Sartorial stumbles
Packing for business travel used to be pretty easy, at least for men - throw in two suits, four white shirts (with maybe a blue shirt in the mix), and as long as you remembered all of your power supplies you were good to go.
That has all changed with the advent of business casual. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like casual dress, and I am not a big fan of suits. Unfortunately, there are different levels of business casual, and it’s increasingly difficult to figure out what’s appropriate for any given occasion . That means it’s more difficult to pack as well. For example, today I will be meeting with a number of people who work in a very casual environment and whom I know fairly well. Excellent, no problem, I can dress pretty casually, and in fact I should, since we’re going to the biergarten later.
But … I’ll also be meeting one of the newer folks in upper management, whom I’ve never met before. Ok, so I also have to dress to make an impression on him, so that means what, a suit? A sport coat? Something in between? Add to this the international element, in that business casual is very different in different parts of the world, and getting dressed for a meeting can be more stressful than the meeting itself.
Now, I’ve figured out a solution, and I’ll let you know how it goes, but the point is that the old “uniform” approach to business dress would make this a lot easier, and my luggage would be lighter as well.
Anyone else have similar experiences? Tips?
Tags: biergarten, business casual, business travel, suit, suitcaseRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Customs and Culture, Travel
2 opinions for Sartorial stumbles
Jean Mercedes
Jun 2, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Women in business have it worse off when it comes to figuring out what to wear, as there is no standard like the men’s suit. Just the shoes alone are a big problem - how high, how pointy, if I have far to walk in an airport, I can’t wear those…
Anyway, on my first business trip to Australia, I packed totally wrong. I figured Aussie-land was laid back, mate, so everyday must be casual Friday. Well, it turns out, they do dress casual (polo shirt with company logo and chinos) except for managers who always wear a suit, tie and white shirt. Opps.
Chris
Jun 3, 2008 at 12:28 am
That’s true, I’ve never worried about how pointy my shoes are. The strange thing is, with the advent of business casual men are moving in that confusing direction as well. As it turned out, I wore dark jeans and a lightweight sportcoat and it was the perfect outfit - a suit would have looked very out of place, but been a whole lot easier.
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