The Quick Guide to Business Casual Style for Men

What is Business Casual Style for Men? Why do you need to figure out how to dress business casual? here is all you need to know.

The Quick Guide to Business Casual Style for Men

 FIGURE OUT IF YOUR JOB LEANS BUSINESS, OR LEANS CASUAL

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Let’s begin!

Here’s the annoying part: Business casual means different things to different industries.

If you’re like many of my clients in tech, you can relax a lot more and enjoy more freedom with your wardrobe choices.

If you’re in a field like academia or finance, then you’d probably find yourself one step away from wearing a full-blown suit and tie.

Here are my tips for figuring out where your job falls on the formality spectrum:

Tip #1: Look around at what people are wearing

Simple, yet effective.

You might have one of those jobs where the owners dress in t-shirts and jeans and expect people to wear ties (or vice versa).

So consider your offices style as a whole, look around and get an average.

Are most people in sports coats and button-up shirts? Then your place probably leans on the business side.

Are there are a lot of guys in jeans, boots, and sweaters? Your place probably leans causal. Use the handy scale I put together above as a starting point.

Tip #2: Ask HR (and your higher ups!)

If your company has an HR department, they should be able to give you the rundown of what’s appropriate to wear at work. So pop in or shoot them an email.

I’d also recommend speaking to higher ups about what to wear. (Let them know you’re revamping your wardrobe to better represent the company. They’ll appreciate it.)

I found that it’s even more useful to ask them what’s absolutely not acceptable to wear along with what you’re expected to wear.

STEP 2: USE THE “MORE MEANS MORE CASUAL” RULE TO QUICKLY FIGURE OUT IF SOMETHING IS CASUAL OR FORMAL

“How the hell do I know if something’s too casual?”

You don’t need to study fashion for 15 years like I did to answer this question. All you need is to understand a few principles of design to quickly assess if a piece of clothing leans “casual” or “formal” (e.g., more business).

There are a few general rules we all might be familiar with. We know that dress pants and button-down shirts are more formal than t-shirt and jeans.

But what about when we have to decide between two very similar items, like a button-down shirt vs a button-up shirt?

We can gauge the formality using what I call “The More Means More Casual” Rule.

The MORE a piece of clothing has, the MORE it leans casual.

More details, more colors, and a more trendy design means more casual.

Let’s break it down.

Rule #1: The more details an item has, the more casual it is

Think about graphic t-shirt vs. a plain white t-shirt.

Or cargo pants with tons of pockets compared to a simple, clean pair of chinos. They might be made of the same fabric, but the excess pockets, stitching, and details make it more casual. You probably wouldn’t wear those to an important meeting.

Later on, this rule will be more apparent when you see me lay out items on the formality scale.

But for now, think about this rule another way: The simpler, more minimal the design, the more formal it will be.

Rule #2: The more colorful, the more casual

A pink shirt is more casual than a crisp white shirt. A light blue suit is more casual than a dark navy suit.

When it comes to formality, neutral colors (navy, white, black, grey, olive, camel), come off more professional and formal.

Rule #3 The trendier, the more casual

A more trendy design – like athleisure sweats, Hawaiian style print shirts, or “crossbody bags” you can place in the casual section. Items that rank higher in the formal scale tend to be more classic, timeless designs.

While this tool isn’t 100% foolproof, it’s a good starting point you can use when shopping and planning your outfits.

But don’t worry, in the next section I’ll walk you through just how casual or formal something is so you can plan you wardrobe. You’ll see just because something ranks more casual or more formal doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate it into your business casual wardrobe.

Like any good wardrobe, it’s not about a single individual piece, but how your pieces work together as part of a versatile wardrobe.

PART 2: BUILDING YOUR PERFECT BUSINESS CASUAL WARDROBE

So you’ve figured out what direction you want to take your business casual wardrobe.

You’ve learned how to identify if something leans casual or formal fast.

Let’s use what we’ve learned to build your perfect starting business casual wardrobe.

THE PERFECT BUSINESS CASUAL WARDROBE TEMPLATE

I like to start with a 1.5 week’s worth of outfits.

Why?

Because once a week is how often most people do laundry. We want enough clothes for each day of the week, plus a few extra days just in case.

If you do laundry less often, or want more variety, simply add more pieces to this template. But this is where I recommend everyone should start.

Assuming you do laundry once a week, here’s what I recommend for a starting minimalist wardrobe:

20 pieces (not counting the socks and underwear)

• 1 coat
• 2 Jackets (1 business, 1 casual)
• 10 tops
• 1 sweater
• 3 pants
• 10 pairs of underwear
• 10 pairs of socks
• 2 pair of leather shoes
• 1 pair of sneakers

Here’s a breakdown of the wardrobe:

We want multiples of items we shouldn’t wear twice in a row
You know, the stuff that gets funky fast, like shirts, underwear, and socks. 1 for each day, plus 2-3 more as a buffer.

Plan for our laziness
In a perfect world, we do laundry every 7 days on schedule. But some weeks I get lazy, and I’m sure I’m not alone. That’s why instead of 7 days worth of clothes (6 days + what you wear on laundry day), we’re stocking 10 days as a “laziness buffer.”

Not counting accessories
Accessories, like ties, bags, pocket squares, and sunglasses, are purely optional but offer an easy way to add an exciting element to your outfit without taking a lot of closet space.

Let’s take a look at this wardrobe in action. Here’s what a week’s worth of business casual outfits might look like with just 20 pieces.

There you have it, The Quick Guide to Business Casual Style for Men

What’s your favorite colors for business casual?

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See ya, Cosby!