My office is having a spring outing — to a golf course. Some bigwigs are even flying in for meetings and the event. I only see these people in person a few times a year, at most. It is a relatively relaxed workplace, but athletic attire seems too casual and revealing; business casual, too stuffy. What do I wear? — Alexandra, Ardmore, Pa.
The spring or summer office outing is the warm-weather equivalent of the end-of-the-year office holiday party: a purportedly “fun” affair that actually causes all sorts of extra stress and worry. What to wear is a key part of that, not because it’s a frivolous consideration, but because it is core.
After all, you have crafted your work identity in one environment, and now you are being forced to translate that to another. The first thing your colleagues will be looking at (literally) is how you show up.
And though the question of dress at the holiday party is complicated, the question of dress at the supposedly relaxed outing is even worse.
Once, for example, in a previous job, I was organizing a conference in Las Vegas at a fancy hotel, which involved live interviews with a lot of chief executives of companies I was covering. I arrived the day before, unpacked, changed and headed off to the pool — only to discover, to my horror, all of those executives lounging around in their trunks or bikinis on various deck chairs or wading around the shallow end.
I promptly fled back to my room and emerged only when I had to get onstage. In a suit. My relationships with those executives, and our carefully cultivated balance of power, did not involve anyone seeing anyone in a bathing suit.
So what to do? You don’t want to wear exactly the same thing you would wear in the office to the office outing; the whole point of such experiences is to show colleagues in a different light. But you also don’t want to look too different — unless, of course, your role in the company is to think out of the box. Then looking out of the box is fully consistent with your position.
Otherwise you have to wear something in which you can move, even potentially golf, while simultaneously not getting too hot or too dirty and looking somewhat professional at the same time.
Easy peasy!
Not. A friend who has worked at both gigantic global corporations and Silicon Valley start-ups said: “There’s a little code-switching involved. You want to look crisp and cool, but not too revealing,” either of body or, perhaps, personal idiosyncrasies. Leave the sports bras and neons at home; ditto any “Happy Gilmore” fantasies you may secretly harbor.
This is a moment to play the game, in all meanings of that term. At least if you don’t want to call in sick or surprise everyone by revealing your secret penchant for German heavy metal. That’s not to say you can’t surprise everyone with your authentic self at the company outing — but if you do, be prepared to be the main topic of conversation the next day. If you are not, then opt for another kind of costume.
Kathryn Minshew, a founder of The Muse, a career resources website, and an author of “The New Rules of Work,” said that for men, the choice is pretty simple — slacks and a casual button-up or polo shirt. For women, she suggested opting for work-adjacent clothing like a pair of cotton or linen pants or a linen skirt, but in a sunny color. Wear them with a blouse, or even a white T-shirt. The “casual” can come in the accessories: sneakers or Birks, a pair of cool shades, a fun belt.
The point being, even if the word is in the dress code, when it comes to work outings, there’s nothing really “casual” about them.
Your Style Questions, Answered
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or X. Questions are edited and condensed.
