Casual Friday

This idea was born in the city of Honolulu, in the 40s

In the more traditional corporate, legal and financial, full-on rules still exist in dress, often non-negotiable. But there are just as many companies nowadays operating rather lenient dress codes; those companies where “Casual Friday” is granted.

Found made in the USA, Dress Down Day (or Casual Friday) is the day of the week when workers can break the dress code, dressing casually and freely, in preparation for the weekend.

The origin of this idea was born in the city of Honolulu (Hawaiian Islands), in the 40s: this idea presumably dictated by the tropical climate, gave the possibility to the employees of the offices to be able to wear, at certain times of the year, the traditional and cool Hawaiian shirts.

In the 1960s, this custom spread to the States and became Aloha Friday, a corporate strategy aimed at raising the ethics of its employees, forced to work with boring and distressing clothing. In the USA, Marketing is used by all companies as a cornerstone for building business success, never underestimated and always ready for new challenges.

The authentic Casual Friday was born in the 70s, as a business strategy, only in the homeland of pure marketing was it thought to lighten the morale of white-collar workers on the last working day, the data found better work performance. A marketing strategy plan has led the largest clothing manufacturers and large distribution chains to decentralize production and purchases outside of America, thus lowering the selling price.

This powerful lobby has developed an intense partnership with the American Company to augment this weekly event. Casual Fridays became very popular from the late 1990s to the early 2000s in Silicon Valley companies, nicknamed Dot Com hey-day, even permitting the use of Bermuda shorts and sandals.

After the dot-com bubble burst, there was a reaction from many companies to restore dress codes. Here are some simple outfits, which will allow you to always be casual and professional.

Friday Smart Casual.

Vintage chambray shirt in banshu-ori fabric: button-down collar with a small geometric print or cashmere micro design, with contrasting finishes on the inside of the collar, of the wrist and also of the front flap. Both the prints and the contrasts must be absolutely ton sur ton, I also remember that when buttoned up, the contrasts are not seen. Plain beige chino trousers, in double twisted cotton, with side pockets and breast pocket; on the back two pockets with flap and button. Always the most versatile, able to guarantee comfort and style.

We combine as a shoe an essential brown penny loafers in soft suede, perfect for any outfit.

Strictly blue cotton socks.

Single-breasted blue jacket, completely unlined with micro designs based on the same shades. In Double Faced Sport Jacket fabric, with threads so thin as to be almost invisible, two carded fabrics, softly joined together give the jacket a special smart casual dress code. A dear friend Simone, Head of the Marketing Department of a 352-year-old woolen mill, says that: “the broken jacket is never fully formal and that is why it generally shows more evident colors, designs and weaves than full suits. ".

Tweed City Coat: a versatile and passepartout coat, it combines the practicality of a raincoat and the warmth of a down jacket. In nylon fabric worked on a frame with a tweed effect, it has a quilted nylon interior padded with goose down. The zip closure with double slider and windproof with buttons.

Friday Avant-Garde.

Light cream-colored turtleneck, gauge 3 in wool and cashmere. Slim effect with increased hips, stockinette stitch and hand-stitched dropped knitwear, 3x3 single ribbed collar, bottom and cuffs.

Comfortable and versatile, it lights up your elegant / casual look. Trousers in moleskin 98% cotton 2% elastane, light beige. Cigarette cut, with ironed crease, hidden closure, French pockets on the front and welt pockets on the back. Guarantees comfort and style.

Burlington socks with beige, cream and brown inlay. Extremely soft and very resistant, in pure British style. Suede ankle boot with side elastic bands. Decorated with dovetail motif at the tip. Casual but refined style. Elder color picot jacket, double-breasted 6 buttons, four pockets, two with side access, two in the chest area, back vent. Timeless in the male wardrobe.

Friday Style Casual.

My dear friend Franco, Trade Marketing Manager for an important fashion company says: “being a leader does not mean dressing elegant”.

White cotton pique polo shirt with open collar, shore stitching, slim fit. Single-breasted cardigan with shawl collar, medium gray, in wool and cashmere with games of rice and shaved stitch, gauge 5, rounded shank buttons in corozo. Slim jeans, low waist, dark blue medium treated with a traditional design but with connoisseur details. The corners of the back pocket are folded by hand. Thus the proportions on the back create a compact and somewhat bold design. The shape of the leg narrows slightly at the bottom giving a slender shape. This outfit requires a pair of Saucony legendary line retro sneakers, GRID SD model inspired by the blue and indigo "Kushwacker" theme, in suede and synthetic mesh, breathable and with the shock absorbing midsole called GRID (Ground Reaction Inertia Device).

Calza Gallo, synonymous with distinction, personality and eccentric elegance. Absolutely in monochromatic patterns on the tone of the aviation color. Blue outerwear: short at the waist, light and versatile, in ultralight winter down jacket in 20 denier Japanese down proof nylon.

Padded with 90/10 down of the best quality: very high resilience (ability to absorb shock) and ability to quickly regain volume after compression.

Vintage rhomboidal workmanship both external and internal.

These outfits are aimed at heterogeneous people, but united by the need to take care of their look and express their dynamism through clothing.

What should be a light way to welcome the weekend doesn't have to represent a weekly event fraught with the worry of being able to dress properly, but it makes you understand that you work in a young, dynamic and constantly updated company.

Sergio Cairati