You have made it this far, you managed to navigate past Wednesday and avoid any bumps in the road and Thursday is like a warm up for the main event with the business engines slowly winding down to the weekend.
Friday. A sense of sheer achievement rushes through your blood because you have managed to survive another week and everyone else shares the same mutual accomplishment. To make things even sweeter your company has acknowledged that no one is going to be doing much work so they have opted for dress down Friday.
Google were one of the first big companies to make casual Friday an official event back in the 90’s. However, the true origins can be dated back to 1947 in Hawaii where Aloha shirts became an acceptable piece of office attire on the last day of the week.
In some parts of the world, where the climate allows, shorts and a t-shirt are perfectly acceptable to battle the daily tasks of the office. Unfortunately, we do not live in one of those parts of the world.
The rules vary between each company and I am sure that by now you are fully aware whether you still need to wear shoes or a collar or whether it’s a complete free for all and a batman costume is completely acceptable. Even with this knowledge, though, some people can still slip up. So here we have collated the essential style tips to ensure you meet all the requirements of dress down Friday.
1. Avoid the Brand
Sending out a clear message of your lifestyle choices branded across your favourite t-shirt is completely acceptable at the weekend, however, not so much for the office.
Opt to keep your outfit subtle and classic. A high quality, lightly branded item sends out a good message to your colleagues without pushing anything in anyone’s face.
2. Too Much Information
This is aimed directly at the fitting of your clothing. Avoid excessively skinny jeans that leave little to the imagination and low cut t-shirts that expose any areas of your chest.
You want to keep your dignity intact and ensure that your professionalism is not jeopardised.
3. You Are Still At Work
Despite everyone wearing their own personal clothes the bottom line is that you are still at work and whilst you may not be as productive as normal you should still be getting some tasks ticked off the list. Therefore, dress functionally. Avoid long flowing knitwear or excessively tight clothing, as you do not want your ability to work to be compromised.
4. Smart-Casual Wins the Race
Smart casual is the way forward for dress down Friday and a great way to achieve this fete is to juxtapose the more formal pieces of your wardrobe with something a little more casual. For example; a pair of canvas trainers teamed with cropped slim fit trousers and a white t-shirt.
5. The Odd One Out
Don’t be the odd one out who sticks to his guns and continues to wear his suit even though everyone else has dressed down. People will think you are a scrooge and it’s the quickest way to become an outcast in the office.
And there we have our dress down Friday rule book that should, in theory, give you everything you need to create an appropriate smart-casual outfit that can be worn in the office all day and taken out to the streets in the evening. Take a look below for a little more inspiration.
J Lindeberg Dusty Green Rubi Slim Fit Logo Polo Shirt – £38.95
Edwin Night Blue Denim Ed-85 Slim Tapered Jeans
– £89.95
New Balance Burgundy 247 Trainers
– £89.95
