The frenzied, fervent, froth over work wardrobes

When I was 23, I had a nightmare about going to work.

I had left the top button of my shirt undone, which was clearly visible over the top of my tie, casting untold sartorial shame upon me. It may have been only a dream, but back then it felt akin to a sleeptime story featuring a ‘full nudity moment’ in the workplace.

Fast forward a few years and the comment threads I’ve been reading over the past week have been focused on two topics - the chairman of Cenkos Securities being relegated to a table by the kitchen at a London club for wearing trainers soon after the Prime Minister was spotted in similar foot-garb, and the BBC story about - amongst other things - CEOs wearing tee-shirts.

As the people in my online networks - mostly in communications, public affairs, marketing, or board-level jobs - have waded into the debate over what’s appropriate, what conventions should be preserved, what scenarios call for which wardrobe and how hybrid working has had an impact on all of this, the talk has gone well beyond the usual confines of ‘that’s what some bosses in Silicon Valley do’.

What has struck me is how many different points of view there are out there on what used to be such a straightforward issue - at least, if you’re a bloke. I started my career with one suit, a few shirts and ties, and one 'smart' pair of shoes, severely limiting the daily options. Life was easy. Over time I acquired more of them. When I worked in casual places and things became more relaxed, a suit was worn much less often. Eventually, what I wore to work was pretty much what I wore at home, though less grubby. In the past decade, things have become a little smarter again, clothing-wise at least.

But stories such as this, and the rampant comments on them, have not so much stirred the pot on workplace wardrobes as highlighted quite how personal dress choice for the office is, and how opinionated people can be about it. Even the Telegraph is at it, with a firm thumbs up for "the bolder, the better" trainers.

Here are just a few points of view put forward of late:

• Pretty much anything in the smart-casual category goes these days, and that category has expanded massively, but if you have clients then aim to be smarter than them
• In some industries and for some situations, you simply won’t be taken seriously unless you’re wearing a suit/a suit equivalent. For men though, the tie is normally still a smart move (see point above); but not always
• Trainers, or ‘super trainers’ (not just the expensive ones, but plainer or classier-looking rather than sporty or grungy) are normally perfectly acceptable, providing the rest of what you have on is a notch-up in the smartness stakes
• Consultancies with previously ‘ties on’ cultures are more relaxed these days, but you do need to know your audience/consider who you’re meeting
• Hybrid working has actually made all of this more difficult, and made people have to think harder about what they’re wearing each day
• Polo shirts are a casual dress cop-out (I know, rich coming from me, but just reporting on the matter in question here)
• Employers have greater respect for individualism today and some actively encourage more personal/casual dress senses
• Actually, generational divides don’t really come into it that much, although the spectrum of choice can be greater for more mature workers.
• Interviewing: Do your homework
• Knitwear: caution?
• Never be lured into the trap of thinking that what you wear at work will make you appear younger

Right, or wrong? I’d hoped that contemplating all of this would throw up some answers, but if anything it has raised more questions.

At least two things are settled: firstly, if sporting a tie, keep that top button done up; and secondly, I’m the last person you should be taking any fashion advice from.