Office Casual/Business Casual

baseball1988

I am getting ready for a new job. Dress code is office casual or business casual.

I am wondering if khakis is acceptable? or get dress pants?

I understand wearing a dress shirt is nice. But, now it's winter right now...is it acceptable to wear khakis and a nice sweater?

Many years ago, I purchased too many dress pants in advance and realize i can wear something simple. Wasted hundreds of dollars for nothing.

Thank you

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Comments

the_Grinch

Play it safe and over dress the first day. I usually wear dress pants, shirt, and tie on the first day to see how everyone else dresses. From there I will conform to the standard set forth by coworkers. More to the topic, usually, business casual is khakis and a collard shirt. I am sure you could probably get away with a sweater, but when it doubt ask

blargoe

If, during the interview process, I get to meet my hiring manager in person, I will dress at least to the level that he/she was dressed on my first day/week (but, at at minimum I will wear khakis). Now, for the job that I may be taking soon, the people that interviewed me were all over the spectrum as far as how they were dressed. There was a lady wearing a lab coat, but I could see that she was wearing a skirt. The manager for the position I was interviewing for was wearing jeans and a button up. His manager was wearing black slacks, black shirt, I think he was trying to pull off a Johnny Cash look. HR lady was wearing a pant suit.

So, if I get hired, I'll just start off wearing khakis and a button up shirt, make my introductions, and if I need to dress down to fit in I will.

cyberguypr

blargoe wrote: »

If, during the interview process, I get to meet my hiring manager in person, I will dress at least to the level that he/she was dressed on my first day/week (but, at at minimum I will wear khakis). Now, for the job that I may be taking soon, the people that interviewed me were all over the spectrum as far as how they were dressed. There was a lady wearing a lab coat, but I could see that she was wearing a skirt. The manager for the position I was interviewing for was wearing jeans and a button up. His manager was wearing black slacks, black shirt, I think he was trying to pull off a Johnny Cash look. HR lady was wearing a pant suit.

So, if I get hired, I'll just start off wearing khakis and a button up shirt, make my introductions, and if I need to dress down to fit in I will.

Can't fool us. We know you want that lab coat.

But yes, over dress the first day. Feel out the weirdos clothing, i mean, new coworkers and go from there.

JDMurray

Also note if there's an office apparel tradition, like "Blue Shirt Tuesday" or "White Shirt Wednesday," that you should follow in order to be seen as a team player. And know when to buck the apparel trend too. I bought a brand new pair of very blue jeans only to be work on Casual Friday when the managers are wearing jeans that look as if they had just painted a house.

Turgon

baseball1988 wrote: »

I am getting ready for a new job. Dress code is office casual or business casual.

I am wondering if khakis is acceptable? or get dress pants?

I understand wearing a dress shirt is nice. But, now it's winter right now...is it acceptable to wear khakis and a nice sweater?

Many years ago, I purchased too many dress pants in advance and realize i can wear something simple. Wasted hundreds of dollars for nothing.

Thank you

khakis acceptable. Ignore other posts and save your money. If you dont get the job you will have to feed your children. Company x who interviewed you and passed you by will not.

baseball1988

Thank you all for the suggestions/tips.

I will be wearing: dress pants, dress shirt, and dress shoes on the first day. I don't think I will need to wear a tie since I am not going to be working with clients. I met a few colleagues and had a tour during the interview. He wore something similar although I didn't get a chance to take a close look. I bought two pair of khakis today. And new dress shoes. I will get a haircut 1 day before my work begins. I will hold off shopping until I see what others are wearing.

JockVSJock

baseball1988 wrote: »

I will hold off shopping until I see what others are wearing.

I would advise against buying a bunch of clothes at once.

The reason for this is that you might buy a bunch of clothes that you don't like, and never wear them or may end up gaining weight and not be able to fit into these clothes (all of this happened to me).

I settled on a strategy where I would go to the clothing discount stores, like a Burlington Coat Factory, once a month and pick up one clothing item.

Kept my wardrobe up-to-date and didn't spend a bunch of money at once.

hackman2007

JockVSJock wrote: »

I would advise against buying a bunch of clothes at once.

The reason for this is that you might buy a bunch of clothes that you don't like, and never wear them or may end up gaining weight and not be able to fit into these clothes (all of this happened to me).

I settled on a strategy where I would go to the clothing discount stores, like a Burlington Coat Factory, once a month and pick up one clothing item.

Kept my wardrobe up-to-date and didn't spend a bunch of money at once.

I like this advice.

I did the same thing (bought a ton of clothes before I started working). Now I'm having problems fitting in to some of it. I really need to buy some more clothes (just standard button down shirts), but don't really want to spend the money right now.

It is amazing how much weight you gain after "settling down" in to a full-time job