Dress code: When is smart casual too casual?

By AK. Udofeh

Sometimes the casual clothing
preference of IT pros can go too far.

Research
has shown that IT staffs have a looser dress code than most other occupations.
Depending, of course, on the company you work for, that’s still the case.

In
fact, that is an allure to many people who decide to go into IT: ‘They can work
in T-shirts and jeans’, so says many newbies I often come across. And start-ups
and companies that are engineering-heavy can get even more casual it seems. A
friend once told me that it’s not uncommon at her company to see some of the IT
folks walking around in their bare feet. She said it’s more prevalent with the
younger workers and wondered if it’s a trend that here’s to stay?

A
fact that raises the question: When is smart casual too casual? I think that if you want to move ahead in a company,
you do have to look this part, or at least give the impression that, if you
become a manager, you won’t embarrass the CIO at a company meeting by wearing
pajama pants and crocs. Please don’t laugh because it do happen. 

But
what about the coder who doesn’t want to get ahead? Who is perfectly
happy being comfortably ensconced in his or her cubicle wearing bunny slippers?
Does this kind of casual ever cross the line into other employees’ comfort
zones, and, if so, does it matter?

I’d
like to hear your opinions on the topic in the discussion area below.