Deborah OConnor July 2, 2013

Business casual attire sounded like such a great idea. Business peoplecould work in casual clothing, assuring comfort and flexibility in thework place. Everyone would be happy, right? Wrong! Business casualfailed miserably. There was a decrease in productivity, quality,commitment, loyalty, and ethical behavior. Politeness, manners, andmorality were in short shrift. There was a definite increase intardiness, profanity, flirtatious behavior, and complaints andlitigation. The Wall Street Journal’s article, “Down with CasualFridays”, says that casual dress has been linked to poor performance,reviews, and lower professional reputation. Jeffrey Magee in USA Todaysays that even though your company dress code may be business casual,how you dress sends a message to your employer about your level ofprofessionalism and productivity.
 
Let’s begin by definingbusiness casual attire. In general, business casual means dressingprofessionally, looking relaxed, yet neat and pulled together.

• For women: A reasonable length skirt or trousers of a non-jeans material combinedwith a top, such as a dress shirt, polo, or sweater set, is consideredacceptable. An informal dress with appropriate skirt length is alsoacceptable.
• For men: A combination of collared shirt,such as a dress shirt or polo shirt, cotton trousers, such as khakis orblue, green, brown, or black trousers, with a belt, modest shoes, suchas loafers with socks, is generally acceptable. A blazer or businessjacket can optionally be added.
• Unacceptable for either gender: rumpled or ripped clothing, miniskirts, underwear as outerwear,inappropriately revealing attire such as bare midriffs, flip-flops, andshorts.

Even with these definitions, people seem to makebad choices and dress so inappropriately that most companies have banned casual attire in the workplace.  Some have casual Fridays during thesummer months, while others have opted to make it a weekly choice. Inorder to truly define business casual, one must know what cannot beworn. Unacceptable business casual attire consists of:

•    Jeans unless it is specifically stated and they need to be a dark, even wash, properly pressed and hemmed
•    Shorts
•    Flip flops
•    Sports team t-shirts
•    Tank tops
•    Dirty tennis shoes
•    Thin blouses with undergarments showing through
•    Denim capris
•    Tattoos and body piercings
•    Sunglasses indoors (yes, people do this)
•    Cleavage
•    See-through anything
•    Stilettos
•    Mini-skirts
•    Distracting jewelry, such as chandelier earrings or giant necklaces
•    Tank tops
•    Dirty clothing
•    Bare attire
•    Ratty, dirty tennis shoes
•    Sweat pants and sweat suits

You would think that most people would know when they have crossed theline, but no, they do not. Largely due to employee neglect, there havebeen some questions raised as to whether or not business casual remainssuitable for a professional environment. The discretion of what to wearis largely left up to the employees, and as a result, some employeeshave been taking casual too far. Problems such as these can be somewhatalleviated if the dress policy were strictly defined and enforced.Unfortunately, employees always seem to find a way to violate the casual dress policy.

Deborah O’Connor is a social strategist and founder and president of Successful Image LLC with offices in Columbia and Atlanta. She offerstraining and seminars on image management, workplace etiquette, andsocial skills necessary to succeed in life professionally andpersonally. Contact at:   [email protected]        www.successfulimage.biz