Defining Business Casual: How To Do It Right

Erika Remmington

July 01, 2014

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There can often be some confusion surrounding the style of dress that has become known as business casual. It can seem like the fine line between "dressed to the nines" and "ready for a barbecue at a friend's house." Dressing business casual does not have to be as daunting as it may seem. There are some simple tips to follow, for both men and women alike, to successfully dress business casual, and to look professional yet laid back all at once. Put together your business casual wardrobe by dressing yourself from head to toe.

Business Casual: What is it?
According to a 2010 Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine article, a 2002 survey by Mervyns, a department store, showed that 90 percent of the people studied who worked in an office did not actually know what the differences are among various clothing styles including formal, business casual, and casual.

Dress for Success, Head to Toe
Business casual does not mean "Roll Out of Bed Day." Keep your hair neat, regardless of what day it is. You can let your hair down without having it look sloppy. For women, makeup should be fairly similar to what you'd normally wear at the office. Don't go to extremes with colors. Remember, there is still a different between casual and nighttime appropriate.

Experiment with Colors and Patterns, Not Professionalism
For both men and women, the clothes you wear to dress business casual can be a little bit more fun and experimental when it comes to colors and patterns. If you've got a huge meeting with a client that carries a lot of weight, naturally you're going to wear something that exudes professionalism and power. These are darker, more basic colors. When you dress business casual, you can try brighter colors and fun patterns. This of course doesn't mean that you should wear a Hawaiian shirt. However, stripes and finer suit patterns, for example, can dress an outfit down just the right amount.

A French study was conducted and published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research that showed waitresses who wore red earned more in tips. A 2012 Forbes article posed the question: Can this tidbit be applied to a professional business setting as well? This article notes that Christine Jahnke of The Well-Spoken Woman says that bold colors, while casual and fun, can also help someone stand out in a good way.

“Wearing solid red is a sure fire way for women members of Congress to get on-camera face time”..."Many of the women members will wear red, orange and purple to stand out in a sea of navy and charcoal suits,” Jahnke said.

Less is More; Keep it Appropriate
Women, beware of dressing inappropriately! You are not going on a blind date, and you don't want to attract the wrong kind of attention in the workplace. Some of the smartest, most stylish outfits are the ones that shed little skin and are available at many luxury clothing stores such as Axel’s.

According to a 2012 article from Forbes, "All most people know is they don’t want to see too much of a colleague’s body, including feet. Or as a colleague once said, 'I don’t really need to see all of that in the office.'"

Sin-Young Kim of TheModAppeal said in that same article, “North American men and women are becoming more fashion-savvy and are looking for pieces that reflect their personal, unique style and fit. With globalization and the Internet, mass-customization is in great demand and very achievable."

Dresses, blouses, suits, and skirts should all be as appropriate as you would dress on any given work day. Pencil skirts and dress suits are appropriate; short skirts should be kicked to the side until the weekend.

Perhaps there may not be one, definitive way to describe business casual. What's for sure is that it can be experimental and fun, all the while maintaining a degree of professionalism, ensuring that workers are taken seriously and are respected.