What exactly is evening casual and business casual?
On Saturday I am interviewing for a scholarship at a college and the attire for the interview is business casual and for the dinner at the school's president's home is evening casual.
Don't get too caught up in specifics of what to wear, the underlying message:
Business Casual - Dress corporate but lose the tie.
Evening Casual - The main thing to remember here is wear a jacket, even if you end up hanging it the moment you arrive. Dinners warrant jackets.
8 Answers
For the business casual interview I would grab some lightweight khakis like j.crews urban slim fit chinos, oxford shirt, and top it off with a cotton vest and a tie or cotton blazer and no tie. You also cant go wrong with penny loafers or leather top siders with that outfit.
For the evening casual dinner at the presidents home I would move toward a lightweight wool summer suit, dress shirt, tie, and you can never go wrong with a coordinating pocket square. Also a freshly polished pair of wingtips will wrap the outfit up nicely.
First of all, there are VERY important events. You should err on the side of overdressing, but not so much so that someone important that you're speaking with thinks, "man, he did not have to wear a tie." Also err on the side of conservatism. Here's my suggestion for the ideal outfit:
BUSINESS CASUAL: Dark gray flat front slacks with no cuffs. Squeaky clean black shoes, laces optional. Match shoes to belt, try to find a belt buckle as simple as possible. White shirt with some sort of pattern (see Brooks Brothers)with button down collars. NO FRENCH CUFFS. Make sure you wear a white V-neck underneath so people can't see your undershirt.
EVENING CASUAL: The exact same outfit as above, with a blazer, or a suit jacket that matches your pants. Your collar will pop out of the suit jacket, which is key since you will not be wearing a tie. Don't do the pocket square or anything flashy.
The theme you should be going for is clean-cut, conservative, and simple.
Simple. No need to over think it. I wear business casual every day at work.
For the interview (business casual): Wear a nice button-down, no tie, slacks if you have them (khaki if you don't), and dress shoes, even a nice penny loafer will suffice. No tie needed, unless you're wearing khaki pants... then it’s optional. Just make sure you wear socks—and that you're shoes, socks, and belt match.
Note: Many places in the south (I used to work in Houston, TX), business casual is more casual (i.e. you could wear a polo shirt instead of a button-down).
As for the dinner (evening casual): Change to a different button down (if you can), and throw on a blazer. Do not go with a tie. The blazer has a distinct advantage over a tie as you can easily take off the blazer if you feel overdressed and no one would give it a second thought.
If you don't know what the specified dress code on an invitation means you are not being rude if you call your host and ask for clarification.
There is very little difference between business casual and just "well dressed". Evening casual is trickier but not that tricky. Evening means something you almost certainly do not own - see Evening
So evening casual probably means variations on a tuxedo.
Business casual is always khakis on the bottom, with either a polo or a button down on the top. However, be warned that different people have different tastes and opinions on business casual, so my personal suggestion is find a good looking button down shirt (Joseph A. Bank Shirts) and pair that with some khakis. A blazer is optional, and a general rule of thumb is if in doubt overdress.
In evening casual it is strongly suggested you wear a blazer, and again a button down shirt is a safe, acceptable option that will make sure you never look out of place.
And I forgot about shoes. Sorry about that, but shoes should be a somewhat dressy pair, such as penny loafers or Sperry Boat Shoes (my personal favorite). No sneakers, no matter how close they look like to dress shoes. With an event like this you don't want to risk anything.
To me, Business Casual is a "pressed" button down shirt and slacks, and Evening Casual would be practically the same thing except a blazer would be optional.