I had prepared a guide on how to style a suit according to mens ‘Business Formal’ dress code. Now it’s time to skip the ‘formal’ part and head to the most common corporate style: Business Smart, which is also known as Business Casual dress code.
Business Casual Dress Code
The business smart attire’s focus is to keep things professional yet relaxed. However, when we call it ‘relaxed’, don’t think of getting rid of your full suit. This dress code still reserves the ‘Business’ title even though formal drops and casual comes next to it.
Targeting to look professional yet relaxed in the same look sounds tricky, right? No worries, here comes my styling tips!
Good news first! Neither a formal shirt nor a tie is mandatory, like it’s been in business formal dress code.
The styling tip:
Even though we stepped away from the strictness of formal business dress code, still keep your shirt buttoned up and tucked in.
One way to style a business casual look is breaking up the suit in two pieces and wearing them separately. I mean to style the jacket and the pant in different combinations.
Formula 1: Wear only the pant of your suit.
In this formula, you’ll wear the pant suit only. The suit’s jacket stays in the closet. Instead of the suit jacket you can either wear a less formal one or a shirt only (+ sweater or cardigan in winter). Let me show it with an example look.
The styling tip:
This is a cool look with an oxford, button-down shirt worn under a knit sweater on top of a suit pant.
The styling tip:
Shawl neck cardigans go nicely on top of shirts. Classic, and still fab!
Formula 2: Wear only the jacket of your suit.
In this formula, you’ll wear the suit jacket only and put on a more casual pant instead of the suit’s own pant. My recommendation is combining the formal jacket with a sharp looking, tailored trouser or chino, either gabardine, wool or cotton.
The styling tip:
Play up the style game with a pocket square in your jacket’s chest pocket! (Check out for inspiration on how to style a pocket square)
Formula 3: Keep the suit, skip the shirt!
Here, we’ll twist the formal suit into an informal look. How? We’ll keep the suit as it is but opt for a more casual top to wear in it. Like wearing a knit top instead of a shirt under the suit jacket.
The styling tip:
When in doubt, stick to monochrome (same tone) color combination. Like in these examples: The outfit’s all pieces are in the same color range: grey – black – navy.
Formula 4: Get rid of the tie!
I am sure you’ll love the idea of getting rid of the tie, so hear me out. The easiest way to switch a business formal outfit to business casual is just tossing the tie. (or using it as a pocket square as the stylish Italian men do!)
The styling tip:
Keep it pro, max open 1 button down. No more please.
Before wrapping up, let me remind you ‘not to do’s as well.
Do not wear these…
Jeans are still out of question (until Smart Casual dress code) – even they are dark colored like navy or black. No exception.
Polo shirts – knit maybe okay but cotton polo shirts and t-shirts must be saved to smart casual outfit days.
Distressed chinos, elastic waists or cargo pants. Always keep it professional with clean, tailored, structured pants. Do I need to mention ironed?
When talking about looking sharp and ironed, I must also mention avoiding anything linen (pant, jacket, shirt) since it gets wrinkled in a second and looks like worn for days.
Hope these styling tips and formulas helped you to grasp how to (and not to:) style a business smart / casual look for workplace. Stay tuned for more style tips!
Learn the dress codes and succeed at your workplace!
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