What To Wear To The Office – Dressing for Work

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In most offices today, business casual is a firmly rooted dress code. As far as dressing for the office goes, a lot depends on the culture but over the years, things have changed dramatically and today, we go through the decades and we will give you a specific rundown of what items to wear, what not to wear, and particularly, what shoes you can focus on.

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Ace Marks.

In the last thirty years, the formality scale has dropped dramatically and today, probably just 1/10 office workers wear a full suit. As with many trends in menswear, the World Wars set a huge impact on style and dress codes for the office and it usually meant that it was more casual or at least, more utilitarian.

Office Wear Through The Years

1950
John Hays Hammond, Jr. and colleague in their work dress [Image Credit: EduBilla]

1950’s

In the 1950’s, there was a post-war boom, materials were again plentiful at least in the US, and so people wore suits, white dress shirts, ties, and proper oxfords. The classic black cap toe oxford was definitely a staple shoe at the time.

Of course, characters like James Dean popularized a much more casual and youthful look with undershirts, however, that did not catch on in the office. If you wanted to work at a proper office, you could not show up dressed like James Dean.

1960
Rebellious youth [Image Credit: GQ]

1960’s

During the 1960s, the mod style had a heavy influence. Nevertheless, people still wore suits. In terms of style, you could see that lapels got narrower and so did the ties. Trousers usually had huge cuffs or turn-ups, or sometimes an excess of two inches. The big casualty during this decade is the hat. Also worn by older gentlemen who consider the hat to be an essential part of their business wardrobe, younger men simply went without it.

1960s
Typical Work wear or business outfit (Image Credit: Pinterest]

Of course, the 60’s were great for fantastic menswear fabrics that were heavier and not as soft as they are today. At the same time, they drape really well. At the same time, man-made materials were becoming a lot more popular so you would see nylon, polyester, and all kinds of other things blended into classic menswear which eventually would fade again but at that time, it was a bit tight and was very popular to have artificial fibers in your business wardrobe. The style influencers at the time, just like the Beatles, still wore suits, dress shirts, and ties.

1970
The Beatles inspired outfits [Image Credit: Pinterest]

1970’s

In the 1970’s, the disco and hippie style dominated men’s fashion and that even had an influx on the office. People still wore suits but they had a lot bolder patterns, lapels had gotten wider, colors were a lot bolder, and everything was different. Lanvin, Pierre Cardin, or Yves Saint Laurent were really popular designers and would oftentimes license their name to have suits produced even for the American market.

1970s
Governor A. Linwood Holton, Jr., signing H-210 [Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons]

In the early 70’s, you’d still see flare pants but by the end, they became more European and slimmed down. The ties were longer and much wider and the rise of pants was much lower. In terms of shoes, the derby shoe became more popular now but in very traditional white-collar environments, you would still see the black cap toe oxford as the dominant business shoe.

1980
The young acolyte neo­ liberal, Bud Fox and Gordon Gekko [ Image Credit: Research Gate]

1980’s

In the 80’s, things changed a bit again. Designers like Giorgio Armani created a more unstructured suit that was quite wide, the gorge of the lapel was low, and eventually, the power suit became really popular. Just think of Wall Street, in the US, Ralph Lauren also became really popular and he always had a taste for wider ties and wider lapels. Shirts were oftentimes Winchester shirts that had bold stripes, colored combinations that resembled the typical power style.

Michael Douglas wearing a Winchester shirt
Michael Douglas wearing a Winchester shirt [Image Credit: WHO2]

The classic office shoe was still the black cap toe oxford, sometimes you would see black derbys, or things like Gucci loafers in black. Even though you had power suits on the one hand, on the other hand, combinations became much more acceptable for office wear. Also, TV shows like Miami Vice popularized the style of wearing a t-shirt with a jacket on top. Obviously, this was not worn to the office but it showed the desire to casualize a formal wardrobe.

1990s
[Image Credit: Time]

1990’s

The 1990’s were definitely the heyday of office wear and men’s fashion. Vogue declared the end of the era of the power suit and things became a lot more casual. In the US, casual Friday became a lot more popular and people who quit the traditional jobs and started working on tech startups in Silicon Valley really changed the way people dressed to the office.

1990
Professor James H. Williams Jr in work attire [Image Credit: Wikipedia]

Everything became more casual and not wearing a suit was a traditional F.U. to the classic establishment and the way they dress. In terms of shoes, you could still see anything from the classic black cap toe oxford in a law firm, for example, all the way to New Balance sneakers with tech startups.

