Unless you work in a home office, one of your first business orders each morning is figuring out what clothes to go to work. Depending on how you make a living, this choice can be a effortless or more challenging challenge, especially for women.
If you need to wear formal business outfits, the rules will be more cut and dry regardless of your gender: suits usually solve the problem.
Similarly, if you don’t meet with clients and are lucky enough to have a job that will give your closet complete freedom, both men and men can wear jeans, t-shirts and sneakers every day without stressing whether they look professional enough and will take it seriously in the office.
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But many industries need a more elusive form of clothing, which is particularly confusing for women: business leisure. Not everyone agrees with what constitutes women’s commercial leisure, so defining acceptable standards can lead to shock.
Different industries, organizations and even locations have different expectations. More importantly, although men have a collar or polo shirt and khaki (even jeans that work in technology), it is not that simple for women.
To put aside her confusion, national etiquette expert Diane Gottsman, the author of Modern Etiquette Improves Life and founder of Texas Agreement Academy, lends her expertise to the issue.
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Here are some tips to help women decipher the tricky difference between female corporate casual clothing and other professional styles of work styles.
Business Leisure Definition
With the development of modern workplaces and the tech industry becoming more and more influential, many women want to know if “business leisure” is just another way to say “informal” or “dress up.”
However, according to Gottsman, business casual clothing is still considered “office professionals” with a focus on “professional.” In other words, when you meet the best customers for lunch, you should think of the outfits you would wear.
“Business casual has nothing to do with your ‘comfort’,” Gottsman explained. “This is a more formal hues version of a suit or dress.
For women, this will wear casual pants, blazers and a dress shoes, while a more formal suit (skirt and jacket) can be compared to men’s sports jackets and button-down shirts. ”
She added that unless comfortable sneakers are required for work, business casual does not include tennis shoes, and it does not include jeans unless office policies allow and encourage.
“Denim is not considered commercial leisure,” she said.
Women’s business leisure Do and not do
Generally speaking, women’s business casuals include skirts or casual pants, tops, blazers, and heels or apartments suitable for the office.
Women’s business leisure do include:
- Skirt or casual pants. Staples include several pairs of dresses, casual pants and various knee-length pencil skirts.
- shirt. According to climate and company policy, every woman should have a wide variety of cotton shirts and patterned shirts with various sleeves. Cotton, silk or silk mixture paired with a pair of casual pants or skirts look stylish and still comfortable. A variety of lightweight sweaters in different colors complement the outfit and keep it warm in the air-conditioned office.
- shoe. A small heel is best to help tie your commercial casual look together, or a pair of single-story takes you from the subway to the office and back home.
- jeans. If jeans are your office choice, choose a dark-washed, flattering cut that can be paired with a blazer if you need to run out at a last-minute meeting. Avoid using holes or worn jeans.
- Moderate makeup.
Women’s business leisure is not allowed in:
- Yoga or sweatpants.
- Leggings, robes or skinny jeans.
- Sandals are worn between the toes.
- Tennis shoes or flip flops.
- No makeup.
- Spread jewelry.
Business leisure error for women
Many women’s informal accompanies with business leisure will better serve them when the script is flipped. Gottsman believes that wearing clothes that don’t translate into corporate culture becomes too relaxed, which can make women unhappy in professional situations.
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“Women (and men) may misunderstand the term ‘business leisure’, which means you may be shopping at a Saturday grocery store,” Gotzman said.
Another common misconception is that if it is well known that an industry has a more casual culture that can wear business leisure during job interviews in that industry.
Technology companies are notorious for the “unity” of their jeans and T-shirts, and some trading companies allow their executives to wear very casual clothes. But in these cases should women wear business leisure for job interviews?
“I will highly discourage it,” Gotzman advises. “If you have questions, proceed with caution until you clarify the policy.”
Understand cultural hints
Are some industries more suitable for women’s business leisure than others? Gottsman explained that it is not necessarily so black and white. Every culture is different.
“Banks, law firms and accounting firms are often very conservative. However, there are always exceptions for each rule, and it is important to conduct research,” she said. “Although business leisure is defined as the same as age, junior executives should follow the leadership of senior executives when determining how to dress up in the office.”
Gotzman also advises professionals to understand the differences between styles and trends.
“Classic clothing staples like white cotton shirts, fitted casual pants and timeless blazers,” she said. “You also want to wear accessories with caution to avoid anything that is too tight, too short or too exposed, in other words, too dispersed.”
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