It’s 6am and you’re alarm goes off. After hitting snooze for the 14th time, you realize there’s hope.. it’s Friday! Not just any Friday, the first “Summer” Casual Friday of the year, at the office! That’s right! With Memorial Day weekend in our rear view mirror we can officially say hello to the unofficial start to Summer. And with it, comes the infamous “Casual Friday” dress code at the office. If you’re not one of the crowd who wears a uniform to work, you know this is huge.
A little history, casual Friday, it started in the U.S., but not where you would expect..Hawaii. Instead of suit and tie, the men wore Aloha flower shirts. I bet you thought that was already the standard attire. As a matter of fact you probably thought that they wore Aloha shirts for every occasions under the sun, work, wedding, sports, bar hopping, beach day, house work, yard work and everything in between. But not quite.
The first time the trend actually hit the rest of the states was in the 90’s in the form of khakis and sport coats, but unfortunately has spiraled into the conundrum of what we see out there today. Golf shirts or retro t-shirts, to Dry-fit, moisture wicking tops (the same one worn by every pee wee soccer coach across the United States), ill fitting , unflattering and untailored dad jeans and then there’s the footwear.. Either it’s the beat up running shoes, closed toed sandals worn by every uncle or father on the bbq grill at every family event, or those dreadfull all terrain hiker sneaker boots.
If you’ve seen this offense and thought:
a) Those sound like great choices
b) I’ll just opt out and dress up on Fridays because I don’t want to look like “that”
c) I do pretty decent on dress down Friday’s but I want to step it up a notch
Then this write up is for you.
All it takes are some simple tips to take you to the next level!
Safe Zone
Cotton/linen suits
Whether you’re feeling self conscious about wearing jeans, or just simple want to keep it simple and stately, a cotton or linen (structured linen) suit is the way to go. The lighter fabric alone will give off the Friday vibe that you’re looking for, not to mention you’ll feel more comfortable while wearing it. Cotton suits are best done in beige or blue. And if you’re up for it seersucker!
Linen suits can be tricky, but stick with structured suits, stay away from the 90’s R&B singer, baggy, drawstring linen pants. A structured suit should keep the same form as your normal wool suit. Blue and tan colors work here as well.
Use the same variety in shirt color combinations and pockets squares as you would with a wool suit, but have fun with it.
Footwear
Boat shoes—Yes
Loafers—Yes
Dress Sneakers (not running sneakers, not hiking sneakers, not Air Jordan’s)—Yes
Driving Moccasins—No
Kill Em With Combos
Sport coat and pants
The idea of wearing a sport coat and pants has morphed from just a navy blue sport coat, khakis and oxfords, worn by every businessman during every casual Friday 20 years ago. Instead, keep the colors and fabric light. Cotton and linen blends in lighter, fun colors like sea blue, pale yellow, orange or even white will work well. This dapper sport coat and pants combo gives a lot of variety for the eyes to feast on, so it’s bound to brighten up your mood and grab lots of looks.
Possible combinations:
Blue blazer with yellow slacks
White blazer with navy cotton pants
Footwear
Boat shoes—Yes
Loafers—Yes
Dress Sneakers—Yes
Driving Moccasins—Yes
All The Way Turned Down
Shirt and Jeans
Finally, if your work culture allows it, do denim. Not the Saturday working in the yard jeans, not the ripped up club jeans, and for goodness sakes not the dad jeans, but TAILORED jeans. The less fading the better, and they should be hemmed high enough to just cover the ankle. Consider dark blue or white jeans. As for the shirt, collared and tailored is the way to go. Don’t make the mistake of repurposing your Monday through Thursday shirts, with tails long enough to tuck into your socks. Make sure your Friday shirts are tailored so when worn untucked, the tail hits you just at the seat of your pants. Also, denim, linen and a course grade of cotton are recommended.
Footwear
Boat shoes—Yes
Loafers—Yes
Dress Sneakers—Yes
Driving Moccasins—Yes
If your first Summer Friday turned out to be a fail, don’t worry, you still hafe at least 10 more to show your skills!
Stay SUITABULL guys.