I work for a major financial firm in IT. The floor I work on is divided and mixed between different fields of work and departments. The majority of the floor has a dress code of *Business Casual *and anything we wear must have a collar, even under a sweater unless your sweater has its own collar itself. Basically, this means no one wears a tie or a blazer. You’ll occasionally see someone dressed up in a suit because they’re going to be doing a presentation or something similar. If you work in Corporate IT, you’ll know that most of your interaction with people is through the computer and the phone which is likely why it’s more casual.
However, I have this thing about wanting to dress well, especially when I’m at work. Knowing you look sharp and professional is a great way to boost your confidence. Sure, you can look good in a nicely fit khaki and a white dress shirt with the top button unbuttoned and sleeves partially rolled up, but it’s still casual. I don’t want to come in wearing a three-piece suit, but I’d like to come in with a tie, or a shirt with no tie and a blazer over it, maybe even just a shirt, vest and tie, etc.
Sticking out like a sore thumb can some times also be a bad thing but I’m just not sure I want to. What are your opinions?
If you have worked or currently do work in the corporate world, please do mention that. Thanks.
Here's the general rule of thumb, dress for the next role you want to be in. So if you aspire for your boss' job and they dress in tie and suits, wear a suit. If your boss does not wear a suit, do not try and out-do them.
A tie with a collared shirt isn't too dressed up, especially in a business casual office environment. Just don't wear a 3-piece with a tie.
Thanks for the advice. Sehrysh, you're right in that a tie and dress shirt isn't very dressy but no one here wears a tie. My boss dresses the most casual out of everyone to be honest. I guess the main thing I was worried about was overdressing my boss.
It sounds to me like I'm just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it here.
LOL! If your boss dresses like a slob, you're not required to dress down to meet that standard.
Maybe a good approach is to "mix things up". Wear khakis and a collared shirt/sweater a few days, and trousers with a tie a couple of days. But ease into the more formal look by doing it gradually. Another option is to wear tailored trousers and a nice button-down shirt with smart shoes, and slowly work your way to adding a tie to the look. Maybe others will be inspired by your lead and will begin dressing more formally themselves.
A well-dressed person does get noticed and it's a way to enhance your profile in the organization. Substance matters, but so does appearance - so don't neglect your appearance.
I couldn't have asked for a better answer -- thanks a ton! Dressing so casually has made me lazy... rather, attempting to not dress flashy even while attempting to adhere to the casual atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, everyone here is really professional with each other, but I just can't understand how people here who are all either middle to upper-middle class can dress so simply.
Unfortunately, appearance is getting more importance than substance. All depends on the line of work. Finance folks tend to focus more on appearance, engineers less. Scientists have it right - less than engineers.
Wearing clean ironed clothes should be sufficient in an ideal world. But got to agree with everything Sehrysh said. Good - no great advice.
I work in a pretty casual workplace now, the president of my business unit usually wears jeans, sneakers and a polo shirt, execs mostly are in jeans or chinos and polo shirts or button downs etc, aside from our CIO they dont wear sneakers though. but I like blazers etc and I mix things up.
Same company, other BU where I was earlier was much dressier with most mgmt ranks in dressy clothes, jeans on Fridays etc.
Dark jeans, dress shirt, blazer,
Chinos, and sweater
Cords and tweed jacket
Suit w no tie
Jeans, dress shirt tie and vneck jumper
Wool trousers, button downs and moleskin jacket
I almost never wear trainers to work, although have done it once or twice.
Shoes with the outfits range from Clark desert boots, smart casual double monk strap, dark tan brogues, Chelsea boots, hi vamp loafers, canvas chuck Taylors with leather details, Porsche design Adidas driving shoes etc.
It's casual, not sloppy and I enjoy it.
I do keep a jacket, dress shirt and tie at work in case there is some last minute client stuff I am getting pulled in.
And btw don't eliminate ties, just go for more casual ties, cotton, flannel, wool, knit instead of the silk ones. They go very well in a dressy casual look,
X2, just recently we met some marketing folks from Ralph Lauren and they were wearing the non-traditional ties like you mentioned. Let's just say the entire outfit down to the socks was extremely well coordinated. I'm not so sure if they were straight. It's a very metro look and seems as if can be quite high-maintenance.That in a way is sometimes being overdressed. Unless you're a sales rep at Banana Republic.
Not sure why you think these ties are non traditional. They are in fact very traditional. Woolen ties go better with heavier fabrics like tweed and flannel and cords. Nothing new. Been around for decades. Same goes for linen and cotton ties, always better with linen, seersucker and cotton outfits in summer. Knit ties rotate in and out of style, just like double breasted suits and vested suits...
As you noted, it depends on the organization and role. There are plenty of organizations where a suit and tie is the standard, others where a sport oat is a must after a certain level. You can always be a little less or more dressed up than the avg in the workplace but not too much. I would not wear a suit with tie unless I had client meetings, just like the most casual guy in the group may show up in Birkenstocks but will not be in shorts. You are absolutely right, Being too different will paint a person as not quite belonging to the team.
Btw Dressing better is not the same thing as dressing up more.
You can be dressed better than everyone around you but not dressed up more than them also. Better fitting clothes, properly maintained, coordinated, better quality, colours etc.
The financial industry is the best dressed. And the one that has fine print written all over it. John Boggle the Index Fund guru, dresses in quite a simple way. Warren Buffett, the best investor of all time, is a folksy person. Very simple attire.
The M&A types dress up. The value they add inversely prop to degree of dressing up.
I meant to say dressing up instead of better. Thank you for correcting this.
In china or in US? :-)
Btw Dressing better is not the same thing as dressing up more.
You can be dressed better than everyone around you but not dressed up more than them also. Better fitting clothes, properly maintained, coordinated, better quality, colours etc.