Workplace Challenges
Has business casual gone too far?A survey by xyyz.ca, a website for guys in Toronto, found that while casual wear is becoming the norm in business, not everybody is happy about it; in fact, many men feel business casual has "gone too far" and wish for a return to more formal business attire. |
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 [ 2007-03-21 ] |
© 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation.
The survey of 208 subscribers found:
- 49% of subscribers said they agree that business attire has become too casual (with negligible variation in this sentiment by age).
- A quarter of respondents said they'd like to dress more formally at the office, but won't because they would feel out of place.
- Almost half said they feel proper business attire consists of a suit and tie, or at least a jacket and trousers. Only 12% felt that jeans were acceptable at the office.
- Only one-third of respondents work in an office with an explicit office attire policy.
- Just 12% of respondents said they work in offices where the predominant style of dress is traditional business attire; in fact, 26% said they work in offices where "anything goes" when it comes to office attire.
"The move to casual wear for business has confused the modern male," says Russell Smith, XYYZ executive editor and author of Men's Style, The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress.
"Formal business attire serves as a uniform, so it's easy for a guy to know what to wear. Business casual is ill-defined, and hard to pull off with style and decorum," Smith says. "Men are realizing that dressing better does make you feel more confident."
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