Q. If I'm wearing a wide (windowpane) plaid shirt with a solid knit tie and khakis, I consider myself casually dressed. But when I wore this for casual Friday, my co-worker commented that I was dressed up. He insisted I was ready for anything short of an interview with the CEO. I guess I'm asking who do you agree with?
A. I agree with you, but casual has different levels, and even more meanings when multiplied by different industries/companies and their formalities or dress codes. (To the uninitiated, a windowpane plaid is a bold, attention-grabbing pattern that is a good deal wider than most plaids -- the lines look like windowpanes. It is found on sport shirts , not dress shirts, and also on sport jackets that are more casual than a navy blazer or a quiet tweed.) So your combination is a nice blend of three casual items: a sport shirt, a casual tie and the most popular type of casual trousers. It works for a casual office as well as for weekend social events. Because of the shirt's large pattern, and especially worn without a jacket, I cannot imagine why your co-worker would consider it "dressed up."
In many ways, when dressing in a work setting, casual is defined by the elements that add up to an overall informal look, such as layers above the waist and what is worn below the waist: so blazers, sweaters and shirts ... plus trousers and shoes.
For example, when you are layering a casual sweater over a shirt, pay attention to the type of shirt you choose. No elegant French cuffs or white contrast-collars. Stay with barrel cuffs in button-downs or plain point collars. Non-fussy Oxford cloth or pinpoint Oxford fabrics are in harmony. So are tattersall patterns in broadcloth and handsome end-on-end weaves. All these work for business casual as well as dressy casual levels of informality. Since I don't know just how informal your office setting is, you will have to be the judge of whether your shirt layer can ever be a knit polo. To make a look even more dressed down and casual-weekend appropriate, you might layer a sweater over a shirt in denim, a smooth plaid fabric, or a fuzzy flannel. Keep in mind that a pattern as noticeable as a windowpane calls for the other elements to be rather quiet and subtle.
If you enjoy wearing ties, you are right to choose a knit. It works perfectly in any casual setting. Other useful casual ties are ones that are simple and not too shiny, such as wool fabrics, paisley patterns, and any small-patterned foulard or simple stripe, rather than a boardroom-perfect silk pin dot. Nonshiny silk, wool, cotton and linen are more casual than smooth silk or heavy brocades.
When thinking about trousers for a casual setting, dress pants (known as odd trousers), gray flannels and pressed khakis are ideal. If your waist is trim enough, corduroys also work. Fine men's clothing shops carry trousers in slightly offbeat fabrics, such as cavalry twills, small herringbones and subtle glen plaids. All these can be worn with or without a solid navy blazer; many of them work with a tweed sport coat. I would not pair any patterned pants with a pattern as wide and obvious as a windowpane plaid. You must weigh the appropriateness of jeans, depending upon the occasion and the location. Never just assume they will be correct, because, even today, there are events and occasions where jeans are not only inappropriate, but can actually be insulting.
As always, shoes make a huge difference. When dressing casually, the dapper dresser chooses brown loafers or simple leather deck shoes, not buffed black wingtips that are better with a dressy suit. Some men are addicted to high-quality leather boots. And a sharp new look is rubber-soled leather shoes. I'm afraid I cannot recommend wearing sneakers to work even on casual days, unless just about everyone else in your office wears them. On the other hand, if you are choosing shoes for casual social weekends, then show-off saddle shoes, leather driving shoes and moccasins (even in wild colors), all manner of deck shoes and sneakers are perfectly acceptable. How far you go depends on your interest in standing out from the crowd.
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High Profile on 12/04/2016