Business casual, also known as smart casual, is a popular dress code that emerged in white-collar workplaces in Western countries in the 1990s. Many information technology businesses in Silicon Valley were early adopters of this style of dress. In contrast to business formal wear (suits and neckties, sometimes called international standard business attire), business casual wear has no generally accepted definition; its interpretation differs widely between organizations and is often a cause of confusion.

The job search engine Monster.com offers this definition: "In general, business casual means dressing professionally, looking relaxed yet neat and pulled together." A more pragmatic definition is that business casual dress is a middle ground between business formal wear and street wear. Examples of apparel combinations that are considered appropriate for wearing to work by some organizations that consider themselves to be using a business-casual dress code are:
*for women: capris/long shorts are acceptable as casual dress and regular dress if they are "tailored" and of a dress pant material (usually not jean or heavy cotton)
* for men, a collared shirt (perhaps a tennis shirt instead of a dress shirt) and cotton trousers (such as khakis), shoes (such as loafers and dress sandals) without socks is generally acceptable
* for women, a tennis shirt and trousers

Neckties are generally not part of business casual dress unless worn in a very non-conservative way.
The acceptability of jeans is variable — many organizations frown upon them as too casual, but will accept men who wear jeans with a sportcoat.

See also

*Social aspects of clothing

External links

*Entry from OED Online: smart casual
*The new dress code: Business Casual

Category:Fashion