Replies

I have seen some interpret "casual" as meaning shorts & golf shirt. This is unacceptable in my opinion.

Where I work (electronics company and software development), a golf shirt is dressing up. My boss comes in with shorts and sockless sandals. Some people walk around without shoes, and sometimes there are torn jeans shorts.

The owner of the company doesn't mind, and he doesn't dress much better. I'm frequently the most dressed up person in the office, and I only wear jeans and motorcycle T-shirts.

I love it. It allows us to be relaxed, and concentrate on our work, rather than how we look.

In your work environment I wouldn't have a problem with the way you dress. However, I would have a problem with people not wearing shoes. That could result in an injury.

The real dividing line for me is whether or not you are coming in contact with the public or potential customers. If you are, then a more "professional" attire should be worn unless you are working in an environment where it's very dirty and clothing is likely to get soiled.

People treat you differently and perceive you differently when you are dressed up. Even if it's just a nice shirt and slacks. If you don't think this is the case, consider how you yourself perceive people who are well dressed. We've been conditioned to think that people who are well dressed are "important" or "powerful" or "smart". Whether it's true or not, it's how people think. And believe me, it affects how they think of you.

It's all about psychology. It's stupid psychology but it's reality. In business, you want to be perceived as "professional" even if you're not.

"Where I work (electronics company and software development), a golf shirt is dressing up. "

I once went to a meeting with the vice-president of a large bank (not the branch, the whole multi-trillion dollar bank) trying to get a contract for a new product.

I was the tech guy, the rest of the team was marketing and other assorted overdressed types. Before we got there, they trashed me for wearing sandals. When the VP came in, he looked at my feet, shook my hand and said "you must be the tech guy". I looked down and he was also wearing sandals. We got the project.

"It allows us to be relaxed, and concentrate on our work, rather than how we look."

Very true. Bothering with a dress code in a business is such an old world way of thinking. People should focus on the tasks at hand rather than clothing. In the IT Dept where I work there is a 'business casual' dress code, but I've never paid any attention to it. Most days I show up wearing cargo pants and combat boots lol. I do what would be considered 6 different jobs at most large companies. One minute I may be messing with a hard drive in a PC or in a ceiling with cable, and the next I may be configuring a Cisco Router or working on a large database server. Having lots of pockets is a necessity, and dress clothes just don't get it done.