Business Casual Attire in the Workplace

To have casual dress policies or conservative dress policies throughout all businesses across Canada is a constant debate in the business world. Almost every day in the workplace we send out thousands of nonverbal messages and a great part of those messages come from the choices we make on how we dress ourselves.

At one time, it was normal to see men and women in the workforce dressed conservatively. Overtime, however, casual dress-down days have been introduced once a month or once a week for employees to dress casually. Nowadays, it has become even more acceptable in the business world to have casual dress code policies; 84% of companies with 2000 employees or more have a business casual dress code, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resources Consulting. A majority of employees favor business casual dress code policies.

Having casual work policies can totally through you off if it is taken out of context. For most people dressing up casual can mean wearing sweat pants and hoodies and for a lot of employers it may even mean just wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Dressing business casual also doesn't mean to wearing a suit unless you are in that work environment. The question that comes to my mind is how can I dress casually and still look professional?  

This blog will illustrate through articles, videos, and pictures ways to dress business casual and still look professional. No matter what field you are in it is important to have a understanding of what dressing right for the job can do for you in comparison for not dressing right for the job. Business casual is here to save you money instead of spending a fortune on professional business clothing. When dressing up for work you want to remember you are a representation of the company you work for. Hopefully this blog will make a shift in to business casual attire easier.