Since the early 90s, we’ve been hearing about the death of the traditional office uniform – the spread of ‘business casual’ from companies like Ford in the USA has suggested to many that the days of the shirt, jacket and tie are numbered.  Is it true? 

Yes, and no.  Some firms, particularly those in innovative industries like electronics, computing and service areas have gone ‘all the way’, meaning you may be greeted in their reception area by an apparent skater dude or goth gal.  Innocent Smoothies, for example, have no dress code at all. 

On the other hand, many companies operate just the Dress Down Friday, usually they also ban shorts and flip-flops and other highly casual items and insist that those meeting clients stick to formal wear. 

One of the criticisms of dress down policies is that they can encourage some staff to dress inappropriately for work. This is why a policy is usually created to define ‘casual’ – for many companies this means men must wear tops with collars (polo shirts in, T-shirts out), midriffs are covered and clothing colours should be ‘business-appropriate’.  That does still leave some room for confusion though – my colour-blind colleague who can’t tell grey from turquoise may find himself inadvertently flouting that kind of advice.  

For people who are used to fairly formal office environments, a new casual wear policy may make them feel uneasy but most casual wear policies emphasise casual is optional – if a person is happier wearing a suit to work, then they should feel comfortable to do so.  And it only takes a trip to the Square Mile or Westminster to see how little the new business casual approach has penetrated certain areas of business life.  On the other hand, many companies have chosen to offer casual uniforms – a bit of a contradiction in terms – but basically a choice of lower body wear, balanced by an employer supplied and branded soft-collared top (often a polo shirt with a choice of long or short sleeves) which is identical for both men and women.  This approach deals with a number of issues:

1. it ensures appropriate clothing and employee recognition,
2. it removes the need for employees to buy work clothing, and
3. it demonstrates a clear sense of gender, age and cultural equality. 

‘Suit on scooter’ photograph by JoF used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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