Casual day

A few posts ago, I said I would talk in greater detail about casual days. Obviously, after waiting with baited breath, you can now enjoy a brief glimpse into the executive wardrobe.

This executive does not work in a corporate office where wacky ties are on display every Friday and Mr. Manager comes in wearing slacks and golf shoes at the end of the week. But at least one person in the building seems very keen on charity, so whilst we don’t have an official once a week get-out clause from wearing our media monkey suits (open neck of course), the company does allow a few casual days a month.

The Robin Hood of the building charges £2 per time for the privilege of wearing comfortable clothes twice a month

So without further ado, here is just some of the characters and behaviour which can be found inside office walls in media land every casual day:

Smaj brigade – Sicken smart casual. Chinos chinos chinos, check shirts or polos. Why not go crazy yah? If its cold, top your ensemble off with a plain wool jumper tied around the neck, or a sports jacket.

The gigglers – Usually from a younger demographic, and find it a bit silly being with work colleagues when in everyday clothes. Meetings will descend into fits of giggles, and email responses will be brief, nonsensical and badly spelled.

The DGC (or Dressing Gown Crew) – Tired, sleepy, woolly yawnmongers who wish they could wear a dressing gown and slippers to work. They wear clothes for comfort not style including beige sweaters, jogging bottoms and big shoes. Their poor bodies are confused by what day it is and they need to get home to bed to read the paper.

Lunchtime guzzlers – Casual clothes are seen as by these individuals as a ticket to a double length lunch. Well, you have to let your hair down on a Friday right?

Friday gamers – Solitaire, quizzes, crosswords, desk toys, online flash games, you name it, they’ll play it. They are in their weekend clothes, so they are entitled to play as many computer games as they want. Clearly 6pm-midnight parked in front of the PS3 isn’t enough.

Hooded hoodlums – Some executives are a little too comfortable with casual day, and will wear a moth-eaten pair of skater jeans, broken shoes and menacing hooded tops. Sometimes, when you get into the lift on casual day with the HHs, you are ready to hand over your wallet and phone. This executive is all for letting it hang out, but there is no reason to come to work dressed as an ASBO making your colleagues feel like they work in a knife happy Moss Side estate.

The ‘Please sirs’ – It’s like it is the last day of term at school. ‘Please sir, can we go home at lunch?’ ‘Please sir can we go to the pub at 5pm?’ Casual clothes are often used as a bargaining tool for slacking via pleading with management.
Glad Raggers – Mostly (but not exclusively) female, Raggers love to spend time getting dressed up in all of their finery. They probably get up one hour earlier than on a normal workday to beautify. Be suspicious of their motives.

Jean switchers – Some people get away with fairly casual clothes most of the time. Girls in summer wearing flip flops, designers and creative types avoid the suit too. Casual day is a time to pay £2 for the privilege of breaking out the blue (rather than black) jeans.

Not taking part!
The forgetters – sometimes the droll work routine take a hold. Some sheepish executives forget what day it is and may claim to be a ‘too important’ (see below).
The ‘too importants’ – Pompous self inflated types who claim they can’t dress down as they have lots of important work to do. ‘Ooh I’ve got a hundred meetings today with senior contacts, I’m too busy.
The Skinflints - Refuse to pay, whether they take part or not. Lighten up guys, it’s for charity, it’s not like you have to hand over £2 every few days.

So next time someone asks you to pay £2 in order to dress normally, think long and hard about your choice of attire.

ES