How to Dress Professionally According to Different Office Dress Codes
While many of us have gotten used to working from home, with more people getting vaccinated, companies are slowly making the transition towards returning to the office.
What does this mean for you and your collection of colour-coordinating loungewear? It’s time to get reacquainted with office dress codes!
In this post, we’re breaking down the four most common professional dress codes, and the typical attire that’s expected, plus general tips for looking your professional best.
Business Formal
This is the most formal level of professional attire and usually refers to tailored suits and ties for men, and pant suits or skirt suits for women. Highly traditional, it’s recommended you stick to classic colour palettes and conservative accessories, along with maintaining a high standard of personal grooming, ie.) clean shaven, neat haircut or style, minimal makeup, neatly manicured nails.
Business Professional
While it’s one level down from business formal, business professional is still pretty traditional. However, there tends to be a bit more flexibility in colors and personal style. For example, men can experiment with patterns and colors in their ties and shirts, and women usually go for a suit, skirt, top, and jacket, or dress paired with on-trend jewelry and accessories.
Business Casual
If your office is business casual, you don’t have to wear a suit or high heels every day! However, you should always maintain a level of professional style. Men usually wear button-ups, trousers, and casual jackets, while women go for skirts, blouses, slacks, dresses, and cardigans or blazers. Oftentimes, employees are given more liberty with their jewelry and accessories.
Casual
Although this is the most relaxed dress code, it can actually be challenging to maintain a level of professionalism. Men can expect to wear casual pants, with collared polos or crew-neck sweaters. Women can wear a variety of tops and blouses, slacks, skirts and dresses, while fun patterns and bright colours are usually acceptable for everyone. Depending on your company’s office culture, denim may or may not be acceptable. When in doubt, ask your manager, and stick to darker denim as it looks more polished.
No matter your workplace’s dress code, here are some general guidelines you can follow to ensure you always look your professional best!
Mirror what others are wearing
New to a dress code and unsure of how to style yourself? When in doubt, seek out what others are wearing for inspiration. You can’t go wrong with the level of formality that your colleagues maintain.
Always look neat and polished
Personal grooming is a part of your professional appearance, too. If you’re coming out of lockdown and working from home, ensure you have freshly styled hair, neatly groomed facial hair and well-maintained nails.
When it comes to clothing, always make sure your clothes are wrinkle-free, free from loose threads, missing buttons, lint and pet hair, and freshly laundered without stains! Remember, even expensive clothes can appear shabby if they’re not well maintained.
Bonus tip: if you can find a good tailor, get your clothes tailored! This is a great way to make the most out of clothing you haven’t worn lately because the fit is “off.” Oftentimes, getting a handful of pieces tailored can cost less than buying a brand new wardrobe!
Invest in high quality, comfortable, timeless clothes
No matter your dress code, you should aim to invest in the highest quality, most comfortable and timeless clothing you can afford. This is not only a good investment, but also a smart move, since trendy clothes have shorter lifespans and tend to wear out in less than a year. When you have a timeless wardrobe, you can get more wear out of it, and you won’t have to buy a whole new wardrobe when you get promoted or switch careers – you can just add to what you own!
Don’t feel pressured to erase your Blackness
As a young Black professional, you should be proud of your culture, your heritage, and who you are! Remember, it’s illegal in Canada to discriminate against people based on their gender, ethnicity, culture and other grounds, which extends to office dress codes!
No matter your dress code, don’t be afraid to incorporate aspects of your culture and personality into your wardrobe. Also, don’t feel obliged to westernize your natural hair in fear of looking “unprofessional.” You can absolutely rock locs, twists, and braids as a professional!
Keep these dress code styling tips in mind, and you’ll be sure to impress your colleagues when you make your way back to the office!
