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What does "business casual" really mean, nowadays?
By Bobbi Jo Woods
In the last decade or so, I've noticed a dramatic decline in what workers are deeming "acceptable" for casual business attire at the workplace. Many firms at which employees work (especially in the area of professional services) usually require a strict business dress code during the work-week, but have, in recent years, adopted a "business casual" approach, typically on Fridays, but depending on the firm, it could be every day that employees are allowed to dress more casually. But what makes me cringe, is when folks take this to mean different things, and wear what they think is appropriate--and in my many cases--is not. For example, I was at an attorney firm last week, to meet with a friend and go to lunch together. The three people I saw in the office (one who works at the front desk, and two paralegals) were all dressed casually, as was my attorney friend, but all three took it to different levels. The front desk worker was wearing a casual sweater and colored jeans. They didn't have the blue jean denim look, but they were neat and wrinkle-free, and tailored nicely, so it was not a sloppy "jeans" look. My attorney friend chose to wear a short-sleeved casual blouse-style top and very casual slacks which were fitted nicely. The two paralegals however, in stark contrast--appeared as if they were dressed to go run errands, such as picking up the kids from school, or going to the grocery store! One of them donned a hooded sweatshirt (the kids call them "hoodies"), and track-style pants with tennis shoes, and her hair was in a sloppy up-do, which looked as if it couldn't decide if it was a pony tail or a bun, with hair sticking out everywhere. The other paralegal chose a less tragic combination to wear to the office, but the style of her clothing still turned me off, and seemed just as unprofessional as the first. Her top had a cartoon cat graphic on it, on which the cat was saying something in a word balloon. Her pants were a bit less crazy than the ones the other gal wore, but they were not casual slacks, just a shapeless pant made of knit material. She also chose to wear flip-flop sandals. Atrocious! Lucky for me, I'm a business owner who works at home, so I can pretty much wear whatever I like while doing my job (as long as I'm at home), however I wouldn't have been caught dead in either of those costumes, and certainly would have at least dressed more like the receptionist or my friend (I actually do dress more like they do, when I leave the home office for meetings with clients, functions, etc.). But I did my share of years working in a corporate environment, and back in my day (early to mid-90s), you did not show up to work without pantyhose or stockings on if you were wearing an outfit with any kind of skirt, whether part of a suit or separates, shorts or skorts (even these new "formal" versions of shorts--crazy!) were not allowed, neither was any type of denim whatsoever, even if it was dyed to not look like blue jean denim. Open-toed shoes were absolutely not permitted, and sleeveless tops, or tops with cleavage/midriff showing, were frowned upon enough, that you might be asked to go home to change and come back. I guess my whole point of this, is that dress certainly has a big reflection on who you are and what you do. At the end of the day, what you decide to wear at your job is all about your image, and frankly, do you think anyone will take you with a grain of seriousness if you choose to dress like a housewife who is doing laundry in her basement, or like a sloppy teen at the mall? My final question... since when did "Casual Friday" become more like "Superbowl Sunday"? |
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