Corporate dress code standards for the regular professional office environment have mostly remained the same for the past decade. Besides the changes in fashion trends and a more relaxed vibe for certain industries, the rules haven’t changed too much. Collared shirts or polos for men, no short dresses or skirts, uncreased clothing, covered clean shoes, no ill-fitting outfits. It’s a common-sense dressing skill we’ve learned over the years from experience. Every dress code policy is unique for each business. Once the brand grows, the best way to address this from the top is with a corporate uniform. It’s also a great branding strategy for more reasons than you may realise.
From a uniform manufacturer and supplier perspective, one thing that has always stood out when companies are creating a uniform wardrobe, is most women tend to prefer to wear dresses over shirts and pants, or a skirt. It’s a natural instinct for the ladies to go for the more feminine choices. In the past uniforms had a lot fewer dress options, since most corporate dresses were a simple stock-standard style to meet the office fashion requirements. Now the uniform industry is using a bit more sartorial creativity to come up with a range of stylish corporate dresses.
Shift Dresses
The most commonly known corporate dress uniform. It’s a dress with clean simple lines. A shift dress must fall straight from the shoulders and have darts at the bust line. While the modern shift dress is not as shapeless as the original styles from the 1960s, the idea is that it doesn’t accentuate the waistline, making it flattering for most body types. It is knee-length, or no more than an inch above the knees. In the Australian climate, the most popular shift dress is sleeveless (pictured), while they can also have short sleeves or cap sleeves. Shift dresses usually have a high square or bateau neckline to draw attention away from the bust. Plus, a high neck always looks sophisticated.
Sheath Dresses
The sheath has the simplicity of a shift dress but is more of a slimline cut since it is pulled in at the waist since it is often joined at the top bodice and skirt part. Its form-fitting in a straight or slightly A-line style and comes in lengths ranging just above the knee to mid-length. Some of our sheath dresses include the Elliot (pictured), The Audrey, and the V Neck style corporate dresses in a range of our different suiting collections. This kind of dress is a fantastic day to night style to wear to dinner or drinks after work.
Extended Midi Dress
The most conservative of our corporate dresses – can be worn alone, or with its matching suiting range. The midi is longer than the rest of our uniform dresses – ending between the ankle and knee, usually around the calf. They’re also not as fitted as the sheath dress. The two most common midi style dresses we offer are the Extended Midi (pictured) and the Soft Knit Suiting open neck style. Both have sleeves with more relaxed skirting styles than a regular shift or sheath dress.
Smart Casual Corporate Dresses
The smart casual (and the most comfortable) shirt dress is a game-changer in corporate dress uniforms. The shirting style collar and front buttons scream corporate charm; however, the relaxed fit, slight stretch material, and matching fabric belt give it that smart-casual edge that looks great dressed up in heels or dressed down with some clean kicks. The comfort rating and styling versatility of the shirt dress makes it one of our best sellers. It also comes with handy large pockets on the side to stash your smartphone or rest your hard-working hands in.
The custom shirt dress is a product option in our custom shirting program, so you can choose your fabric, sleeve length and even add a contrast trim, which is great in creating a unique design to enhance your brand. The wool blend corporate dresses that are part of our custom range are also the only other dresses that come with pockets. They sit neatly at the front as large flat pockets. There is also a wrap dress – The Paris, which we would consider a smart-casual design. The best part about this is that it doesn’t need ironing. Just wash, line dry and you’re ready to wrap and roll!
