Which casual clothes should I avoid wearing at the workplace? 

Q: You recently answered a question regarding the appropriate dress code for work. However, you did not say anything about dress-down-Fridays. Is it OK to wear a suit without a tie on those days? What about a brightly-coloured hat? In fact, what really constitutes casual office wear? Are there colours or fabrics that I should avoid wearing? And shouldn’t it all be a matter of my choice? Why can’t I be free to express my true self through my attire? What shouldn’t I wear to work?

Dressing down is the wearing of clothes that are socially regarded as only being appropriate for events less formal than the occasion for which one is wearing them. Some commentaries trace back the history of casual office wear to the 1960s in Hawaii before its gradual growth to become the norm in other parts of the world by the 1990s. A variety of influences have been attributed to this development, including the pursuit of more comfortable office attire, attempts to appeal to a younger workforce, relaxing social etiquette standards, and the increasing seamlessness of work and social life.

Organisations that are keen on appearing hip and fostering the image of avant-garde disrupters of social convention have opportunely adopted casual office wear not only on Fridays, but on all working days, hoping to accord employees more freedom of expression. A casual dress code could also help level out organisational hierarchy by promoting a sense of equality among employees, junior and senior alike.

Dress is an important form of communication at the workplace, as people instinctively make judgments about others partly based on what they wear. Some pundits argue that scruffy dressing could have adverse implications on one’s career. Therefore, casual office wear should not create the impression that “anything goes”. 

What represents casual office wear in one organisation may be considered formal in another, and vice versa. Not wearing a tie or suit may commonly be seen as dressing down, but the notion of professional formality is more nuanced in practice, and cannot therefore be limited to the mere presence or absence of suits. Every organisation has its unique thresholds in terms of what is acceptable as casual office wear. Rather than obsess about establishing strict dress codes, organisations should ensure that their brand is popular among stakeholders and portrayed well by employees as they choose what to wear. Still, you are bound to see an iconoclast happily donning a polka-dotted orange suit on a Friday.​

Fred Gituku, Human Resources Practitioner ([email protected])