Understanding on Casual Wear

1. Research:
Understanding & History
on Casual Wear
By: Fasiha Zaheer

2. Casual clothing is a description for clothes
that make a person look relaxed and at
ease.

3. In the European tradition, casual is
the dress code that emphasizes comfort
and personal expression over presentation
and uniformity. It includes a very wide
variety of costume, so it is perhaps better
defined by what it is not than what it is.

4. Many women prefer casual chic
fashion because it is a comfortable
style. Casual fashion is more
unique than business casual
because it follows the current
trends. The purpose of casual
fashion is to keep women looking
fresh and stylish without
sacrificing their comfort. Examples
of casual fashion that were on the
runway in 2010 include innovative
khaki shorts, leather boots, fitted
sweaters, leather sandals and mid-
length black skirts.

5. Madonna introduced a great deal
of lace, jewellery, and cosmetics into casual
wear during the 1980's. More recently, hip
hop fashion has played up elaborate
jewellery and luxurious materials worn in
conjunction with athletic gear and the
clothing of manual labour.

6. Types of Casual Wear
1)Smart casual
2)Business casual

7. 1)Smart casual is an ill-defined dress code that is generally a neat yet
informal attire. The locality, type of event, context
or culture constitutes the various interpretation of the dress code and
therefore the designating of certain clothing pieces as smart casual is
disputed—for example, jeans.

8. Personal judgement is required to interpret the ill-defined term smart
casual based on its context, theme, people, location, weather and spirit. Italian
fashion house Brioni explains smart casual is not an issue of inventory or
classification but rather knowledge and good taste to understand the
environment; demonstrating that smart casual during summer in Sardinia is
different than smart casual during winter in Toronto. An Australian freelance
fashion director remarks, "Smart Casual is the dress code most open to
interpretation and the one least understood", and advises wearing fresher
colours, lighter, softer materials, patterned, relaxed, thoughtful, less structured,
clean and not confrontational apparel with fabrics like linen, cashmere, fine wool
and cotton that are freshly laundered.
Global men's fashion magazine Topman emphasizes the flexibility of smart
casual. An individual's personality and pleasure of clothing choice defines the
dress code provided that the attire is a multi-purpose outfit that is acceptable for
formal occasions, dating or casual social gatherings. Topman explains casual and
formal clothing pieces are mixed and matched, and illustrates a smart
casual outfit can include a mixture of jeans, blazers, sweaters, necktie, a pair of
Brogue shoes, dress shirts or a pair of Converse shoes.
Norwegian and American cruise line brand Royal Caribbean
International clarifies smart casual for main dining on-board its
fleet. Blazers, trousers (including chinos), necktie's or shirts are acceptable
but shorts, jeans or t-shirts are unacceptable for men. Dresses, casual dresses,
or pant suits are acceptable for women.

9. 2)Business casual is an ad hoc dress code in professional and white-
collar workplaces in Western countries

10. One definition of business casual states that it includes khaki pants, slacks,
and skirts, as well as
short-sleeved polo shirts and long-sleeved shirts, but excludes "jeans,
tennis shoes, tight or short skirts, t-shirts, and sweatshirts".
Another author says Business casual dress, also "smart casual", is a popular
work place dress code that emerged in white-collar workplaces in Western
countries in the 1990's, especially in the United States and Canada.
Many information technology businesses in Silicon Valley were early
adopters of this dress code. In contrast to formal business wear such
as suits and neckties (the international standard business attire), the
business casual dress code has no generally-accepted definition; its
interpretation differs widely among organizations and is often a cause of
sartorial confusion among workers.
The job search engine Monster.com offers this definition: In general,
business casual means dressing professionally, looking relaxed, yet neat and
pulled together. A more pragmatic definition is that business casual dress is
the mid ground between formal business clothes and street clothes.
Examples of clothing combinations considered appropriate for work by
businesses that consider themselves as using the business-casual dress code
are:
for men: a shirt with a collar (polo shirt) and cotton trousers (or "khakis"
in American English).
for women: a tennis shirt and trousers.