2000s
In modern time, work wears became more casual [Image Credit: Linkedin]

2000’s

In the 2000’s, the influence of the Silicon Valley further increased. New generations were not interested in wearing business suits, they were not used to wearing suits, and they certainly don’t want to wear it to the office. Fast fashion started to dominate the retail world and so quick turnover of many different seasons and trends with very low quality and very little substance became mainstream.

Atte Rytkönen from Dress Like A with jeans and a gray jacket.
Atte Rytkönen from Dress Like A with jeans and a gray jacket. [Image Credit: Dress Like A]

Also, jeans or denim have become universally acceptable no matter whether you go to church or at a fine restaurant. In the early 2000’s, jackets became a lot shorter and suits became a lot slimmer. A very popular shoe in the US for business was the tassel loafer and even today, you can find men who are about to retire wearing the same 90’s suits that are quite wide in cut with their sometimes brown or oxblood or black tassel loafers.

In terms of shoes, the tassel loafer from the 90’s became less and less popular and you found a lot more shoe companies that used the internet to bring shoes from the manufacturer directly to the consumer, thus cutting off the middleman, and saving the consumer quite a bit of money. One of those companies is Ace Marks.

Today in most office environments, business casual and casual Friday is the most prevalent dress code. At the same time, a lot of people don’t really understand what it means, specifically. The boundaries between work and office have been blurred; we find a lot more working from home now and working outside the office. At the same time, surveys indicate that ½ of senior level management thinks that their employees dress too casually. So some men are really into dressing up and they love it when they can wear suits to the office while others would rather wear sweatpants.

Overall, I think there are more men interested in classic men’s clothing and dressing up today than they were 10-15 years ago.

Fast Fashion labels
Fast Fashion labels [Image Credit: Pretty Progressive]

What To Wear To The Office

The Plus & Minus Rule

A lot of it depends on your workplace and the culture there. That being said, we are big supporters of the plus and minus rule. So, don’t just look at what the employee handbook says but actually observe what people are wearing.

Ideally, you want to stay within one step above what people wear. You don’t want to step below because it definitely has an impact, people see it, and they will judge you maybe just subconsciously.

You’ve probably heard of the old saying “Don’t dress for the job you have but for the job you want.”. That as a caveat, many CEOs today dress very casually because they are already at the top of the company and they don’t have to impress anyone. At the same time, if you have client contact and you want others to respect you at the office, dressing well and dressing a step up is important.

Now that being said, sometimes your manager or superior can feel threatened if you outdress them so that is one aspect to keep in mind. You do not want to offend people and hurt your chances of climbing the ladders simply because they feel threatened by the way you dress. Honestly, if that happens at your workplace, it’s probably time to change jobs anyway because that is not the kind of culture that you will likely thrive in, especially not if you like to dress up.

5 Office Wardrobe Staples

Office outfit with tobacco brown knit tie and navy blazer
Office outfit with tobacco brown knit tie and navy blazer [Image Credit: Pinterest]

1. Navy Blazer

Even though you never have to wear suits at work, having a blazer is ideal because it makes your otherwise very informal outfit rather formal without being over the top.

Chinos can be worn to the office or dressed down
Chinos can be worn to the office or dressed down [Image Credit: Pinterest]

2. Cotton Chinos

Ideally, you get them in some khaki color, you can also go lighter with stone, or darker with navy, it’s a classic staple slacks that sit in between jeans and dress slacks in terms of formality. You can also wash them at home so you don’t have to worry about dry cleaning costs and they are just a wonderful business staple. You can also wear them just with dress shirts, or with sport coats, or a blazer, and they always look good.

A selection of light blue dress shirts in different shades
A selection of light blue dress shirts in different shades

3. Dress Shirts

If you don’t work in a super formal office, you can be a little bit more relaxed with your shirts, you can have stripes, you can add some colors, maybe checks, and you can decide if you want to have button cuffs or French cuff for cufflinks. Cufflinks are certainly a bit more formal; I personally like them because it gives me a chance to wear all the different cufflinks in my collection.

Black, blue, and white checked dress shirt
Black, blue, and white checked dress shirt

If you don’t wear neckwear to the office, I suggest you go mostly with checked shirts; you can incorporate different colors such blue, green, or red, and I would opt for a button-down collar because it stands up more nicely, the tips always stay down. Because if you wear a jacket, the tips should always stay underneath. I’d also go with button cuffs rather than French cuffs, otherwise, not having a neckwear but the French cuffs is kind of a clash of formality. Of course, if you love cufflinks overall, you can still wear them.

