“Business Casual”
Posted by Skrud at Saturday, January 26th 2008 at 11:06am
I can think of few terms as ambiguous as business casual. What the hell does that mean? It seems everyone has a different definition of “business casual”. At my first internship, “business casual” meant that I could wear jeans as long as they weren’t torn, and polo shirts, button-down shirts, or even t-shirts. At IBM, the dress code was also “business casual”: jeans, and a collard shirt — but most often a t-shirt.
Then I came to this year’s Quebec Engineering Competition and was getting ready to go to the Wine & Cheese, where “business casual” attire was expected. So I threw on jeans and a collared shirt, expected it to be more “upscale”. My teammates were quick to point out “you can’t wear jeans, Skrud, we’re supposed to be business casual.” It’s a good think I had a pair of khakis just in case. So we showed up at the Wine & Cheese, and most people were in jeans.
According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, “business casual” is
for men, a combination of collared shirt (perhaps a tennis shirt instead of a dress shirt) and cotton trousers (such as khakis), shoes (such as loafers) without socks is generally acceptable.
Loafers without socks … ? That’s just crazy talk. I can think of few things less comfortable than leather shoes without the soft, comforting cushioning of a cotton sock.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only person experiencing this confusion. A quick google search yields plenty of articles like ‘Business casual’ causes confusion and What’s Business-Casual Attire?
The difference between my own interpretation of terms like “business casual” and the rest of the world’s has been summed up pretty neatly in this fabulous chart on Geek Etiquette. As it turns out, I’m not crazy. I’m just a geek.
Luckily, at the lab I’ll working at in Ottawa, I know I won’t have to dress up. When I showed up to my interview, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that read “I’m in it for the π”. The people interviewing me, on the other hand, were wearing hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts. Something tells me I’ll be fitting in quite well over there. (Though I don’t think I’ll be walking around in a hawaiian shirt anytime soon … at least not until my female friends tell me it’s okay.)
Bridget would quite probably hunt you down and rip it right off your body if you tried wearing a hawaiian shirt. =)
That was terrible grammar. I need to re-read what I write before I post stuff that’s permanent. =(
I’m going to work for IBM and I was told to wear ‘Business Casual’. So I did a google search: “what the hell is business casual”. I come to your page and you state that IBM doesn’t do business casual… I’m sure it’s different different parts of the company. But I still don’t know what business casual is.