Male business casual clothing
 

Hi,
I was wondering what exactly would be considered business casual for a guy. I assume its just a shirt, tie optional, black pants, and belt. I am not sure though what kind of shoes would go with an outfit like that? I have a pair of black shiny leather shoes, but they don't look very business like due to its thick / high sole. I start work in 2 weeks and I may have to go shopping for cloths for work. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks,
Robert

Men's business casual - can be as diverse as women's business casual... Some offices Polo Shirts are considered business casual, other offices, business casual is still wearing a tie, but not a suit...

but on the more "wall streetish" end it's Docker's style pants, preferably in darker colors, and neatly pressed, shirt would be a button shirt, not necessarily in a solid color, you can play a little with the trendier prints, tucked in, belt, shoes could be tassel loafers, or just plain loafers.

This site from the Virginia Tech gave some pretty good guidelines
http://www.career.vt.edu/JOBSEARC/Bu...ATTIREMENWOMEN

Shoe selection here:
http://www.shoebuy.com/sb/s.jsp/r_ss....6281-96.78524

Stores like Mens Wearhouse should be a good jumping off point for you to pick up some basics, and even catalogs like J Crew or Eddie Bauer might have some appropriate clothes.

Think of a suit, w/o the jacket. Surely you saw how others were dressed when you had your interview. Since it's "Business Casual", odds are against Dockers and a polo shirt. When in doubt, overdress. There are dress shoes that won't tear up your feet after a long day.

Out on the West Coast, business casual can be khaki (sp?) dockers and either an informal long-sleeve shirt (no button-down collar, not fitted, usually patterned), or a good polo shirt. With that, you wear any quality leather shoe that completely covers the foot and is not a sports shoe. Browns and earth tones are fine, no reason to go to dark colors.

On the east coast, things are more formal, as I observed when east coast business visitors would come out to where I worked and do their own version of casual. They tended to darker slacks and black, dressier shoes. The shirts might have patterns, but they would be conservative patterns, and the shirts would be more likely to be button-down, even if no tie was worn. Sometimes even east-coasters would do polo or golf shirts, but that depends on the company culture: some corporations give out polo/golf shirts monogrammed with the company name or logo to employees who complete certain in-house training programs, which tacitly makes such clothing acceptable casual wear.

My advice is to dress on the formal side of casual for the first week or two, with tie, and scope out what everybody else is doing. At worst, you'll be exactly where you need to be. At best, they'll be dressing more casually and you'll be able to loosen up as well. Always a good idea to overdress at first. People understand.

You should have at least one pair of black shoes that is acceptable for formal occasions. (I assume that you have a suit somewhere.) It's possible to buy a shoe that fits the bill and is also a good walking shoe. I'd bite the bullet and buy a pair.

Oh yeah, if you have a Ross Dress for Less store in your area, head there. It's an off-price clothing tore that's a really good source for quality business casual wear, cheap -- slacks, shirts, ties, belts. They even have shoes.

Here's what I wear to work, and it's business casual. Dress pants with a collard shirt. Any kind of dress shoes work, but I wear wing tips, have done so for a long time.

My business casual normally is button up collered shirts, khakis/dress pants, and some simple like sketcher dress shoes or right now my harley riding boots.

They really say a guy could be gauged by his shoes, and I have ladies and men alike tell me I wear some of the coolest shoes.

You could als consider business casual to be something you would wear to a very exclusive golf club to play a round.

I usually wear dress slacks (dockers are painfully obvious, and do not last well). Avoid cheap dark clothes, as they quickly fade after a few washes. Collars are a requirement. No "gimicky" shirts, like hawaiin or floral prints.

Good luck - it becomes one of those "know it when you see it" kind of things. And yes, a nice pair of shoes is important, as bad shoes stick out almost as bad as dockers :)

I have a friend who sells real estate, and I've heard this from car dealers as well, they'll usually check out the shoes and the wrist watch of their prospective clients, because it's often a good indicator of how much money they have to spend.. How accurate that is? I don't know-- but I've heard it being used as an indicator.

It's a nice guage of how far up the ladder they are as well. Those who look to dress to impress (higher-ups, movers and shakers) tend to be very well put together - including accessories.

What about socks? What kind of socks would work with dark pants and dark shoes?

-Robert

In a corporate setting, wear dark socks with such clothing -- event for business casual. No white or light color, no conspicuous pattern. The actual material -- nylon, lyra, cotton, wool -- doesn't really matter as much as color. Basically, nobody should notice your socks.

Mind you, I wear white socks with dark pants and shoes all the time. But I'm not doing business casual, I'm doing "I don't give a shit." I live in a town where a Hawaiian shirt, blue jeans, a briefcase and any kind of leather shoe is acceptable, even exemplary, business attire. As long as the blue jeans are clean.

Expensive shoes and watches are a good sign wherever you find them. But in some locales, their absence proves nothing. On the coast of California are certain well-to-do communities where many people with money dress very casually -- shorts, polo shirt or Hawaiian shirt, sandals. And of course many people without money dress similarly. The trick is is judging how well-made and well-styled the clothing is. The clever eye can tell who shopped at Nordstrom's and who shopped at Target, even if the clothes are superficially similar. Aside from that, look for a really good haircut, and flawless teeth. A lot of well-off people out here don't bother with the wristwatch anymore. They get their time off their cell or PDA.

Business Casual at my office is 1. A Collar (polo or button up) not required to be tuck in. 2. Jeans are acceptable only if they look clean not baggy etc.. 3. No Tennis Shoes.

It is a very loose dress code, but they call it Business Casual.

Bright floral prints, man. Bright floral prints.

Essentially, you want your socks to match your pants - they need to fill the gap between the bottom of your slacks and your shoes, so your pasty ass white legs don't glare so badly in the flourescent lighting.

Oh, and one more tip - your shoes, belt, and watch should all tie in together (eg, dark brown shoes should go with the dark brown belt and match the watch).

No mixing and matching brown, black, and blue for these kind of things.