Business Dress vs. Business Casual

According to Wikipedia, business dress code is more formal than casual but less formal than semi-formal.  This means a suit, which is a pair of trousers with a matching jacket.  The suit is typically dark-coloured and  worn with a long-sleeved shirt and a tie.  Woman would also wear a suit, with a blouse.  Companies that typically use this type of dress code are professions in law, finance, banking, broadcast journalism (news anchors), and many others.  Typically these jobs are high-paying, and the reason to keep the dress code so formal is to keep the company looking very professional to the public and their clients.

Business casual, on the other hand, is a more popular dress code used by employers.  There is no generally accepted definition of business casual, its guidelines very from company to company.  In most companies, the following guidelines are a good place to start: 

• For women: A knee length skirt or trousers of a non-jeans material combined with a top (such as a dress shirt, or sweater set) is considered acceptable. An informal dress with appropriate skirt length is also acceptable.
• For men: A combination of collared shirt (such as a dress shirt or polo shirt), cotton trousers (such as khakis or blue, green, brown, or black trousers) with a belt.  Jeans are sometimes acceptable business casual attire depending on profession. A blazer or business jacket can optionally be added.
• Unacceptable for either gender: rumpled or ripped clothing, T-shirts, miniskirts, underwear as outerwear, inappropriately revealing attire such as bare midriffs, and flip-flops. Many corporations also frown upon open-toed shoes and shorts.

In my opinion, business casual means dressing professionally, yet relaxed, neat and pulled together.  What do you guys think? What does dressing business casual really consist of? Leave a comment and let me know!






SOURCES: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informal_attire
http://0.tqn.com/d/humanresources/1/7/y/C/BFFormalGroupAttire.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_casual
http://0.tqn.com/d/humanresources/1/7/C/D/BCcasualman.jpg

What is Appropriate?

Appropriate workplace attire is something we all will face in whatever career path you choose.  Every job and workplace has its own set of rules and traditions as to what is appropriate to wear to work.  For some, the choice is easier than others.  For instance, a doctor will always wear a white lab coat over their regular clothes, a policeman will wear a uniform and a cashier at McDonald's will always wear the company-appointed logo polo shirt.  But for most other professions, individuals are left to figure out the answer to: What is appropriate?  In the this blog and throughout the semester, with the help of online resources as well as the textbook Business Communication: Process and Product, I will attempt to answer this question.