Echo Xie

"Business casual" has taken on a negative ring, though the English call it “smart casual” which sounds a little more stylish. Popularized by IT businesses as an alternative to “international standard business attire,” business casual holds Steve Jobs and Bill Gates up as its paragons.

The perils of dressing in business casual are many. Match black trousers with a white shirt to look like a waiter, add a tie without a jacket to amp the outfit up to postal worker, or pair jeans and an ill-fitting blazer to look like . . . Steve Jobs. On the home front, the ba ......lly look better in their more casual outfits than their suits. So much can be determined from assessing a person’s outfit. Clothes and accessories would be providing the entirety of first-impression sound bites (reliable, creative, old-money) if it weren’t for the existence of the face, which can kill a good outfit or excuse a bad one. For guys that like fashion, business casual can be a blessing since it provides more room for creative expression. For everyone else, please heed this advice.