Business Attire

Types of Business Attire

There are 3 main types of "business dress" that you need to understand before we get into dressing for specific events.  These are probably terms you've heard before, but after reading this, you should have a good understanding of what clothes work for what dress code.  The three types of dress codes are: Professional Dress, Business Casual and Campus Casual.

1. Professional Dress

Business professional attire is the most conservative type of business wear.  It's what you'll be expected to wear in the office if you work in accounting, finance, or other conservative industries (or if you just have a really conservative boss!)  For women, this means a business suit or pants suit, or dress and jacket.  For men, professional dress means a business suit or a blazer, dress pants and a tie. 

2. Business Casual

Business casual attire is a more relaxed version of "Professional Dress", but it doesn't mean you're actually going to be "casual"!  This is likely going to be your office dress code if you work in a semi-conservative workplace, but some interviews and events may also call for business casual.  Basically, business casual is a shirt with a collar and/or a sweater, khakis or dress pants, and nice shoes for women. Women can also sometimes wear a moderate-length dress or skirt (read: knee-length or longer!).  For men, business casual is a polo shirt or shirt with a collar and/or sweater, khakis or dress pants and dress shoes. No tie is required.

3. Campus Casual

Campus casual is what you probably won't be wearing to work.  This is the technical term for what you're probably wearing every day - jeans, tee shirts, sandals, sneakers.  You may be asked to wear campus casual to some very informal on-campus interviews and career days, and some casual networking events.  In general, you probably want to stay away from this in the workplace and err towards more conservative stuff.