Raphael in a business casual ensemble
Raphael in a business casual ensemble (Pocket Square: White Linen Pocket Square with Navy Blue Handrolled X Stitch – Fort Belvedere)

On the other hand, in a lot of offices today, neckwear is not required anymore and it is simply something that you can wear to express yourself. If you don’t want to go with the traditional three-fold business tie, you can opt for different things such as knit ties, for example, which are different in texture, they are more casual and they are definitely office appropriate. If you decide against neckwear, I suggest to always have a pocket square in your blazer or sport coat because it really upgrades your look, makes it more unique, polished, and finished.

4. Shoes

In terms of shoes, the rules have relaxed a lot. For the traditional office, you can go with the classic black cap toe oxford. At the same time, brown at the office today is probably more popular than black if you look at all the offices across the US and Europe. It really does not matter if you go with derby shoes or monk straps. In my opinion, a great shoe for the office, for younger men, is the double monk strap shoe. It is right in between the classic office leather dress shoe with the leather sole and a sneaker. Even though you can wear it in black, I prefer colors in burgundy red or maybe brown because it is casual enough to wear for a happy hour after work but also perfectly appropriate for most office environments.

That being said, most offices today are casual enough to go with brown shoes at pretty much any instance and if you want to go with brown, there are so many shades all the way from a light tan to a medium tan to medium brown, dark chestnut brown and really dark brown. I would definitely suggest to stay clear of sneakers and always invest in a quality pair of dress shoes. Now down the line, it always pays to invest in quality dress shoes because the cost per wear goes down. You may think that is easier said than done because you are just starting out your career and this is your first office job, it may be hard to come up with all the money for nice quality dress shoes.

You can buy quality leather dress shoes in different price points; you can invest 200 dollars, 300 dollars, or 2000 dollars for a pair. That being said, Ace Marks provides a range of quality office dress shoes that won’t break the bank. Does Ace Marks produce the best menswear dress shoes ever made? Absolutely not! However, what they do offer is a really big bang for the buck because they sell directly from the manufacturer to you as a consumer thus, saving the middleman market.

If I would have to pick just three shoes that are appropriate for office wear, I would go with the black half brogue oxford. The burgundy double monk strap, as well as their brown penny loafer.

Invest in a quality pair of socks that won't slide down
Invest in a quality pair of socks that won’t slide down
Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Navy Blue and Red Fil d'Ecosse Cotton - Fort Belvedere

Fort Belvedere

Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Navy Blue and Red Fil d'Ecosse Cotton

Rich Yellow Shoelaces Round - Waxed Cotton Dress Shoe Laces Luxury by Fort Belvedere

Fort Belvedere

Rich Yellow Shoelaces Round – Waxed Cotton Dress Shoe Laces Luxury

5. Socks

A lot of men wear short socks or mid-calf socks when they slide down, they expose your hairy calves which is still unprofessional in this day and age. To prevent that, you should go with over-the-calf socks that stay up.

Outfit Rundown

 I was wearing two different outfits. The first one consisted of a checked dress shirt with a button-down collar and barrel cuffs or button cuffs with a pair of khaki chinos and a pair of over-the-calf socks from Fort Belvedere that has kind of a chino color as well as the red of my Ace Marks double monk strap shoes. They have a very elegant Italian last and I really like wearing them because they are a mix between casual and formal.

Sven Raphael in his typical office attire.
Sven Raphael in his typical office attire.
Mohair Blue, Burgundy, Green and Yellow Silk Wool Medallion Pocket Square - Fort Belvedere

Fort Belvedere

Mohair Blue, Burgundy, Green and Yellow Silk Wool Medallion Pocket Square

Caramel and Dark Burgundy Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Fil d'Ecosse Cotton

Fort Belvedere

Caramel and Dark Burgundy Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Fil d'Ecosse Cotton

Later on, I kept on that same outfit and simply added a navy double-breasted blazer which is part of a suit and I added a pocket square with kind of a turquoise blue with the paisley pattern that pops and just creates a visual interest that rounds up my outfit. Overall, even though I skipped the neckwear for this video because most men probably don’t wear neckwear and it is a typical office outfit that I could wear with or without the blazer. If I had opted against the blazer, I will just keep the jacket in my office, If you enjoyed this video, please check out our dress code series, particularly the business casual guide as well as the five men’s shoes every ma should have. If you subscribe to our channel, videos like this come right to your inbox and if you are looking for quality men’s leather dress shoes that don’t break the bank, I strongly suggest you take a look at Ace Marks website.

