chris and farideh

Do traditional white collar office jobs tend to be formal dress i.e. shirt, tie and suite or is the tendancy to dress down i.e chino's/jeans etc.
As I am lucky enough to work as an engineer but with the option to wear what I like (as long as its not covered in shit :scared: ) I dont want to lose this luxury when I move to Oz but I was wondering also if i need to invest in a suite and tie.

answers on a postcard

Kindest regards

Chris

Shellfish

It really depends where you work. My company (the worlds largest financial institution...) is pretty laid-back provided you look decent. If you meeting clients then it's suits and ties. My husband works in IT, and in 3 years has never worn a suit. On the whole, I would say pretty casual.

chris and farideh

many thanks shellfish.

worzel

It seems to be smart trousers and an open neck shirt in Perth so long as you have a tie and jacket available for meeting clients etc. Very few people where short-sleeved shirts for some reason.

jad n rich

Wearing short sleeve shirts can sometimes be linked to infamous australian fashion trends such as knee length socks (white) , usually on real estate agents and safari suits (pale blue or lemon) on car salesmen.

See diagram

http://www.safarisuit.com/images/winks-gus.jpg

worzel

For some reason our office is kept at an uncomfortable 25 degrees. If I thought I could get away with it I would wear a singlet, shorts and a thongs rather than (long sleeved) shirt and tie.

You may mock but there is a bloke in his 50's in our office who dresses like you describe. The one that makes we laugh is big hairy 16 year old school boys in grey shorts and socks.

Coulterk

It does depend on where you work and what you do but there is a general trend for normal international office attire - i.e. long sleve shirt, tie, long pants. The only exception is the jacket where less people wear one in the summer. On the whole, just because it is hot, does not mean it is not unlike any other office in a city in cooler countries.

jond

I would say that it is a lot more casual over here.

I always wore a suit in the UK and did so for my interview over here. When they offered me the job my boss said don't bother with a shirt and tie unless we attend an important meeting.

I was issued with company polo shirts which we all wear and on Fridays it is dress down day. There are some rules, no micro mini skirts or underwear showing I don't know if this also applies to the girls though

John