Dressing down for an occasion doesn’t have to be difficult, it’s simple once you know what you’re doing. Whether you’re just going out for a few beers with the lads somewhere new or on a date and don’t want to overdo it, this article will give you all the help you’ll need.
A good way to think about dressing down is that it should be effortless. Whether you’re going to a fancy new bar or starting a new job with a more lax dress code and don’t want to over dress, this will answer all the questions you have about dressing down in style.
There’s a few very simple ways to dress down a suit for smarter events, the first being ditch the tie. It’s the quickest way to looking less formal at any given event; just lose your tie and unbutton the top of your shirt. Alternatively you can just ditch the shirt entirely and use a polo shirt instead. Investing in a smart appearing polo shirt such as a Psycho Bunny classic polo shirt and saving it for dressing down might be one of your best bets to avoid overdressing.
If you are set on wearing a button up shirt, you could just exchange your trousers for jeans. Darker shades will always appear slightly more formal than light blue so a pair such as the True Religion Rocco jeans black would be great for smarter occasions. Paired with a shirt and blazer this style will still look classy. However, if you want it to look more casual than this, try a patterned shirt such as the Pretty Green Cavell long sleeved shirt. Such a statement piece will make you stand out in a crowd, but at the same time if worn correctly will undoubtedly be the best outfit at the event!
Not all places allow jeans, and for such venues there will never be a better option than chinos. Wear Ralph Lauren Bedford chino trousers in spring navy for a great eye catching casual outfit combined with this Vivienne Westwood man long sleeved shirt in white and these Sweeney London Fellbeck brogue shoes in black leather. To finish off, just pair the outfit with some accessories such as a classy watch for a full dressed down outfit with both maximum style points and minimum effort.
Dressing down accessories will always help with a casual look, so feel free to swap metal rimmed glasses for coloured frames and a formal watch for something with a coloured or canvas strap. Small simple things will go a long way to helping your dress down looks.
However, with all these dress down options available to you, there are some must-nots that should be avoided at all costs. One of these is not to wear anything too tightly fitted. Clothing items such as super-skinny jeans and deep v-necks show off too much for a professional standard event. Just think slim and fitted, not skinny and tight. If you are unsure of who else is attending then this one might be a bit harder, however make sure you don’t steal someone else’s style. Your own personal style might take some time to figure out but it will look better than if you look identical to someone else.
After all of this, you should easily be able to create your own defined causal style, which will work with any dressed down occasion.
Written by Leanne Revell
