Those close to me know I’m a worrier, who likes to think situations through before stepping into them.
It’s superficial to some, but wearing the right outfit helps me prepare. I was raised by fashion retailers; it’s just part my make up.
Before lockdown, this felt MUCH easier: suits, shirts and ties for work and something casual at weekends.
None of this was ever set in stone, but at least it had some clarity. Those blurred lines got even fuzzier last week.
Getting set for awards season
After being shortlisted for two awards, and ahead of my brother’s wedding, I set off to Cardiff to buy an Italian three-piece suit to use across the occasions.
That was before checking the ‘business casual’ dress code for the PRCA Dare Awards in Bristol on Wednesday. Not smart casual, which most people understand. Not business, or even ‘dress to impress’ which seems to be making a comback. Business casual…
Cue mild flashbacks to my 12-year-old self attending a festive non-uniform day at school without reading the memo. The horror.
WTF is business casual?!
This call for business casual jolted me. More in hope than expectation, I looked online for answers. True to type, ChatGPT hedged its response to such an extent that I wished I hadn’t bothered to ask its advice.
I turned to long-standing friends on WhatsApp group.
“Bus casual = suit with no shirt mate. Think Peter Andre winning a Grammy,” said one.
Other comments included ‘no socks’, and this number.
Even GQ admits the business casual dress code is ‘tricky’, which begs the question: why?! Dress codes should remove confusion by setting a standard. ‘Business casual’ ramped it up for me.
With 24 hours to spare, I spoke with the PRCA on Tuesday and asked someone to send us pictures from a recent awards do with a business casual dress code. And as I was in Exeter, I bought a blazer from John Lewis to wear with an outfit. It felt like a compromise, even though I’d already bought something.
And it all turned out all right on the night. There were some fantastic organisations and campaigns attending. Noone went shirtless. And we won small to medium consultancy of the year.
Back to basics
As we start our fifth year in business, the awards provide a perfect opportunity for us to kick off the first quarter in high spirits, by celebrating how far we’ve come as a team in a short time.
It was an honour to collect the award and a relief to know that ‘business casual’ basically covers whatever I usually wear into work. That’s one less thing to worry about.
Maybe just ‘business’ would do the trick as a dress code next time.