The Downside of Business Casual

By Deborah O’Connor

Business casual attire sounded like such a great idea. Business people could work in casual clothing, assuring comfort and flexibility in the work place. Everyone would be happy, right? Wrong! Business casual failed miserably. There was a decrease in productivity, quality, commitment, loyalty, and ethical behavior. Politeness, manners, and morality were in short shrift. There was a definite increase in tardiness, profanity, flirtatious behavior, and complaints and litigation. The Wall Street Journal’s article, “Down with Casual Fridays”, says that casual dress has been linked to poor performance, reviews, and lower professional reputation. Jeffrey Magee in USA Today says that even though your company dress code may be business casual, how you dress sends a message to your employer about your level of professionalism and productivity.

Let’s begin by defining business casual attire. In general, business casual means dressing professionally, looking relaxed, yet neat and pulled together.

• For women: A reasonable length skirt or trousers of a non-jeans material combined with a top, such as a dress shirt, polo, or sweater set, is considered acceptable. An informal dress with appropriate skirt length is also acceptable.
• For men: A combination of collared shirt, such as a dress shirt or polo shirt, cotton trousers, such as khakis or blue, green, brown, or black trousers, with a belt, modest shoes, such as loafers with socks, is generally acceptable. A blazer or business jacket 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, and shorts.

Even with these definitions, people seem to make bad choices and dress so inappropriately that most companies have banned casual attire in the workplace. Some have casual Fridays during the summer months, while others have opted to make it a weekly choice. In order to truly define business casual, one must know what cannot be worn. 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 the line, but no, they do not. Largely due to employee neglect, there have been some questions raised as to whether or not business casual remains suitable for a professional environment. The discretion of what to wear is largely left up to the employees, and as a result, some employees have been taking casual too far. Problems such as these can be somewhat alleviated if the dress policy were strictly defined and enforced. Unfortunately, employees always seem to find a way to violate the casual dress policy.

Please feel free to send questions to Deborah at: www.successfulimage.biz.

She will answer them in her weekly column.

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