First off, like most of you reading this blog, you live on the West (Left) Coast. In places where techie’s style has infiltrated our communities. Men are going about their days, mornings, afternoons and nights in their jeans, rugged looking shoes, shirts or sweaters in layers while toting a backpack in preparation for the impromptu hike in the local rain forests.
If you are working downtown, and expected to meet clients, then you will have a more “formal” wardrobe with jackets, ties, slacks and sharp leather shoes; so maybe you’re not too far off understanding the term semi-formal.
Western dress is segmented into levels of formality which is meant to aid in understanding how to make one’s dress match the occasion. Of course, depending on your “center point” within these segments, and the clothes you wear most often, the types of wardrobe components you associate with these levels of formality will differ from others. Let’s try to get everyone on the same page.
Formal wear
Semi-formal
Informal
Business casual
Smart casual
Casual
Active attire
(It will be in a future post that the lower 4 are covered)
Immediately you might have notices from this list that “Business wear” is not there. That’s because a navy power suit with a “I’ll eat you for lunch red tie" is called Informal. I know!?!? Fuck me!
Looking back, if you lived near Toronto in the 60’s and 70’s, like I did, then you saw that a white-collar worker would be dressed informally most of their day. Should my parents be invited out for dinner on a Saturday evening, then it was expected to be Semi-formal, and a backyard barbecue would be Business casual. Today, especially on the west coast, dinner out would warrant only an ironed shirt and…you know what? Wearing a pressed shirt to a barbecue might garner questions such as “how did the interview go?”
Informal today seems to be a “come as you are”. We need this to stop.
Of course, wearing a tie for a dinner of ribs off the grill is not what I’m suggesting. Even though times are different now and the socially acceptable standards are lower/broader, I’m talking about elevating and tightening up our standards. Back to the levels as I see them.
Formal: Seems easy enough. We should equate that to “black tie or tuxedo required”. If you’re a member of a traditional wedding party, or you’re going to a $300 a plate charity dinner, or you’re going to be presented an award with “National” in its title or you’re escorting your date to an event where she is wearing a gown then you need a tux. Since top hats and tails are gone it is the tailless tuxedo that moved up to formal, but once a tux was considered semi-formal. Unless you attend more than two functions like these per year, rent over buying.
Informal: This is where business wear lives. Depending on the season your suit would vary in its colour and shade, but most common still are navy suit, white shirt, and tie. Dressing it down, but staying in the Informal range is to switch to blazer and complimentary slacks, or maybe a light blue shirt instead of boring white. This should be what you wear to a job interview no matter what industry you’re in. If you’re not a banker you won’t have a collection of navy, grey, brown or black suits, so get yourself a solid, well fitted one to anchor your wardrobe.
Semi-formal: This level squeezes in between the two above. Semi-formal is what Barney Stinson means when he says “Suit up boys”. In this range, you could say this is your better (best) suits. No matter the season, darker is better, but watch the weather forecast in case you’re going to be outside in the sun; in which case a serious looking, but lighter colour will work.
Semi-formal would be how to dress for attending a wedding or funeral. (The “old marry’em - bury’em suit"). If you are definitely going to be a one-suit-man then make it this one over the business suit. Buy one in a dark colour with a subtle stripe or check, then have two shirts at least (a white shirt and a minor check shirt), and three ties. This should give you the variety so that people won’t recognize the same look when they see you.
It seems simple…the top three levels contain “formal” in the name and you are suppose to wear a tie. Remember over dressing will get you compliments, while no one will mention your under-dressing, except on their way home. Gentlemen, it's time to Suit up!
If you are working downtown, and expected to meet clients, then you will have a more “formal” wardrobe with jackets, ties, slacks and sharp leather shoes; so maybe you’re not too far off understanding the term semi-formal.
Western dress is segmented into levels of formality which is meant to aid in understanding how to make one’s dress match the occasion. Of course, depending on your “center point” within these segments, and the clothes you wear most often, the types of wardrobe components you associate with these levels of formality will differ from others. Let’s try to get everyone on the same page.
Formal wear
Semi-formal
Informal
Business casual
Smart casual
Casual
Active attire
(It will be in a future post that the lower 4 are covered)
Immediately you might have notices from this list that “Business wear” is not there. That’s because a navy power suit with a “I’ll eat you for lunch red tie" is called Informal. I know!?!? Fuck me!
Looking back, if you lived near Toronto in the 60’s and 70’s, like I did, then you saw that a white-collar worker would be dressed informally most of their day. Should my parents be invited out for dinner on a Saturday evening, then it was expected to be Semi-formal, and a backyard barbecue would be Business casual. Today, especially on the west coast, dinner out would warrant only an ironed shirt and…you know what? Wearing a pressed shirt to a barbecue might garner questions such as “how did the interview go?”
Informal today seems to be a “come as you are”. We need this to stop.
Of course, wearing a tie for a dinner of ribs off the grill is not what I’m suggesting. Even though times are different now and the socially acceptable standards are lower/broader, I’m talking about elevating and tightening up our standards. Back to the levels as I see them.
Formal: Seems easy enough. We should equate that to “black tie or tuxedo required”. If you’re a member of a traditional wedding party, or you’re going to a $300 a plate charity dinner, or you’re going to be presented an award with “National” in its title or you’re escorting your date to an event where she is wearing a gown then you need a tux. Since top hats and tails are gone it is the tailless tuxedo that moved up to formal, but once a tux was considered semi-formal. Unless you attend more than two functions like these per year, rent over buying.
Informal: This is where business wear lives. Depending on the season your suit would vary in its colour and shade, but most common still are navy suit, white shirt, and tie. Dressing it down, but staying in the Informal range is to switch to blazer and complimentary slacks, or maybe a light blue shirt instead of boring white. This should be what you wear to a job interview no matter what industry you’re in. If you’re not a banker you won’t have a collection of navy, grey, brown or black suits, so get yourself a solid, well fitted one to anchor your wardrobe.
Semi-formal: This level squeezes in between the two above. Semi-formal is what Barney Stinson means when he says “Suit up boys”. In this range, you could say this is your better (best) suits. No matter the season, darker is better, but watch the weather forecast in case you’re going to be outside in the sun; in which case a serious looking, but lighter colour will work.
Semi-formal would be how to dress for attending a wedding or funeral. (The “old marry’em - bury’em suit"). If you are definitely going to be a one-suit-man then make it this one over the business suit. Buy one in a dark colour with a subtle stripe or check, then have two shirts at least (a white shirt and a minor check shirt), and three ties. This should give you the variety so that people won’t recognize the same look when they see you.
It seems simple…the top three levels contain “formal” in the name and you are suppose to wear a tie. Remember over dressing will get you compliments, while no one will mention your under-dressing, except on their way home. Gentlemen, it's time to Suit up!
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