Dressing Down on Fridays

FF Fashion

Wed, Feb 25, 2009
The Straits Times
By Michelle Tay


IT IS not every day that Raffles Place, the heart of Singapore's commercial district, teems with executives in jeans, slacks and, sometimes, even sandals.

But on one day of the work week, Casual Friday, corporate types get to ditch their button-down shirts and prim sheath dresses for weekend togs like polo tees and cute floral frocks.

Going by lunch hour at Raffles Place one recent Friday afternoon, outfits for men can include khaki trousers and shirts with rolled-up sleeves, while moccasins or loafers replace leather shoes.

Women let their hair down, don skirts with more flair and flounce, and ditch business-like heels for relaxed sandals. Jewellery gets bolder, too.

And while some women remain well-suited on Fridays, one notices that hemlines of skirts rise, while among men trousers morph into the sartorially adventurous territory of bermudas.

Many companies have implemented Casual Friday, the relaxed dress code which, according to Wikipedia, began as an American and Canadian custom in the late 1950s as an attempt to raise worker morale in the new white-collar office environment.

It became more prevalent in the dot.com boom of the late 1990s, and continues to gain currency here in many sectors.

Banks, like Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank (UOB), have Casual Fridays for staff, where the dress code is simply 'smart casual'.

'This is dependent on an individual's role and job requirements. Our main priority is for employees to work comfortably and at the same time project a professional image to our customers at all times,' said StanChart's regional head of South-east Asia human resources D.M. Arulraj.

Staff there typically go to work in jeans, polo T-shirts and relaxed dresses. Sandals are not allowed, however, and both UOB and StanChart say they trust the discretion and 'good judgment' of their staff in interpreting the 'smart casual' code.

HSBC also said 'employees across the bank' can dress in more casual attire on Fridays, as long as they do not have any meetings scheduled with clients. Its business casual dress code includes polo shirts and chinos for male employees, and knitwear and pants for female employees. The only exception is for front-line staff working in the bank's branches.

Law firms also have dress-down Fridays, and many here permit anything from Capri-pants to polo tees. Sources say 'jeans are okay' for men, while women often opt for 'more colourful, feminine and generally expressive dresses'.

But executives interviewed said there is also such a thing as 'too casual'.

'I've not seen anyone in a T-shirt. A bit sloppy, no? Definitely no slippers and bermudas,' said a source working at a statutory board.

There are firms, however, which have a strict policy on proper work attire at all times. Human resource consultancy Robert Walters International, for one, does not have Casual Fridays at all. 'As we meet clients and candidates all the time...all staff have to be professionally dressed at all times,' said a spokesman.

Then there are also creative companies, like advertising agencies, where the policy seems to work in reverse.

Virtually every day is Casual Friday at marketing and advertising giant McCann Worldgroup, said a spokesman there. She said T-shirts and jeans are office wear staples for many staff, including creative directors, and even 'board shorts make it to the board room' during internal meetings. 'However, employees are of course expected to dress professionally when meeting with clients and business partners.'