How To Build A Business Casual Wardrobe

Remember the good old days? When all you had to do was get up, put on a suit, shirt and maybe even a tie and you were good to go. You didn’t even really give it much thought - dressing up for work was second nature and when ties became optional post-2010 it became even easier.

Fast forward to the approaching post-Covid world and the terms “dress down”, “smart casual” and “business casual” are being banded about more now than since the tech bubble 20 years ago!

But while initially the move to a dress casual / business casual policy is met with much merriment, when reality kicks in it can be a different story altogether for many of us. And that’s where the stresses and strains both mentally and financially start to kick in.

Gone are the mornings where you get up and can easily throw a suit and shirt together confident in the knowledge that they work - now you have additional components to mix and match.

Dressing casual for business means needing to consider the weather. The time of year. Who you are seeing that day. The general season you are in. With a suit you just throw a raincoat on if it’s raining or put an overcoat on if it’s cold!

So you’re continually having to multiply the items of clothing you have in your wardrobe to create combinations that you’re not sure ever work and you might never feel really great in.

But if going back to the office this year in a suit really isn’t an option for you, let me try to break down some basic rules of building a business smart casual wardrobe.

A popover shirt and change of shoes can give a new “business casual” lease of life to some of your favourite suits.

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE - RE-APPROPRIATE YOUR SUITS

The easiest thing to do is to go through your current selection of suits and put your favourites to one side. You could then have a set of popover shirts (see the image above) made to go with those favourite suits and it completely changes the look from formal to a little more smartly dressed down. This is a relatively small investment to give life to what you already have, it solves a myriad of problems and headaches. Above all it also means that you can “test the waters” and see how the office dress code settles down over the first few months before committing a lot of expense on smart casual clothes that might not be needed as much if the suit does make a comeback.

2. SPLIT YOUR WARDROBE AND BUILD BY SEASON

Spring/Summer, Autumn/Winter. That’s the simple starting point. For an autumn/winter wardrobe, if you are going to use the “test the water with popovers and my existing suits” option, then you can still use your raincoat and topcoat depending on how the weather varies week to week, day to day. The same could be said for spring/summer.

If you have the space at home, create a spring/summer section and an autumn/winter section. It’s going to be really important for you to keep and stay organised otherwise rushed mornings are going to be mega-stressful! Staying organised both at a macro and micro level means you have more chance of getting dressed quickly and efficiently without worrying about if things mix and match.

3. YOU’RE STILL WEARING THE SAME “PARTS”

If you’re going to give smart casual a go, then just think in terms of the same components you do for a suit and shirt. You are still wearing the same three components - a shirt, a jacket and trousers. Then going by season:

Autumn/Winter you need warmer feeling fabrics so think wool, flannels, tweed and heavier cottons.

Spring/Summer you need “fresher and cooler” feeling fabrics so think cottons, linens and lightweight wool.

4. The Essential Jackets

A jacket - whether part of a suit or part of a business casual outfit - is still both practical and stylish. Practical because it gives you somewhere to put things: your phone, your keys, wallet etc.

Stylish because it elevates your outfit, flatters the torso and makes it look like you cared enough to go a step beyond just throwing a top and trousers on.

Building from scratch, a navy blazer is a must, followed by a grey or, if grey is not your favourite colour, some sort of earth tone but colours will depend on your skin and hair tone so seek advice from a professional (like me!) if in doubt.

Patterned jackets should be quite subtle to start with. Don’t go too bold because bold equals distinctive equals highly memorable and you will quickly feel the need to buy more so you have variety, and don’t look like you’re wearing the same thing every single day.

5. The Essential Trousers

Yes you need trousers! Even after 18 months of sitting behind a desk on Zoom calls dress only from the waist up (yes I know what many of you have been up to!), when you venture back to work this is not going to be acceptable, believe it or not! So trousers you need to invest in as part of a foundation business casual wardrobe are:

• A good pair of tailored dark jeans

• Navy chinos or smart wool depending on the season

• Some sort of tan chino in lighter and heavier cottons for either season. The shade will vary depending on your natural colouring so again seek advice

• Grey flannels for autumn/winter

6. The Essential Shirts

For Spring/Summer you need a good selection of:

• Polo Shirts

• Linen and cotton button cuff shirts

• Linen and cotton popover shirts

For Autumn/Winter you need a good selection of:

• Long sleeve polo shirts

• Mid-full bodies cotton shirts

• Brushed cotton shirts for extra warmth in the coldest months

• Brushed cotton/flannel popovers (smarter than a jumper!)

7. Shop In Outfits

Whether you are shopping off the peg or buying your smart casual clothes from a tailor, try to shop in complete outfits. When we buy items in isolation (a jacket from here, a pair of chinos from there, a shirt some other time), those items tend to drift aimlessly around in our wardrobes and either never get worn or end up being worn with the wrong things.

So when shopping, or selecting fabrics, if you’re buy a jacket or two, get a couple shirts and a couple pairs of matching trousers to go with each one. When you get them home hang them up in the wardrobe together as complete outfits. Keeping them organised this way means you can dressed quickly without having to waste time, stress yourself out worrying about finding things that go together… and most importantly you have complete confidence that you are rocking an outfit that WORKS!

If you are facing a challenge either building a business casual wardrobe or trying to pull outfits together, don’t be afraid to contact me for helping advice. Comment below if you have any tips of your own as I love to hear ideas that even I might not have thought of!