ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996             TAG: 9610020030
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEW YORK

NEW FEDEX STYLES GLADDEN ONLY A FEW

You can please some of the people, some of the time. Just ask Federal Express Corp., which sought employee suggestions before changing its uniform style.

U.S. employees wanted wash-and-wear fabrics; international employees preferred natural fibers. The company's solution?

Compromise. One golf-style shirt will be made from a cotton-poly blend in the United States, but overseas it will be 100 percent cotton.

``Before, I looked like a flight attendant. In the new uniform, I look like a postal worker - and I resent it,'' said one Manhattan FedEx employee who did not want to be identified for fear of angering her superiors.

She had a list of other gripes as well. In the United States, there are no more skirts and jumpers for women. Women's scarves, considered too formal, are being replaced with casual knit ties or the sporty look of a T-shirt or turtleneck beneath an open-collared shirt.

-Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   31 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  FedEx courier Luiz Monteiro wears the latest fashion. 
          color.