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Business/Business casual?

J

JoeFahey

Platinum Member
For a meeting I was told dress was, "business/business casual." I am pretty sure this means dress pants, tie, and button up shirt. Can it also be suit?
 
Originally posted by: JoeFahey
For a meeting I was told dress was, "business/business casual." I am pretty sure this means dress pants, tie, and button up shirt. Can it also be suit?
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So yes.
 
For business casual I'd wear khakis with a sports jacket and tie. If others aren't wearing a tie then you can remove it as with the jacket.
 
Wear a suit and if you feel overdressed you can take your jacket off and hang it up/put it on your chair. Better to be over dressed than to be under dressed.
 
Insufficient info... need to know what your job is... business for a hooker, drug dealer, etc does not mean suit at all. 😛
 
You can rarely overdress. Whoever is the top-dog will likely have a suit on. As long as you're not the only one in the room wearing a tuxedo, you're gold.

Of course, the official ATOT answer is to show up wearing nothing but a black bow-tie and those cuff things that the Chippendales dancers wear.
 
For the love of god, don't wear a tie with no jacket.

Business casual, defined anywhere, means no tie. There's really no debate about that. Unless you're in banking, sales, law or something similar, showing up in a suit is likely to make you stand out. Do others in your industry wear suits on a regular basis? If not, just wear nice pants, nice button up and nice shoes.

Contrary to what so many think, overdressing can be just as bad as underdressing.
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
For the love of god, don't wear a tie with no jacket.

Business casual, defined anywhere, means no tie. There's really no debate about that. Unless you're in banking, sales, law or something similar, showing up in a suit is likely to make you stand out. Do others in your industry wear suits on a regular basis? If not, just wear nice pants, nice button up and nice shoes.

Contrary to what so many think, overdressing can be just as bad as underdressing.
Click to expand...

:beer::beer::beer::beer: quality post
 
From the description alone, I'd wear nice pants, decent shoes (some oxfords or whatever - not shiny/polished ones) button-up shirt (open at the throat) and possibly (if I was really trying to impress) a sports coat that I could easily remove if necessary.

Then again, you can always ask for clarification. I always get explicit instructions for the rare meetings with customers/execs. I'd rather be slightly embarrassed with someone I'm talking with about what to wear than completely blow it come crunch time.
 
Business casual is nice khakis, dress shows (not shiny ones like for a tux) and a good collared shirt that is nice.

Here is the thing. My father in law is a very successful (now retired) lawyer. He hit the nail on the head when he told me that there is no such thing as being over-dressed. People will notice you for the right reasons, but if you are the most casually dressed person people will notice that equally as much but with the opposite implications.

If you show up in a suit and tie, you will look good no matter how everyone else is dressed And if it is that much of overkill in your opinion, you can always take the jacket off.
 
Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
Business casual is nice khakis, dress shows (not shiny ones like for a tux) and a good collared shirt that is nice.

Here is the thing. My father in law is a very successful (now retired) lawyer. He hit the nail on the head when he told me that there is no such thing as being over-dressed. People will notice you for the right reasons, but if you are the most casually dressed person people will notice that equally as much but with the opposite implications.
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I bolded and italicized the relevant part. Some businesses still carry with more traditional practices. I don't think a lawyer in a suit would look out of place anywhere but the gym.

If you show up in a suit and tie, you will look good no matter how everyone else is dressed And if it is that much of overkill in your opinion, you can always take the jacket off.
Click to expand...

Yes, you'll look good. I'd look pretty good driving up to a client in a Ferrari when the average compensation per employee is probably a third of the cost of the car and the average car in the lot is a Ford or Chevy truck.

I don't have a Ferrari, and maybe that was a bit of hyperbole; however, the point is to equalize your perception with others. Standing out, for better or worse, is almost always the wrong decision. Wearing a suit when everyone else is barely business casual will definitely get you noticed, but not for the right reasons.

A veteran of any industries knows the etiquette, and to go so against the etiquette automatically tells others how green you are. Some industries are notoriously anti-formal, and to show up in a tie or a suit is as likely to get you kicked out as it would to show up in a pair of ratty jeans.

So, the point really is that there's no rule that applies to everything. The best rule is to just go business casual when in doubt, and that's no tie and no jacket. The chances of encountering a situation where everyone is wearing a suit and you didn't know about it are slim to none in modern business.

[edit]Messed up the quotes.[/edit]
 
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