Business Casual Dress Guidelines; how do we define business casual?

Developing a personal set of business casual dress guidelines is dependent on many things.

You must be able to incorporate what is appropriate for your work environment as well as your personal style.

Some things are so casual that they are never work appropriate, like sweat pants, yet many try to push the envelop.

For many dressing business casual means wearing a pair of jeans to the office which isn't always what an employer means as casual business attire.

In this edition torontoshopoholic.com trys to answer the question how do we define business casual?

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Womens Business Casual

Sometimes a professional look is easier to develop than dressing business casual.

Pull out a suit and you have a perfectly put together professional looking outfit. But what are some business casual dress guidelines for women?

An easy rule of thumb when it comes to business casual clothes? Break a suit in half and pair the suit item with a more casual piece.

For example pair the blazer with a cotton twill pant or jeans.

Alternatively pair the trousers with a cashmere or merino wool sweater. Even a pencil skirt can be made more casual looking with a floaty printed top instead of a button down menswear shirt.

A pseudo suit is another great business casual trick. This is the art of creating a suit out of pieces that were not originally paired together. Like pairing a khaki blazer with a co-ordinating pair of cotton twill trousers.

The way to make this work is to avoid being too matchy matchy which allows the pseudo suit to look put together while still being more casual than your traditional suit.

To get full details on the outfit above follow this link to the polyvore set details.

Business Casual for Men

While many might say that when it comes to work wear men have it easy I would argue that getting business casual right is just as hard for men as it can be for women. Here are some business casual dress guidelines for men.

The quickest way to go from full out professional to business casual for men is to simply take off your suit jacket and tie.

For many offices this is as far as business casual attire will go.

However the same tricks can be applied to mens business casual as for women.

Break apart a suit. Pair a shirt with a more vibrant hue than the basic blue or a funkier pattern with your dress pants.

Upscale your sneaks so that they are office appropriate. The same ones you wear to the gym are a no - no.

Do darker denim as it has a more polished look.

Options above clockwise from the top: Bowery Cotton twill classic fit JCrew, Shirt Banana Republic, Corneliani 2 button Blazer bluefly.com, 7 for all mankind dark denim bluefly.com, gray suede sneakers bluefly.com.

Define Business Casual

What is business casual exactly? Do you remember when the dot com bubble was growing and GAP Khaki ads were all over the TV? That was the beginning of all the questions about business casual.

While every office will have a different twist on what business casual is and the more creative the work environment, be it an ad agency or design firm, the more casual you can go there are a few items that follow all business casual dress guidelines.

• cotton twill pants; khakis but NO CARGOS.
• cotton twill or corduroy blazer
• sweaters; however stick with richer fabrics like merino wool or cashmere. If you must do cotton go upscale like pima, linen or silk blend. 
• jeans; although best done dark and saved for Fridays.

The best way to find out what will work in your office is to go to work for at least one week wearing your very best professional looks. Assess the situation and find out what others are wearing. This will help define business casual for your work environment.

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