The Truth About Casual Wear

Whether your clothes make you stand out from the crowd or
blend into the background, you’re conveying information about yourself to
everyone you meet and projecting an infinite myriad of signs and symbols that
express something about who you are.

Up until the last few decades, dressing for business was
simple – a suit and tie were obligatory and anyone choosing not to follow this
unspoken code would be viewed as strange. Today, the way we dress for work has
become far more complex.

The tie started its life with the practical application of
holding the top of a shirt together, but unlike other historic items of
clothing, it’s stuck around our necks ever since, despite its original purpose
becoming obsolete.

That’s because the tie did a lot more than simply hold a
shirt together; it performed the important social function of telling others
that the wearer was wealthy and successful and therefore should be treated with
deference and respect.

Today, the once familiar site of the bowler hatted
businessman in a pin striped suit bounding through the city has all but
disappeared, but the wealthy and successful businessmen certainly haven’t. So
why are so many companies and individuals choosing to shrug off the suit and
tie in favour of something more casual?

Formality versus Friendliness

Richard Branson was one of the first businessmen in the UK to
disregard traditional clothes and wear what he felt comfortable in. Whether
this was a conscious tactic or a matter of simple preference we’ll never know but
Branson achieved incredible success without a suit and tie. Yet his own
approach to business dress was not passed on to his employees until recently, with
the majority of Virgin employees wearing uniforms (including ties) and formal
business wear to work. In a recent interview Richard Branson explained
that staff at new bank Virgin Money would be adopting a more casual uniform,
with ties being vetoed.

Today, the public attitude towards banks has completely
shifted from unquestioning reverence to extreme mistrust. So instead of
intimidating and affronting customers with bank managers in business suits,
Branson’s staff will be projecting an altogether more relaxed image designed to
create a feeling of security and accessibility.

The US Influence

Branson may have been the first to fly the flag for casual
business wear in the UK, but Silicon Valley can be credited with starting the US
trend more than 30 years ago.

When the first high tech companies established themselves in
California they hired a bunch of bright young things to kick start a new age in
technology. Many of the burgeoning companies adopted a dress code that became
the uniform of creatives across the world – the T shirt and jeans.

Today, it’s not unusual for creative companies to adopt a
casual style, but informal clothing has spread into many different areas of
business and the concept of ‘casual’ has become far more complex

The Casual Code

When the whizz kids of Silicon Valley first started dressing
down for work they simply wanted to be more comfortable. Today, casual business
wear has morphed into a carefully contrived concept that’s designed to convey
appropriate messages.

CEO’s, news readers and world leaders have all chosen to use
the way they dress as a clever marketing tactic. Suits and ties still denote
authority, just as they always have, but the general attitude towards
traditional authority figures like politicians and bankers has changed.

The demise of the business suit and tie is a reflection of
the current political and economic climate and holding the status affiliated
with such a suit can be detrimental to a person’s success, which is why it can
be advantageous for traditional authority figures like politicians and bankers
to now dress down.

However, not many of us are fooled by this sort of cynical
attempt to ingratiate oneself to the masses and we can be just as affronted by
a politician in an open necked shirt and jeans as we are by one in a three
piece suit.

On a small scale, employers may choose to allow casual dress
at work to help boost morale or create a more relaxed atmosphere, but on a
large scale the rise of casual is slightly more sinister. Although on the
surface Richard Branson’s Virgin Money tie ban is designed to make customers
feel more comfortable using banks, perhaps at a deeper level it’s just another
marketing tactic designed to make Branson more money.

This article reflects the opinion of the author only. If you have any comments or feedback, drop us a line at [email protected].