Work sent him home for wearing shorts. It went differently when he returned in a dress

Typical professional wear in the summer can be difficult for men with white-collar jobs. While women in many professions can switch to dresses as temperatures rise, many dress codes insist men stick with pants.

Joey Barge, a 20-year-old who works in a call center in England, decided he was sick of wearing pants in his hot workplace.

He posted a tweet showing the shorts he was wearing while driving to work on Monday, seeming to predict that the shorts could be an issue in his workplace. A forecast he posted for the day showed temperatures would hit 30 degrees Celsius, or about 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shortly after that tweet, he said he had been sent home from work for wearing the shorts. So he decided to go back to work still not wearing pants, but in a piece of clothing that was technically acceptable under his work’s policy: a dress. He said he got it from his mother’s wardrobe.

Just a couple hours later, Barge posted a snapshot of a work email that made it seem like the dress had inspired a change in policy.

“Due to the extremely warm temperatures currently, it has been agreed that ... gentlemen in the office are permitted to wear 3/4 length shorts,” the email read.

Barge received praise for his actions on Twitter, but many said they’d prefer to stick with a dress over wearing 3/4-length shorts.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Work sent him home for wearing shorts. It went differently when he returned in a dress."