Do you feel offended if you find your female colleague wearing something which is not modest?

You remember the case of Debrahlee Lorenzana who was sacked from Citi Group for being, in their words, too hot and sexy?

I'm not sure if men feel offended but they do get distracted. Personally, I do not like the idea of dressing outrageously. I'd like to reserve my comments for others :-)

My first thought is "I'm qualified to determine if clothing is inappropriate?" Am I in control of myself or do I allow others to take control of my primary (cognitive) and secondary (glandular) responses to information?
If I am aware something is distracting me then I am able to make that thing undistracting.
If the person's intention is to cause distraction, that's another matter entirely.
- Joseph

this is a really interesting question. but i'm way too skittish to even begin to answer it...

Hmm. As a man I don't know if I feel offended. I think the bigger issue for me when I see someone that is dressed in a manner I find inappropriate whether that is "immodest" or too casual for the environment is what is the best way to address it with them.
I think a lot of young people especially haven't had good coaching on what is and isn't appropriate for the work environment, "causal wear" certainly hasn't helped.
I will admit to being a little on the conservative side, but I will also tell you that to me an attractive woman in nice slacks or a dress and heels is much more attractive than someone dressed more for clubbing.
Part of the way we addressed this in a past role was we hired a business etiquette coach and actually had them do a series on how to dress and act appropriately in business settings including lunches and dinners."Graduation" was a formal business dinner including a four course meal and wine.
It was on a semi volunteer basis on their own time. We actually opened ip up to our local Chamber and had a waiting list.

Dress is a tough one because it is so subjective. What one finds offensive or "too sexy" another finds completely appropriate. I agree with Joseph that if they are dressing a certain way to purposefully cause a distraction then that is a problem, however, I think those cases are few and far between.

To answer your exact question, I don't think women are free to wear anything and everything at work and certainly have to abide by dress codes and company culture. This is work, not Friday night out with the girls.

I'm not sure if really affects company culture overall. If one or two women are dressing in a way that others deem inappropriate, I don't think it drives a difference in culture. I think it is often ignored, addressed or discussed behind their back and just becomes one of those it is what it is kind of situations.

Do I feel offended? No. Sometimes the opposite, in fact; I actually feel a little sorry for girls who seem to feel the need for such outrageous overcompensation. Let's be honest, in the workplace, dressing like a skank usually stems from a deeper agenda than trying to look professional. Any strong woman knows this is not a dignified path to success.

While dress code often depends on company and culture, I don't think women (or men) should be allowed to wear anything they want. Whether the dress code is strictly business attire or just jeans and t-shirts, I believe companies should set some standards for taste. An example for women might be to go easy on the cleavage; for men, no baseball caps. Of course, these are very subjective measures, so generally speaking these are matters that should be decided internally based on culture, context, history, etc.

As far as the effect on work culture, I think that also depends. I imagine the response would be different in a male dominated workplace vs. a female dominated one (ratio M:F employees). Nonetheless, I think people (male and female alike) interpret dress differently. In this way, individuals can be heavily influenced by more macrocultural forces like ethnicity, religious beliefs, upbringing, etc. but this usually doesn't make a quantifiable difference in the collective company culture. If anything, I think it has more of an impact on the perception of the culture than the culture itself...

Dressing as it relates to work place falls primarily on the company, its culture. A few individuals might want to relate it more to the women which i find being biased. Men dress in ways too that women don't see as being modest too. People relate in different ways when it comes to dressing. What might seem right to you might irritate others in certain ways. Either way, dressing modest in a coporate environment is ideal.