What actually is a dress for your day policy?
Dress for your day is a fairly self explanatory term: wear the appropriate type of clothing for the schedule of your day. If the dress code for an average day at the office is business casual, then appropriate might mean a pair of dark indigo jeans, oxford shirt, tasselled loafers and an unstructured sports jacket or blazer.
If the average client at this self-same office tends to dress formally and you’re expecting a visit from them on the next day, then appropriate clothing for yourself – if not the entire office – may well need to shift to formal dress. This could easily range from a pale grey, soft-tailored two piece to three pieces of double breasted, pinstriped glory – it really does depend.
Its safe to say that client facing roles can expect to find themselves on the more formal end of the spectrum, but certainly within an office environment, there is scope to be a little more laid back with your wardrobe. Either way, as workplaces become more progressive in their dress code expectations, you might find yourself reaching for the casual Friday rail on other days of the week.
Some men may find this liberating, to others it might seem like another thing to think about on a busy morning. There is something to be said for making an immaculate suit your go to, both for simplicity and empowerment. On top of that, a well made, well looked after bespoke suit will last a lifetime. The casual aspect of smart-casual clothing can have a much shorter shelf life, which will cost you more in the long term.
So, if you’re going to dress down more often, how can you avoid the disposable nature of the high street and fast fashion?
Invest in bespoke tailoring – it doesn’t have to be a suit
I’m obviously biased, but honestly, you should be too. Regardless of whether you’re buying a suit, a jacket or a shirt – when tailored, it will fit you correctly and the quality will speak for itself.
Every. Time.
Take a simple white shirt for example, when executed correctly – fitted, pressed and perfect – you can’t really look any better.
A bespoke blazer can be formal, structured, fitted and pristine in worsted wool. Or it can be relaxed, unstructured and casual made of linen, cotton cashmere or lambswool.
The point is that regardless of formality, your clothing should fit you perfectly despite your imperfections. The shoulder line, pitch of the sleeve, cuff measurement, sleeve length and another two dozen key measurements will match your own.
When your clothing is attempted haphazardly, you can risk channelling your inner English teacher.
It’s a common misconception that bespoke tailoring is solely focused on the pursuit of the perfectly fitting suit. Focused? Definitely. But Solely? No.
Investing in tailoring might mean commissioning a run of shirts that fit so well, you can wear them with jeans, chinos or trousers. It might be that charcoal blazer that you can always rely on, knowing its style is timeless and the fit is spot-on. The point is, this is not throw-away, ‘I’ll just get another next year’ fashion. This is fashion to build your wardrobe around, to depend on and treasure.
So whether you’re suiting up or dressing down in your workplace, try bespoke on for size.
Austen