Introduction to Information Technology
Business Dress Guidelines
To Parents & Students:
High School students need to learn what looking “professional” is all about and I hope all parents are in support of this! Please review this document which explains briefly the difference between business casual and executive dress. Outfit must be worn the entire period. Students can earn 5 extra credit points each week by participating in Business Dress on each Wednesday! This effort is not about putting pressure on parents or students to buy new clothes, but more about learning to put together the most professional looks possible with what you have. Of course this might be a reason for a guy to buy a pair of khaki-type pants (not cargo) or for a lady to buy a black skirt—but these are valuable clothing items that can be dressed up or dressed down and worn in many situations! Again this is optional but I hope parents encourage their kids to participate and see the value in this effort! Thank you, Ms. Wright
Types of Business Dress
Business Casual is a description for a type of appropriate business dress in a professional office environment. Many companies in today’s workforce have created more lenient dress policies, allowing business casual dress to be the standard. Other companies only allow business casual dress on Fridays. Still, other companies allow employees to wear whatever is comfortable! It truly depends on what type of company you work for and what kind of task you perform. If you are in a position where you never meet the client face-to-face, it may not matter how you dress. In most cases though, employees who dress more professionally act more professionally. An office in which all employees are dressed professionally does have a more professional atmosphere, which leads to more success. Many types of industries such as law or banking or upper-level management positions (CEO, VP, CFO) require the utmost in professional attire, called Executive Dress, which means suits everyday of the week! Remember, you should dress for the job position you want, not the one you have!
In the Introduction to Information Technology you will have the opportunity to practice both types of business dress—Business Casual and Executive Dress on an extra credit basis.
1 The first Wednesday of each month will be Executive Dress.
2 The remaining Wednesdays will be Business Casual.
Appropriate Business Casual Attire
GENTLEMEN:
Dress Slacks
¨ Docker-style pants in either khaki, navy, green, black, or gray
¨ Dress slacks in either khaki, navy, green, black, or gray
¨ No jeans of any color; No cargo pants
Dress Shirt
¨ Collared polo-type shirt
¨ Collared dress shirt
¨ Button-down collared oxford
¨ Any ERHS club, organization or sports collared polo shirt
¨ Shirt must be tucked in
¨ When sweater is worn over a shirt, sweater can be un-tucked but must look neat
¨ No t-shirts; No collarless shirts (some collarless button down dress shirt styles are acceptable)
Dress Shoes & Belt
¨ Loafers/Docker style shoes
¨ Tie or slip-in dress shoes
¨ No tennis shoes or sports shoes, sandals, clogs, flip-flops, etc.
¨ Match belt color to shoe color
Dress Socks
¨ Dark socks—black or matching pants color; No white or sport type socks in dress shoes.
Appropriate Business Casual Attire
LADIES:
Attire
¨ Skirt and top/sweater; dress
¨ Long dress pants and top/sweater
¨ Coordinated pants suit
¨ Khaki pants or longer-style khaki skirt
¨ No cargo pants, cargo skirts, or denim skirts or pants;
No skin-tight pants or skirts
¨ No mini-skirts; No after-5 attire!
¨ No ‘sleeveless’ dresses, blouses, or sweaters (school policy)--cover with matching sweater or jacket!
¨ No skin-tight, low cut or see-through blouses or sweaters
¨ “Cleavage” is NOT appropriate business attire
¨ No shorts, skorts, or thigh-high split skirts
Shoes
¨ Dress shoes—flats, heels, dressy sandals
¨ No casual clogs or flip-flops
¨ No tennis shoes or other sport type shoes
*REGARDING JEWELRY & MAKE-UP (for both Business Casual and Executive Dress)
¨ For men and women, jewelry should be limited. A watch can and should be worn and looks professional! Smaller earrings are preferred--no long dangling ones. Thinner necklaces are preferred and considered more appropriate. Hair jewelry is not considered professional. Most facial piercing including tongue piercing is not considered professional and is against many company policies. Earrings on men are often against company policy also.
¨ Make-up for women in business attire should be professional looking.
No flashy glitter make-up or extremely bright eye shadow colors, etc.
¨ Extremely elaborate manicures can be considered unprofessional in many industries.
Appropriate EXECUTIVE DRESS
Executive Dress is the most dressed up and represents how you should look when going to a job interview. The above guidelines apply in addition to the following specifications:
1 Gentlemen- Dress pants/khaki pants, button-down shirt with a tie required worn with dress or professional-looking loafer shoes.
Business suit is ideal but not required, jacket optional
2 Ladies- Coordinated dress suit or pants suit (matching jacket with pants/skirt)
or dress required; worn with closed dress or professional-looking shoes,
Panti-hose optional.
I have read and understand the opportunity presented.
______
Student Signature Parent Signature Date
Parents—please check one of the following:
I DO plan to encourage my son/daughter to participate in Business Dress to help him/her develop knowledge and practice in dressing professional.
I DO NOT plan to encourage my son/daughter to participate in Business Dress for the following reasons:______
______
______
______
Business Dress Guidelines