it is a super-formal office, I think that this would likely be sufficient. And what is the situation on sleeveless shirts? Would this also be inappropriate?

And that message came through especially loud and clear when the camera panned over them standing in a group on the trading floor. They looked like a men's chorus with their almost-too-similar outfits!

I wear (nice) tanks under my suits all the time. I wear another top over it if I take off the jacket, but, for the most part, the jacket stays on. I don't think it's unusual to wear the tanks, but it's unusual to see them.

I got the impression that the jackets came off when they sold the lemonade due to the heat. I do that in my office from time to time, door closed, when it's particularly warm.

I do think the skirts were way shorter than what is considered appropriate for women who want to be taken seriously. Fair or not, that's the way it is. I've heard more slams against female attorneys for short skirts than any other fashion faux pas. And I'm in L.A., which is far less formal than NYC fashion-wise.

lawtalkin'guy, if you wear nice clothes well, then you'll stand out. Too few straight guys do. Oh, and don't wear a baseball cap with a suit, my boss is the only person I've ever seen pull that off.

I'm a Torontonian but I do business in NYC on a regular basis in the branding/ad business and I have never seen anyone in a NYC office (other than a misguided summer intern) dress like these woemen. In fact, they were dressed in what a friend and I call "mistress wear". Then when I saw Donald's trophy GF I laughed because she even the "mistress" was dressed more appropriately than the potential Trump company president bimbettes were dressed! They didn't even get 'mistress wear' right!

The ladies might have quadrupled their sales this week but their time is going to come....and soon!

Oh, never fear, I'm the best dressed man (well, ok, one of the two best dressed men) in my office. But I'm still jealous of the endless variety and choice in women's business wardrobe. (And I hope to god that nobody thinks I'm straight).

The women should take notes on attire from Carolyn. Not that she's a fashion plate, but she's got the job and knows the uniform. The short skirts and tank/tube tops may make for better tv in some peoples' minds, but in job interviews you should look the part and most of these women don't.

ITA. Isn't the "dress for success" rule to dress for the job you want, not the job you have? These women were definitely not dressed like corporate presidents (the job they are vying for!)

At least not any corporate president I've ever seen.

Does the Trump apartment count as a fashion faux-paux, or is that a whole other discussion thread? It certainly alludes to a horrible sense of aesthetics, as well as bad judgement about what "looks good".

Haven't the women heard of pantsuits?

I don't think sleeveless shirts would be inappropriate at all.
There are so many fashion options to business women, especially ones such as these who are obviously wealthy enough to dress how they want. It's just a simple matter of looking classy in simple, beautiful clothes.

I agree to a degree, Turtle. I'm self-employed but spend considerable time at one client's offices. They have a "casual dress" policy that really means those who don't care about advancement can wear jeans. The CEO is a 52-year-old woman. She's worn pants on snowy days, but otherwise she wears very expensive, fashionable, and well-made suits. No 25-year-old, no matter how ambitious and desperate to emulate the CEO, would be caught dead in that woman's wardrobe, however. It's not that she dresses "old" or "matronly", because she doesn't. It's just not a younger person's wardrobe, however. I think a younger woman can get away with shorter skirts, as well as tank tops, although I think the latter require a jacket that remains on all day. What seems more important is the quality of the garment -- the cut, the fabric, etc. None of the women I saw (and I missed most of the show) appeared to get their clothes from discount stores. There's nothing inherently wrong with discount stores, but you're certainly not going to wear a $59 dress to interview for a job with Donald Trump.

Plus, I strongly suspect that Burnett's people steered the young women toward showing skin.

That's what I was trying to state--I certainly didn't mean to imply that the women's clothes looked cheap as in bargin basement cheap. Like The Donald's penthouse apartment, money can't account for taste. Good fabrics and cuts rule the roost.


Sadly enough, this is probably true. Once again, so-called "reality" in the reality show.

When The Donald bought the Miss Universe pagent, his recipe for higher ratings was 'smaller swimsuits,higher heels'. So for "The Apprentice", it's 'shorter skirts, higher heels'. I'm just glad this isn't the eighties with the Dress for Success power suits and floppy bow ties.

I wouldn't wear a tank top under a suit, but at least partly because I wouldn't want to get deoderant on the jacket.

The skirt length (or lack thereof) was my biggest problem--good LORD! I don't even know where I'd go to get a suit with a skirt that short. Well, yes I do, but not anywhere I would buy a suit to meet Donald Trump in.

Dressing like flight attendants...no. Just no.

