Discuss Appropriate Dress

Dressing Up for Work

Most professionals around the world wear formal business attire to work in company offices. In many countries, there is an unwritten dress code making it mandatory for a man to wear a dark suit and tie and for a woman to wear a skirted suit.

But in several countries, more companies are experimenting with casual business dress during work hours. In Australia, during the hotter summer months, a number of companies are allowing employees to leave their suits at home. And in the United States, a little over half of all office workers are allowed to dress down on Fridays.

One third of U.S. companies make the standard business suit optional—allowing casual clothing every day. There is a great deal of interest in a casual dress code because of its attraction to new employees.

However, some critics complain that casual dress in the office causes a few problems, among them, less productivity. Each manager needs to decide if “business casual” is right for his or her company. A few experts in the fashion industry claim that the trend toward casual office dress is on the way out. But a recent survey found that a majority of employees at each company dress as casually or more casually than they did two years ago.