Dress for Success

When I travel on international business, I try to adapt to the surroundings and “do as the Romans do”. Wearing the right outfit, as Chris noted in yesterday’s post, is a part of this process.

Five or ten years ago, there used to be some regional differences in business fashion you could count on, but with fashion trends rapidly spreading around the globe via the Internet like everything else, a lot of these stereotypes have broken down.

Business fashion stereotypes:

• UK is the home of pinstriped suits. The wider the stripes, the higher up in the hierarchy. Black shoes in the city, brown shoes in the country. (For more on shoes, refer to Will at A Suitable Wardrobe.)
• Italy prefers a certain reddish-brown color in leather shoes which is hard to find outside of the country.
• Sweden was once very fond of plaid and tweed jackets.
• The old Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany was also partial to plaid, while BMW has always been a black suit area.

Casual Friday has not necessarily been adapted around the world. Even in the US, people struggle with the definition. I found a fun interactive game which teaches you the difference between mainstream casual and traditional business.

What is traditional business attire in Iceland? Can you eat Cheerios during a business breakfast?

Image from nga.gov