I didn't like the StewardSlut look of the women, but I did like Amy's outfit at the begining, when they got to Duetch-the long brown skirt and the flowered top that just went off the shoulder a little bit.
And can someone please take away Heidi's eye make up? It gives me nightmares.

I thought it was pretty creative to dress like flight attendants, although one of them was wearing jeans. It looked like Deutsch was a pretty casual dress office, but for a proposal meeting I'd still dress up a bit.

I'm firmly convinced that the women are dressing in skankwear because that will attract The Donald's attention. And as we all know, his taste in women runs to skin, skin, and more skin.

But I agree that it's still totally inappropriate. Around here (New Orleans), the young professional women wear classic suits, usually dark, either modest length skirts or pants -- you can hardly tell them from the guys' suits except for their cut -- and for casual wear nice skirts or slacks with colorful tops. I very rarely see a too-short skirt, not even on folks of lower ranks, and no tank tops at all, ever, no matter how hot and humid it is. It's just Not Done. Although women of all ages wear absolute stilt heels all the time; somehow, teetering around on four-inch heels kinda detracts from the otherwise professional appearance of most of them.

So I remain convinced that the women's wardrobes were definitely either dictated by MB or by their desire to catch The Donald's eye.

LOL. I know what you mean but I'd rather see the women in DfS attire than the Skanks R Us garb they wear now. Would it kill them to put on a skirt of a decent length or even slacks, a blouse (not a midriff baring one) and a nice jacket? But I agree that MB or The Combover is controlling what the women wear.

Dear Omarosa,
I can see your hoo-hoo. Put it away now.
Love,
Doug

I think whoever decided to inflict the flight attendant outfits on us should be taken out and shot.

Trump's shiny pastel pink tie was hideous. Combined with the combover-and-up-and-over-and-back-and-over, and the blow-up doll lips, I'm getting uncomfortable just watching him.

When did off the shoulder tops become business wear? Many places won't even let you wear sleeveless let alone off the shoulder and tube tops. How were they to know the guy they were going to meet would be in jeans?

Word. WHAT is with the tube tops and all the shoulder- and belly-flashing? How bizarre. I'm sure it's more from the producers, but you can't tell me those women aren't fairly comfortable in their clothes; none of them appear at all aware that they look completely unprofessional.

There is absolutely no excuse for not wearing a suit when meeting a CEO. If they are in NYC, they should be able to find appropriate suits that are still hip, edgy or unique, without being too slutty or inappropriate.

I totally, wholeheartedly agree. Now granted, I hate Ereka anyway and so therefore am predisposed to rag on anything she does or says or wears or thinks or eats or drinks etc...but even if I didn't, I don't think her Rhoda Morgenstern costume was even proper for the appointment at the ad agency, let alone the CEO meeting. I'd like to be fair, since I doubt the CEO meeting was known about at the point of dressing in the morning, but this is a "13-week job interview"!!! Wear a bra!!!!!!!!

Edited to eliminate the embarrassing double negative...so ashamed.

What's up with that hideous "Aqua Velva"-colored light blue sweater Sam was wearing at the beginning of Episode 2? Ick.

I work in a form of media and have worked in advertising both on the east coast (including NYC) and in the midwest. I've never seen anyone wear a spaghetti strap top or, god forbid, a tube top, to any high-level meeting. The only people who wear that sort of gear are, if you'll excuse me, temp secretaries and interns.

I agree that Burnett and his staff probably encouraged it.

As for the flight attendant uniforms, I was, literally speechless. OK, I was watching TV alone, so I would have been speechless anyway. But I've been in more advertising pitches than I can count, and won the business from a fair percentage of them. The theme of their ads was absurd enough (assuming the target market was only men and then creating completely blatantly sexist ads that would insult both men and women) but to dress up like it's Halloween? And then who was it that sat on the table? Come on! In the real world, they'd be laughed out of the meeting room.

those flight attendant outfits...that hat...oh lord...its like Bob Fossie never died. Heidi with that hat and all the thrusting...sweet jeebus. If she had made 'jazz hands' I wouldn't have been surprised.

'Do ya like to have fun...fun...fun?
How's about a few...laughs...laughs...laughs?
I can show you a..........good time!!!!!'

How 'bout them hats!

(1) Sam's Smokey the Bear/Scoutmaster hat was just plain kooky.

(2) The woman who introduced the ad presentation was wearing one of those weird puffy leather caps that made her look like a cross between an S&M dominatrix and Marlon Brando in The Wild One. Was she supposed to look like a stewardess? Ick.


Kwame wins my vote for sharpest dressed.

Word. He does more daring shirt/tie combinations that I've associated with British and European guys in the past. I especially noticed his boardroom outfit this last week.