By, Casey Schellberg
This semester I’m a student teacher at a local elementary school. This means I spent my summer learning how to dress business casual. It’s that weird in-between of not too dressy, but also not too casual, and don’t even get me started on finding that balance while still keeping that early 20s style. A few months in and now I feel more confident in creating a business casual look, so I wanted to share a few tips with you!
First, layers are key. Having the option to take a layer off or put one on depending on the temperature in your office, classroom, etc. is always a great idea. However, you can be intentional with it and have the layer act as the difference between a casual outfit and a business casual outfit. Simply putting a blazer, cardigan or another light jacket over top of a shirt or dress is one way to do this. You can also add a plain colored t-shirt or turtleneck under dresses to give it that more professional look.
Second, almost every outfit I wear involves me mixing and matching a business piece with a casual piece, just like the term “business casual” implies. Some of my favorite ways to do this are pairing a button-down with non-ripped jeans, a plain high-neck tank top with patterned dress pants and a white t-shirt with a midi-skirt. I also like pairing blouses or sweaters with your non-traditional dress pants, like the OCG chinos from Old Navy, which are pull-on and so stretchy, or linen pants.
My last tip for you to keep in mind is that accessories matter. The right headband, necklace and shoe can make or break an outfit. My go-to shoes include nice white tennis shoes, black platform loafers and brown-heeled clogs. For jewelry and hair, I like adding gold hoops or a braided headband to my outfits, especially when they are on the plain side.
Learning to dress business casual can be a bit difficult at first, but with these tips, you’ll be set to rock the dress code.