GUEST COMMENT: Sorry, but 'smart-casual' is a myth
You may think that the last time it mattered if you were well-dressed in the City was the eighties.
It's true, the outfits worn by the characters in American Psycho were pretty snappy, and we've travelled a long way along the dress-down path since then, but it's still very important to be well-dressed if you work in banking.
Many will argue that tailored suits and bench-made shoes are only necessary for the most senior team members. They are wrong. Even if you're a minion with little client contact, you'll pay the price for poor dress sense.
Act like your father owns the company. Act like a million bucks. Do whatever it takes to achieve credibility. And if you take the smart-casual credo at face value and turn up to work in a pair of battered Dockers and a Marks & Spencer shirt, you'll convince no-one that you're a master of the universe.
Many of our bosses came from a previous era where everyone needed to be smartly turned out.
Before the City consolidated into ten or so full-service banks, it was comprised of a larger number of partnerships and smaller firms where appearance was everything (they had no huge balance sheets to hide behind). Although things have changed, your bosses are likely to have retained that mindset. Like old dogs, they can't learn new tricks. Why do you think they need you to run Excel spreadsheets for them? If you want them to take you seriously as anyone apart from a number-cruncher, get at least one good outfit.
By looking the part you'll increase your chances of being brought along to the next important client meeting. If there's an extra seat, as the best-dressed junior you are least likely to embarrass your boss, as long as you don't suffer from flatulence or Tourette syndrome.
Even if smart-casual is strictly enforced at least one day a week, you'll stand out if you can find a way to make it look snappy.
There are two important caveats to this rule. Never upstage your boss. Wearing a Hermes tie when your manager has on Burberry is a no-no. Lastly, don't caricature yourself. Pin-stripes are hard to pull off successfully. And that shiny Canali suit is probably best kept for Crystal on a Saturday night or family weddings.
The author is a former M&A associate, now working in private equity
