Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Dress code interpretations, or "wtf is dressy casual?"

Holiday party season is fast approaching, my peeps, and it seems to be a field of landmines sometimes, what with all the various dress codes for parties and open houses and so forth.  Often, the dress codes for these events has some version of casual in them: dressy casual, business casual, festive casual, etc.  Casual may be one of the most abused words in the English language these days.  I want to rescue the word casual and throw a cashmere blanket around its little shoulders and tell the work world to go put on a tie and leave casual alone.  Why must everything be casual?  What's wrong with occasionally putting on a shirt that needs ironing (or at least looks like it would be ironed, if it wasn't made of some wrinkle-free material) and some nice slacks?  What's wrong with looking sharp for our colleagues, thereby showing them a little respect?  I'm not talking about a three-piece suit for even the most mundane office meetings, I just mean not looking like you work as a lifeguard.  But I digress....


I found a great resource online for translations of what various types of "casual" attire means.  This might come in handy if you're asked to be "dressy casual" at an office party or professional organization mixer.  Remember, you work in a field that puts a great deal of thought into aesthetics and assemblies of materials and colors, so put some thought into your own facade when you hit the door at these events.

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