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Hi there,

In today's professional environment, no longer do men need to wear a suit uniform. The desire for comfort and a relaxed appearance is taking over most offices, largely accelerated by dissipating dress codes and a never-ending quest for casualness.

However, men are consequently wondering what makes them look appropriate at work without looking like they're shopping for groceries on weekends.

Before giving you a framework for appropriate business casual wear, first, we need to define what business casual means—in terms of what and how. And oftentimes, the "how" is much more important than the "what."

This is a 3-part series on "How to Dress Business Casual." Today, we'll find out what the challenges and chances of business casual are and how to navigate three environments:

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​conservative, moderate, and relaxed offices.

What business casual actually means

While business dress demands a suit (jacket and trousers made from the same material) worn with a dress shirt, necktie, and black or dark brown leather dress shoes, business casual allows men to dress more flexibly without a strict uniform.

The goal is to project a clean and appropriate appearance without looking stuffy and out of place. While the suit and tie gave men a clear framework for dressing, business casual seems to be a very loose, broad term where you can mix and match countless items.

This offers both challenges and chances to the modern man.

The challenges and chances

If boundaries are not clear and dress codes aren't defined, it's easy to over- or underdress. What is considered appropriate in a conservative working environment might be overdressed in a relaxed one. You need to know your office and clothes well in order to dress appropriately.

Dressing "well" has never been more difficult, yet more exciting at the same time. Relaxed dress codes allow for more subdued self-expression, for a richer and more versatile wardrobe that works both at the office and outside of it. Your clothes can be workhorses during office hours and weekends.

Core principles that work across different interpretations

Whether you work in a conservative or very relaxed environment, these core principles work well for dressing appropriately:

• Make sure your clothes fit well. Overly baggy or skinny fits draw unwanted attention and look "trendy". Well-fitting clothes make you look sharp, whether it's a suit or jeans and a t-shirt.
• Keep your clothes clean and well-pressed. Regardless of how expensive your pieces are, if they're not clean, they'll look bad. You don't need to be overly anxious about wrinkles, though. Linen items are prone to wrinkling but that's unavoidable. As long as they're clean, you're good.
• Don't choose overly vivid and colorful items that draw too much attention. Keep it subtle.
• Knowing your office well is key. You don't want to be the guy who's clearly over- or underdressed. However, if in doubt (or if you truly feel your entire office might be underdressed and you want to level up your game) err on the side of being slightly overdressed.

The 3-level framework

Conservative: A sport jacket, a dress shirt, smart dress trousers, and leather shoes are your workhorses. An occasional tie is also a great choice. Business casual allows you to play with different textures and tones. However, I recommend classic colors such as grey, navy, and brown for jackets and trousers and white, blue, purple, pink, and grey for dress shirts. Any leather shoes in black or brown work well: from loafers to oxfords.

Double breasted Navy blazer with linen trousers, a striped shirt and navy tie. An example of the upper end of Business Casual.

Single breasted, textured Navy blazer with smart fresco trousers in beige, and a linen/cotton shirt. Strong textures make this otherwise smart outfit a great example for elevated business casual.

Moderate: You want to keep it sharp with a sport jacket (perhaps with a softer, less structured construction). For trousers, you can wear more casual types such as chinos and jeans. If you choose tailored trousers, flannels and linens are great choices. You can go with textured dress shirts, polo shirts, or a t-shirt at the very casual end of this tier. As for shoes, I still recommend leather shoes such as casual loafers, suede oxfords, or derbies. Sneakers work well here if you prefer them.

A charcoal sports jacket with mushroom cotton chinos and a light blue oxford cloth button down. The textures of the garments add casualness.

A linen/wool sports jacket with a linen/cotton shirt with stripes and indigo jeans. Business casual allows for mixing of casual with tailored items.

Relaxed: Skip the sport jackets, dress shirts (oxford cloth button downs would be the upper limit), and formal leather shoes. Think shirt jackets, cardigans, rollnecks, crew neck sweaters, jeans, chinos, polo shirts, t-shirts, and suede shoes, boots or sneakers. Still, don't go overboard in colors. Keep these items clean and you'll look appropriately relaxed.

A zip sweater with a pinpoint oxford shirt and white jeans. It's smart casual without being formal.

A beige suede jacket with a blue chambray shirt and white jeans. It's very casual but looks decent and neat.

In the next weeks, we'll explore how to dress down a suit and how to dress up casual pieces for business casual.

Best regards,
Lukas from Thoughtful Style