I’m working on an article on semi-
formal dress for events like my work’s upcoming conference dinner. But when I told some local geeks about it, they pointed out that they never really dressed up for that kind of thing.
Paul Fenwick said to me, on IRC:
In my social circles, “Formal” means tie, and “Very Formal” means tux… The conference dinners I’ve been to have all been technical conferences. SAGE-AU, OSDC, Linux.conf, CMGA, and similar things. They’re filled with geeks, so while the standard of dress may be higher than the conference technical program, it’s not much higher.
The thing is,
geek dresscodes don’t really match what the rest of the world thinks. So, here’s an attempt to clarify:
Dresscode
Geek version
The rest of the world
None
Dressing gown; underwear; nothing; Frankenfurter outfit
Trackpants,
tshirt, and sneakers
Casual Trackpants, tshirt
Jeans, tshirt or
collared shirt
Business casual
Jeans, tshirt
Chinos, collared shirt
Business
Chinos, collared shirt
Suit and tie
Semi-formal
Nice pants, nice shirt
Dark suit and tie
Formal
Suit and tie
Tux (”black tie”) or tails (”white tie”)
If someone tells you a workplace is “business casual”, or you get an invitation to a “semi-formal” party, you need to look at whether it’s a geek environment or event, or a non-geek one, and
dress appropriately.
More reviews about the http://geeketiquette.com/archives/2007/06/27/dresscodes-geek-vs-non-geek/