When Summer Business Casual Attire Goes Horribly Wrong

Business casual is being adopted at many offices, but how does that mix with summer wear?

I know you've seen it. You know, that guy who insists on wearing flip flops to work all summer and showing everyone his nasty toes. Or, the woman who shows up in tank tops as soon as the weather warms up. Summer wardrobe choices and casual work environments can lead to some fashion disasters and even cross the line to being offensive.

If you are looking for a job this summer, always dress professionally during an interview and after you get the job. Even if the hiring manager tells you specifically that the office is a casual workplace, don't let that make you think that it would be appropriate to wear shorts and a t-shirt. When you are interviewing for any type of job, you always want to dress to impress. That being said, once you get a job in a casual office, it doesn't mean that it's time to bust out the miniskirts, tube tops or flip flops.

It's rare these days to work for a company that requires business suits and ties, as the trend is moving steadily into a more business casual work environment. For many people, this is a welcome change, and summertime is the perfect time to be a little more casual and focus more on comfort. Still, it's important to continue to present an image that is clean and professional. The problem is, not everyone has the same idea about what appropriate work-casual clothing looks like.

The staffing firm Adecco recently surveyed people who work in casual offices to find out what items are the most offensive and inappropriate for the office. The results just might surprise you.

According to the survey, the biggest fashion offense is flip flops, especially when worn by men. This would include the men's sandals that strap on with nylon and velcro straps. A whopping 71% of people surveyed said that flip flops were not acceptable at work. I can only suppose that the remaining 29% were all people who worked at my previous office. The truth is, unless you get regular pedicures, no one at work really wants to see your feet. However, open toed shoes were only considered inappropriate by 31% of survey takers.

The second biggest fashion "don't" on the survey was miniskirts. It seems that 70% of respondents voted "no" to the short skirts. Although, you can clearly see sexism at work even in the survey because the 70% was made up of 80% of women saying no and 60% of men agreeing that it's not appropriate.

The third fashion offense on the list - strapless tops and dresses. This would include tube tops. A surprising 66% of the people polled said that they didn't think that strapless dresses or tops were ok to wear to work. Surprisingly, only about half of the male respondents thought that these unprofessional.

The most important thing about dressing down for the summer is to ask yourself if you look like you are at work. If you look as though you are going to the beach or the pool after, you should consider changing. Also, in the summer it is hot and frequently going from air conditioned rooms to the outside heat can make you sweat without even realizing it. Be sure that you take precautions to avoid offending your co-workers with body odor or large sweat marks on your clothing. You're co-workers will thank you.

What do you think is the most inappropriate summer attire to wear to the office? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for Administrativejobsblog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.