4 Types of Business Attire You Need To Know About

When you are in the business world, you need to know how to choose to dress properly for any particular situation. Any casual dress for women may not be appropriate for a business situation. Business casual women dress comes with a different meaning when it comes to interviews or career images. 

What you wear for a career fair or interview is likely to vary from your daily business attire. If you are an owner of a small business, reach out to your employees regarding your expectations of the kind of attire they need to wear while at the office. Most companies provide their employees with an appropriate dress code policy to guide on what type of clothing is allowed or prohibited on casual and professional dress days. 

1. Business professional attire

When you dress up in professional business attire, you generally wear conservative clothing to put yourself in a professional way. Business professional is likely similar to business formal, but it does not mean that you need to break out your best suit and shoes. Careers that need business casual women dress on a regular basis include finance and accounting organizations that come with a strict dress code policy. Women can also wear pants or skirts with heels while men can wear a blazer or suit jacket, suit pants, a tie, and dress shoes. 

2. Business formal attire

When you dress up in business formal attire, you dress to impress. A business formal attire is another version of casual dress for women. It is an upgrade from your daily professional outfits. Award ceremonies and dressy evening events may call for business formal attire. Men can wear a dark color suit over a dress shirt and a silk tie. The short needs to be French cut with cufflinks. Linen or Silk pocket squares are also a demand for men. Matching dark pants and dress shoes complete the outfit. Business formal attire for women is a suit with a skirt while wearing pantyhose and peep toes. 

3. Business casual attire

When the dress code for your organization is business casual, it indicates that you do not need to wear a suit. But, also it does not call for a casual dress for women like jeans and t-shirts. Women generally need to wear a collared shirt or sweater with dress pants and boots or dress shoes. Conservative skirts and dresses are also acceptable attire. When it comes to men, business casual attire includes a polo t-shirt, collared shirt, or sweater. Khaki and dress pants matching with dress shoes make up the business casual outfit for men. In this case, a man does not need to wear a tie.

4. Small business casual attire

If you are a small business office that comes with a casual dress code, you need to particularly specify what is acceptable for your employees to wear. Casual dress for women does not mean inappropriate or sloppy clothing pieces. Avoid wrinkles or stained clothing and overly offensive or revealing attire. 

Examples of acceptable clothing include khaki pants, well-tailored jeans, button-down shirts, and casual blouses. Rather than women needing to wear heels, they can also be comfortable in flats. If you work in a private salon or office, there may be less stringent dress code policies allowing sneakers and t-shirts, but always think about how you appear to your clients and be neat. 

Final Remarks


No matter the type of business casual dress for women you choose, you always need to be presentable and decent when it comes to an office environment. So, make sure to dress accordingly. 

Leave a Comment