How do you dress for work? Share your office wardrobe essentials below!

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Reader Comments

  1. You have let yourself down at the very end. Number 5 is totally unnecessary and only illustrates that you have some sort of phobia as I have seen remarked previously.

  2. Sven, thank your lucky stars that you weren’t around in the seventies, no doubt the worst decade for men’s fashion. Back then it made sense to buy two of everything so you could throw both of them out in the trash heap. Wie immer, great article. :-)

  3. I basically agree with everything in this article. My last job was business casual every day, so I would wear pretty much exactly what was written here. I would add that plain white dress shirts also seemed a bit too formal as well, so I invested in solid color and patterned dress shirts. I also invested in several blazers, many of which had more informal patterns. I always kept a tie or two in the office just in case I needed to go to a more “serious” meeting at the last minute. Where I would disagree with Sven is on the matter of rubber soled shoes. I had to do a lot of walking, so rubber soles made a lot of sense, but I would buy shoes that looked dressier. Rubber soled shoes do not need to look cheap or ugly! And I even found a couple pairs of shoes that were a combination of leather and rubber soles, so no one even knew unless they looked.

  4. I do honestly think that the “Casual Friday’s” that started in the 80’s and seeped into the 90’s ruined the Classic Style consciousness of both Men and Women! The “Casual Friday” mentality and culture ruined the Well Dressed generation and culture of Elegance and Style for Men and Women the World over! It got out of hand and now everybody wants to be casual everyday! America and the World in general needs a Renaissance in Style elevation, like we once had in the 30’s and 40’s! Let’s bring Aesthetic Beauty back in our Cloths and Lifestyle!

      1. I agree with you Angelo. I find the “Casual Friday” look very unprofessional and lazy. I work in an office and I’m the only person who comes to work in a suit and tie. My colleagues wear jeans, polo shirts, and sneakers. Sometimes, they may wear chinos,a button-down shirt, and loafers. They make comments about the way I dress, but I don’t care. I just don’t care to go to work dressed like I’m going to do yard work.

        As far as I’m concerned, if you work in an office environment, you should go to work dressed professionally. Some people may not agree with me when I state this, but people will treat you seriously and with more respect if you are dressed professionally.

  5. Greetings,

    As a corollary to Mr. Mandelbaum’s sentiments, the 1970’s featured all matter of synthetic materials that were used in making a very flexible fabric we called “Double Knit.” Collar points were long, ties and belts wide, and jackets featured what Bob Dole called “Aircraft Carrier Lapels.” You did not mention platform shoes, gaudy necklaces, big hair, and Jovan Musk cologne.

    During the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-1974, American office buildings turned down the heat, and up air conditioner temperatures, so that in winter gentlemen needed a cardigan ala Jimmy Carter/Mr. Rogers to avoid shivering like Bob Cratchit. In summer men removed their neckties, and folded their shirt collars over their jacked rolls to find some relief from the heat. It is my theory that “Casual Fridays” had its roots in this paradigm shift since many of us who were young in the mid-1970’s rose to preside over organizations by the time the now-accepted convention became the norm, and had learned history’s lessons about the vicissitudes of fashion.

    Best regards,

    Andrew Gregg,
    Palm Springs.

  6. Dear Sven, it ran through mind while perusing this latest article that you must have a huge backlog waiting to be published because none of my suggestions has made the way into print yet but today I write with a thirst for information from you rather than a contribution to you. Whenever my Brigade marches to Kenneth J Alford’s Village Smithy it worries me that the words of Longfellow’s poem:
    Under a spreading chestnut-tree/The village smithy stands (the one which tells us that
    the muscles of his brawny arms/Are strong as iron bands)
    do not fit the tune properly. Why is that, please?

  7. Fashion changes, style never. So I am proud that since a long I have been following two styles for my attire. One is I always wear button down shirts and second my trousers are turned up. I am an office-goer person hence since last 38 years I have not missed single day without dressed up like this.

  8. Dear Rapha,
    As usual a very interesting video! However, with Ace Marks one has to be careful – they do not break the bank if one lives in the US, for those outside the US one has to calculate double the price on the website for a pair of their shoes due to all the extra cost and then they start to break the bank.

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