Casual Dress in the Workplace - Appropriate Way To Dress for a Job Interview

Casual Fridays is now a trend in many offices — government and private, but is casual an appropriate way to dress for a job interview ?

During Casual Fridays, decorum is expected to be maintained, but there is definitely a “getting ready for the weekend” feel to the fashion statements usually translated into blue jeans and a polo shirt, button down shirt or suit shirt and jacket without a tie, depending on the office and the region of the country. Hot weather offices in summer will see mostly polo shirts and jeans on these casual dress days.

The idea behind casual dress in the workplace is to encourage productivity by allowing a change of pace. This is actually a creative solution to productivity slumps. Changing the environment and the way people feel, physically changes their mindset, and their creative and volume output.

Some of the absolute don’ts for casual dress in the workplace include:

– Sweats. Is no place sacred? Keep your sweats at home for the gym, the locker room and the weekends when you’re not at the office.

– Grungy shoes. Casual dress does not mean sloppy dress or dirty dress. Leave the sneakers with the holes in them at home.

Summer Dress Do’s and Don’ts For the Office:

1. Always wear a bra. Forget halters and tube tops. Your office is not the swim club or the mall. Wear a bra at all times to work and work events.

2. Unless you’re in Southern California or some other area where where stockings are an option, tend wear pantyhose. Switch to lighter colors for the summer — no black, for sure. Bare legs are just too provocative for some industries and some offices. Don’t be a trend setter in this regard.

3. Shorts do not belong at the office. This goes for men and women. Save ‘em for the weekend.

4. Stash a change of clothes in your office drawer or closet. If you find yourself running from the bus to the office and you’ve worked up a nasty sweat, rather than stay in your sweaty clothes, change ‘em.

5. Women may wear sandals to the office in the summer, but keep the sexy heel factor in check. It’s fine to wear strapless sandals in the summer, but don’t advertise how sexy you are. Advertise how versatile and smart you are by wearing sandals to work that are appropriate, conservative and still cute without being “do me” shoes.

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