Woman Asks if Outfit Is Too Short for Work, Wears It Anyway—Disaster Ensues

A woman asked the internet whether her outfit was too short for the workplace, only to immediately answer her own question.

Beth, 31, lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she works as a social media in what she describes as “a pretty casual office which doesn’t have a strict dress code.”

At around 5 feet 9 inches, Beth struggles “to find shorter skirts for summer that are high waisted but also hit my mid-thigh,” telling Newsweek it’s “tough to find the perfect fit.”

And with Australian summers being what they are, keeping cool is vital—so when temperatures hit 32°C [89.6°F], she had a decision to make.

In a video shared to her TikTok account @betty_bucks on January 8, Betty asks the camera: “Is this too short for work?” before standing back and showing shirt and skirt just grazing her thighs.

But before she has the chance to ask any further questions, she is immediately interrupted—by herself detailing the disaster of a workday when she wore the skirt.

The video switches to Beth, sitting in her car, telling herself: “Yes! It is far too short. What were you even thinking? If you wear it, you will flash everyone in the office and you will be uncomfortable all day and you’ll wish you never wore it.”

She explained to Newsweek she had been wearing the skirt outside of work, and while it is slightly shorter than her other skirts, “thought I could get away with it.”

“It did feel a little short but only because I felt it riding up—definitely not because my workplace would care. I even asked my boss when we went for a coffee and she’s like ‘no, it’s hot today. who cares,'” she said.

The video proved popular on the app, racking up over 131,000 likes and hundreds of comments, as Beth told Newsweek: “I definitely did not expect the reaction! But I am cracking up at the comments.”

Some commenters didn’t realize it was Beth replying to herself in the video, with one admitting it “took me a second to realize you’re having a go at yourself,” and another asking straight out: “Is it the same person?”

One suggested: “if you have to ask, the answer is always yes,” while one insisted it would be okay with tights, but as Beth replied, it was a hot summer’s day.

“I wasn’t expecting you to have a go at yourself,” another laughed, while one joked: “We dont know yet what her job is. Maybe she’s a saleswoman for insanely short skirts?”

Beth pointed out that she’s “obviously agreeing that it’s too short” as she stitched her own video, but “my workplace wouldn’t think twice about it.”

According to a 2023 survey from Gallup, around 41 percent of all workers in the United States wear business casual attire to work, while 31 percent wear casual street clothes, and 23 percent wear a work uniform.

Just three percent of respondents wore professional business clothes to the office, the survey found.

“I feel like a lot of the extreme reactions I’m getting are from overseas or from people who work in strict corporate spaces,” Beth said.

“Every job has different expectations and rules so depending on what the vibe is—wear whatever … you want as long as it makes you comfortable.”

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