Dress Code: Smart (No Jeans)

[Vinodh Rajan]

Hi All,

I am attending a Christmas Lunch arranged by Rotary Club on Wednesday. The dress code says: Smart - no jeans.

I am thinking of wearing a three-piece suit without a tie. The weather is kinda cold here in Scotland. So the vest will give me an extra layer of insulation.

Would this be ok or will I still be overdressing (with the vest) ?

Another option is to wear a tweed jacket with a dress shirt (without tie) and trousers. But I am more inclined towards the three-piece suit.

I would be grateful for your opinions.

V

 

[12345Michael54321]

If you'll feel more comfortable in the suit, wear the suit. The key would seem to be to show up in something nicer than jeans. Don't worry about a suit being too dressy for a Rotary club luncheon; you're not talking about showing up in a tail coat. (Although the tweed jacket would also likely be a perfectly acceptable choice.)

 

[ImTheGroom]

The suit sounds fine. Depending how it looks with the suit, you could bring it down a notch in formality with a white oxford cloth button down - and if you have a thickish one, all the more practical for the weather!

 

[Vinodh Rajan]

Don't worry about a suit being too dressy for a Rotary club luncheon; you're not talking about showing up in a tail coat.

So I suppose I can still wear a tie (I was ditching the tie just to dress-down a bit) and not be too dressy ?

V

 

[12345Michael54321]



So I suppose I can still wear a tie (I was ditching the tie just to dress-down a bit) and not be too dressy ?

You can wear a tie. You can wear a vest. You can wear suspenders. You can wear an expensive wristwatch. You can wear colorful argyle socks. You can wear cuff links. You could even wear some combination of any and all of the aforementioned items.

Do not make the mistake of over-thinking this one. Stressing over what you're wearing is the surest way to ruin the lunch for yourself.

A suit and tie is perfectly acceptable for this sort of luncheon. There is no need to "dress it down." Some of the men in attendance will doubtless be more casually dressed than you will be. Others will not. Don't worry about it.

(And completely as an aside, I hate the look of a three piece suit, without tie. And would mention in passing that if you're going to be wearing a vest, you should avoid wearing a belt.)

 

[ImTheGroom]

So I suppose I can still wear a tie (I was ditching the tie just to dress-down a bit) and not be too dressy ?

V

Undoubtedly - surely some men will be coming straight from the office, and will just keep their suits and ties on. You could go anywhere from tweed sport coat, to suit and tie. At any of these options, I am sure others will be dressed similarly.

 

[GBR]

Ditch the waistcoat - that is too far removed from the admonition 'no jeans'.

 

[archibaldleach]

I strongly dislike the suit without a tie look, especially if you are wearing a 3 piece suit. In general, if the occasion is formal enough that a suit would not be out of place, it is formal enough that wearing a tie would not be overdressing. If you want to wear something more casual, I would stick to trousers and odd jacket without a tie.

 

[Academic2]

I strongly dislike the suit without a tie look, especially if you are wearing a 3 piece suit. In general, if the occasion is formal enough that a suit would not be out of place, it is formal enough that wearing a tie would not be overdressing. If you want to wear something more casual, I would stick to trousers and odd jacket without a tie.

This is exactly right. If you don't want to wear a tie, don't wear a suit, especially don't wear a three-piece suit. You'll look like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[froughtie]

I also don't think you should wear a three piece suit without a tie......personally I wouldn't wear a three piece suit to such an event either.

Either go with a Suit with no vest, or do the Slacks/SC thing.

 

[add911_11]

With your location, I think the tweed jacket look will suffice. However,if the venue is close to the city centre, a 3pc with tie sounds fine either.

 

[Vinodh Rajan]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate them.

V

 

[TimelesStyle]

I wear suits without ties all the time, but would never wear a three-piece sans tie. If you want a vest, I would recommend a sweater vest, which could go with either a tweed jacket or suit.

 

[Quadcammer]

a three piece suit is way over done based on the stated dress code.

Tweed jacket, trousers, light sweater...done.

 

[Vinodh Rajan]

Quote:
I actually went with a Tweed jacket, grey charcoal suit pants, and a tie.

Thanks for your suggestions !

V