Business casual

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Formal
Semi-formal
Informal
Smart casual
Business casual
Rugged attire
Leisure attire
Active attire

It has been suggested that Semi-casual be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Business casual, also known as smart casual, is a popular dress code that emerged in white-collar workplaces in Western countries in the 1990s. Many information technology businesses in Silicon Valley were early adopters of this style of dress. It has partially supplanted business Informal wear (suits and neckties, sometimes called international standard business attire), which was previously the standard apparel for managers and professionals.

[edit] Definitions

In contrast with the dress code of many blue-collar and service workers, business-casual dress is not a uniform. In contrast to business formal, there is no generally accepted definition of business casual wear; its interpretation differs widely between organizations and is often a cause of confusion.

Bill Gates in business-casual attire.

The job search engine Monster.com offers this definition: "In general, business casual means dressing professionally, looking relaxed yet neat and pulled together."

A more pragmatic definition is that business casual dress is a middle ground between business formal wear and street wear. Examples of apparel combinations that are considered appropriate for wearing to work by some organizations that consider themselves to be using a business-casual dress code are:

for women: capris/long shorts are acceptable as casual dress and regular dress if they are "tailored" and of a dress pant material (usually not denim or heavy cotton) or a tennis shirt and trousers
for men, a combination of collared shirt (perhaps a tennis shirt instead of a dress shirt) and cotton trousers (such as khakis), shoes (such as loafers and dress sandals) with socks are generally acceptable

Neckties are generally not part of business casual dress unless worn in a very non-conservative way. The acceptability of jeans is variable and many organizations frown upon them as too casual, but will accept men who wear jeans with a sportcoat.