So both men and women wear nothing? That's about as casual as that could get.
What is "business casual"?
- Thread starter Ajidica
- Start date
So both men and women wear nothing? That's about as casual as that could get.
Plains-Cow
Best Resource; Always Wins
That's actually quite unusual. I have never seen shoes made of pig leather outside of Japanese military shoes from the world wars. Is this common around you?
Business formal meets casual.
Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
I don't think guy on the right is within business casual.
I said casual, not business casual.
Plains-Cow
Best Resource; Always Wins
Is there a deflated beach ball under the suit guy's left side?
Maybe he's wearing something underneath that has a name tag attached? Or maybe it's a vest underneath?
Plains-Cow
Best Resource; Always Wins
Ah, probably a vest, but I'd think you'd see more of it with the suit open like that. It seems just over his side.
Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
Birdjag if you tell me that's you on the right...I said casual, not business casual.
No way; I have more hair than that, don't own any polo shirts or black shoes!
Samez
Emperor
The woman in the background is in any case dressed formaly.
I used to work at a Midwestern investment shop with "business casual" dress code (most of the time, anyway). For your questions, based on our pre-pandemic workplace:
1. You cannot get away with sneakers, even nicer ones. You don't necessarily need Oxfords or brogues every day, something like this would work (including less expensive brands, they're just my go-to shoe reference). In retrospect I should have had some less-formal-than-dress-shoe-but-more-formal-than-sneaker options.
2. This will depend culturally. I would describe the traders' choices as variants of white, blue, gray, pastel on occasion, and patterns such as stripes and checkers. Earth tones likely acceptable as well. The father you got from that area, the more leeway there was. I'd lean towards you can dress sharply, but shouldn't make yourself the center of attention just because of your dress.
3. Top button should be undone unless wearing a tie, which you wouldn't be unless something more formal was going on that day. Too stuffy to have the top button buttoned without a tie.
4. At least where I worked, no one wore button downs untucked, not even on casual Fridays when the non-trading-floor areas allowed polos. Maybe if you meet some colleagues after work for drinks?
5. Matte texture on the belt itself? If I'm thinking of the right thing, I have one of those that I've worn at future (post-investments) employers, with a more relaxed dress code, and it can look spiffy. Didn't have it when I worked there, but I say people on the IT side wearing them, but not on the business investments side. Probably depends on the shop.
In general though, I'd say lean towards the more formal side the first couple weeks, and if you find you're overdressing a bit, it's always easier to loosen up a bit than to start too casual and have to erase that initial impression.
But I'm also suspecting your future employer is a bit more relaxed than my investments company employer was, given that the CEO was in khakis and a polo. I can't imagine our Chief Investments Officer wearing a polo to work. What I've described above is really 2017 conservative-employer business casual, and standards are likely more relaxed post-pandemic at most places.
For fun, my (IT) team at that place of employment would also dress like we were in Mad Men once a month, three-piece suites, or two-piece with tie bars, traditional white shirts, with cufflinks if we had them, formal dresses for the ladies. But that was very much business formal! Mainly we just wanted an excuse to dress fancy, and on those days we did indeed out-dress most of the investment professionals, the exceptions being those who had very important external meetings.
Is that Yevgeny Prizoghin in casual? With a head of state from the African delegation to Ukraine and Russia in formal? With the hotel maid wearing the stereotypical attire for a fancy-ish Russian hotel maid?
Prigozhin's attire would be acceptable in the non-trading-floor parts of the company I worked for on a casual Friday, although an undershirt with the polo may be appreciated. The head of state's attire would be appropriate if a high-level government official, or high-level external investment professional, were visiting the office on that day, and overkill otherwise. Indeed, business formal and not business casual.
If it's a heavily front facing job where appearance actually really matters, best to ask and/or copy what everyone else (at a similar level in the hierarchy) is doing
Otherwise I tend to start with "business" (minus the casual) and then casualise over the next few weeks while getting used to the role.
I started off with a business shirt (one of those non-iron buttoned ones, plain- or light-coloured patterned, long-sleeves, tucked) and black business pants (one of those comfy stretchy ones). When winter came around I picked a plain-looking dark grey jacket. When I wore out my leather shoes I substituted an all black runners instead and no one commented, so I kept doing it.
Otherwise I tend to start with "business" (minus the casual) and then casualise over the next few weeks while getting used to the role.
I started off with a business shirt (one of those non-iron buttoned ones, plain- or light-coloured patterned, long-sleeves, tucked) and black business pants (one of those comfy stretchy ones). When winter came around I picked a plain-looking dark grey jacket. When I wore out my leather shoes I substituted an all black runners instead and no one commented, so I kept doing it.
