Should I Tell Her She Looks Like a Slut?

Dear Franz,

There is a girl in my office who is very smart and competent but for some reason wears extremely low-cut tops, skin-tight miniskirts and spike heels. This has held her back from other opportunities and she's kind of an office joke. I know her only by sight and wish she had a woman in her life who had a clue and would share said clue with her.

Dear Reader,

As you can imagine, I've never worked in an office. So I'm trying to picture the situation from movies I've seen.

Now that I've done that, I think I have an answer for you. First, it would be flat out rude to tell someone that they look slutty or like a common whore. I think we've all done that; we've all been in the situation where we were forced to call a spade a spade. And sometimes the reaction is not what we would expect either: a drink thrown in one's face or more likely, a scratched face.

First of all I have a question of my own: the office movie that I thought of for reference was Working Girl with Melanie Griffith. Do people still dress like that at the office? I would hope not. I would imagine that I would prefer "skin tight miniskirts" and "spike heels" to those blouses with the big bows on the front of them.. I don't know.

But the point is, that you need to tell someone that they look like a slut, but you don't know how. I'm sure you've thought of telling your superior, but you know what? I think that would come across as 'whiney' and/or 'bitchy'. In fact, the words complain, whine and bitch all mean the same thing. I think the best solution would be to let this person know how you feel anonymously. You could call said person and disguise your voice. Or better yet, write the person a note and place it on her desk (use a printer please! No long hand!). If you don't have access to her desk - you may write it on the restroom mirror or wall. Yes, others will see it, but that way you won't be seen dropping off the note.

I think I've covered all the bases, so good best of luck to you.