Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Dress Codes 101

I wore a long sleeved shirt with jeans and sneakers today. How on earth is that formal?  Some people really have no clue how dress codes work.  

Here's a quick guide in ascending order.   

Casual: we all know what casual is.

Smart Casual: collared shirt, at the very least jeans without any fading or rips and shoes.

Business casual: long sleeved shirt, dress pants and dress shoes. With or without a tie.  With a sports coat or blazer in colder climates.

Business formal: suit, tie and dress shoes.

Black tie formal: tuxedo with a black bow tie, cummerbund or waistcoat, patent leather shoes.

White tie formal: tailcoat, white bow tie, waistcoat, patent leather shoes.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting... Maybe I should wear a long sleeve and go down QUT. Maybe the students will take me as yet another lecturer there :P

    Nowadays younger generations are more bold to break the boundries for formal wear. There are plenty of formal wear with a healthy dash of modern style:
    http://diaryofdanny.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/jt.jpg

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  2. What Justin is wearing in that pic is nowhere near formal. More like smart casual.

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  3. Smart casual..you'll have to check with your organisation what smart casual really means to them. When I was told we can be in smart casual for my school's open house, I happily wore long sleeve shirt with a pair of jeans. Turns out I was the ONLY ONE in jeans. Luckily a cousin lives nearby and I borrowed her skirt.

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