Did they not tell you you needed to come in red and khaki? Odd. Normally (at my store anyway, it's very well that other stores could be different) they tell you "orientation is considered your first day of work so come in red and khaki." Shoes don't tend to matter, but you'll want something you can be in your feet in all day. I'm a girl and I wore flats all day every day (boots in the winter) and it didn't bother me, but I have caveman feet so I don't need anything cushy. Wear whatever works for you as far as shoes, they're not picky.
Just to be safe, I'd wear a solid bright Target-red (you know that horrendous color all throughout the store) shirt and the khakis are kinda self-explanatory.
From what I gather, Target is GENERALLY lenient on the color of red you wear...many of our TM's and ETL's wore dark red/maroon...we even had a softlines TM who wore a bright pink shirt every day and nobody said shit. She transferred from another Target in the area and I can only assume she felt comfortable doing it bc she got away with it there too. I believe the handbook even says you can wear any shade of red (but it's been a while since I've referred to that thing so don't quote me on that). Again, even if the handbook does say that, your store may enforce something else. My store, you could wear any shade of red (apparently even pink) and the rule was you could wear stripes as long as the stripes were all some shade of red. We did, however, have one Sr. TL who always wore a red shirt with white polka dots, and another Sr. TL who wore any random ass shirt with a red sweater over (I did this sometimes too). The rule regarding that is that you can wear any color SOLID shirt underneath a red sweater/overshirt, but we were just flaunting random patterned shirts with a red sweater over it. Nobody cared. ASANTS, though.
The only time I ever saw anyone have to change b/c of dress code was when a girl came in with dark brown pants and a sleeveless (red) shirt. No sleeveless, and stick to khaki.
As far as tats/piercings/crazy hair, I've never known of a Target to give a damn. I had ETL's with visible tats.
ALSO, if you're in Cali, apparently they can't even make you wear khaki, but they prefer it (bonus points).
No shorts unless you're cart attendant. I have heard of stores letting flow wear shorts though.
ALSO, can I mention I love this question, simply because this is the reason I found The Break Room? I was sitting in Taco Cabana, and while I was waiting, I took to my phone and started searching for what shade of red I can wear and what kind of shoes I was supposed to wear bc nobody told me that shit and I was really nervous, and then I stumbled upon The Break Room 🙂 lurked for 9 months and then became a member 🙂 so glad I did.
TL;DR: "Target red" shirt to be safe (not sleeveless) OR solid colored shirt under red overshirt, khakis, any shoes. No shorts unless you're cart attendant, if you're flow, you can inquire. Tats/piercings/hair don't matter. Whatever shoes you want. Ask at your orientation the specifics to be totally sure.
