Smart Casual Dress Code | All Seasons | Summer Color Type

35 Pieces // 156 Outfits

So today, let’s talk about the enigma that is the Smart Casual office dress code. Plus, I’ll be sharing a Smart Casual work wardrobe for the summer color type. But first, what is Smart Casual, what kinds of things can you wear, and how should you put together Smart Casual outfits for work?

What is the Smart Casual Dress Code?

The Smart Casual dress code can be ambiguous and encapsulates a range of different clothing items and outfit combinations. Smart Casual requires full looks that include a balance of polished business attire with relaxed elements. This is great because it provides opportunities for you to bring more of your personal style into your workwear wardrobe. However, it can feel challenging to create the perfect balance of casual pieces and formal business attire.

Especially if you are aiming to create a minimal capsule wardrobe full of Smart Casual outfits, some outfits will naturally come off more formal or more casual. However, creating a Smart Casual capsule wardrobe might not be as challenging as you think. A few key accessories, like a pair of heels, casual flats or polished sneakers, a colorful scarf or funky earrings can be tools in your arsenal to dress up your more casual outfits or dress down the formal ones. Plus, it can be great to have more formal outfits for presentations, meetings with clients, or interviews; and more relaxed ones for casual Friday or after-work events.

Smart Casual vs Other Dress Codes

Smart Casual is probably the most relaxed office dress code. While a creative office might allow for less polish or refinement in an outfit, expectations for creative execution are likely to be higher.

Smart Casual is more versatile and flexible than business casual, allowing for more color and a wider range of items that can be appropriate, like dark wash denim, shirt dresses, and jumpsuits which aren’t typically considered appropriate for business casual. While many people may opt for neutral color palettes, there is room for brighter color combinations in most Smart Casual environments.

Smart Casual also offers opportunities to wear very formal pieces, like suit separates, that are usually associated with Formal business attire. Although a traditional full matching suit in a conservative color worn with a crisp white shirt and heels which would be right at home in a Formal office would probably come across much too formal for a Smart Casual office.

Smart Casual Pieces

Some examples of smart casual pieces include:

Dresses

Knee-length or midi-length collared shirt dress
Knee-length or midi-length wrap dress

Bottoms

Dark wash blue or black jeans without distressing
Trousers
A-line Skirts
Pencil Skirts
Flowy Skirts

Tops

Cardigan
Camisole
Blouses
Button-up shirts
Fine knit sweaters

Tailoring

Relaxed suits
Formal jumpsuits
Blazers

Shoes

Ballet flats
Loafers
Low heels
Mules
Clean polished sneakers

The Smart Casual Capsule Wardrobe

The final capsule includes 35 items and can create at least 156 outfits. The color palette for this capsule is a light and radiant combination of lavender cornflower blue, and cool pink with pops of yellow and muted lime green. To provide some grounding for the looks, over 50% of the items are neutrals in off-white, white, navy, and black. The color palette is cool, light, and soft, great for the summer color type.