Dress for success in Europe
 

I will be spending several months on business in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway. Many U.S. business meetings today are held in business casual attire. A question for the European business man or woman: what is business casual in Europe? Does it still mean a jacket? Can you make do with a jacket and open collared shirt? For pants and jacket- is most all business wear still black/blue- darker colors? Does a black jacket with khaki pants signal you are American? Thanks!

Hi R,

>Can you make do with a jacket and open collared shirt? <

If you don't wear a tie, button your top shirt button.

I suggest you bring a jacket and a tie.

>Does a black jacket with khaki pants signal you are American?<

Somehow, I think that the people you will be meeting will know that you are an American. :)

Don't wear Black and Tan in Ireland.

((I))

Hi
somoene had given me a website called
worldexecutive.com, and for each city it covers it has some brief comments on business customs and dress. it also has other information for the cities, sightseeing, restaurants,etc.

Also, if you google 'business attire europe' you come up with lots of web sites offering advice, i just tried it.

It depends totally what field you are in. Different strokes for advertisement people and banking business. It also depends on a country. For example in Norway it is less formal than in Germany.

"Does a black jacket with khaki pants signal you are American?"

My dear, it simply demonstrates your complete lack of style and inability to combine separates.

If in doubt always wear a sharply cut lounge suit, for more casual suits try Miu Miu/Jil Sander/Dior Homme, their cut is less traditional and they can even be worn for smart casual evening wear.

Ira says: "Don't wear Black and Tan in Ireland."

But by all means drink it!

Don't ask for a "Black and Tan". Ask for "Half and Half".

We just returned from Germany on Tuesday night. We noticed that all of the men in professional occupations (banks, etc.) were dressed business professional (suit and tie), not business casual as has become the norm here. They also wore dress coats, whereas in America it isn't too uncommon to see men throw a ski jacket over their suit (perhaps that is because I live in Denver).

We didn't see any bright colors. Most men wore suits in black and charcoal tones.

Casual of course suggests a jacket, always dark, usually black. Tie or tee, or turtleneck, allow the circumstances to dictate.

Tans, I think not.

Eschew bright colors, unless a scarf off the shoulders.

Please, no light sweater on the shoulders, and never dine in museums, even in Paris.

You are good to go.

In many places in Europe in my personal experience the term "business casual" is considered to be oxymoronic. Agree with it or not, that's the way a lot of Europeans feel. And they, like us, are VERY sensitive to outward appearances whether you are a good businessperson or not.

Oh, my Guinness. Now I'm confused.

Down the street, a "Black and Tan" will get you a half-pint each of Guinness and Bass, and "Half and Half" refers to Guinness and Harp.

I assume B&T is taboo in Ireland for political reasons, but what are they?

It depends on the country and the business you are in. Bankers and accountants tend to be more formal. Dutch people are generally not very formal; ie a jacket/pants combination rather than a suit in most businesses. Don't wear your shirt buttoned up if you don't wear a tie; it looks silly.

To play it safe, if you are a man, it is probably best to wear a tie and jacket, you can always loose the tie if no-one else wears one.

The mayor of Antwerp never wears ties or shirts, but suits with Tshirts. There are no real rules!

roundabout - This is not about dress for success, and I'm not sure about the other countries, but in Germany it is absolutely essential that you be on time for any business meetings. If you're the slightest bit late, you might as well forget about any business you intended to do with them. So wear a watch.
((S))((*))

There's no such country as Europe, norms vary not just between sectors as Eline points out, but even within a sector (an accountant will dress differently when he's seeing a rag trade client from when he's seeing a local authority), and things change quite quickly: in some businesses we've gone from lounge suits to dockers and tieless button-down shirts aandthen back again in a couple of years.

In some industries, you can easily create a worse impression by overdressing than by dressing too casually. And the relationships between industries are different (major European advertising agencies dress relatively more casually than those in the US, for example in my experience, whereas smaller agencies seem to be pretty similar on either side of the ocean)

Your question's far too vague, and none of us are qualified to answer anyway. And only you know what kind of impression you want to make (I don't mean good vs bad: I mean are you selling, listening, bossing or learning for example?)

The issue really is important, and the only answer is to call or email a few of the contacts you'll be dealing with - colleagues, customers or suppliers - and ask them how they dress.

But ensure you speak to people in all these countries. Norms in Scandinavia are worlds apart from those in Germany.

<<Never dine in musuems, even in Paris.>>

Is this just a lesson for business people? What if it's a meeting of docents? Even though I don't often get the urge to dine in museums, I don't get this.

>I assume B&T is taboo in Ireland for political reasons, but what are they?<

The Black and Tans (so called because their uniforms were a mix of army khaki with black belts, etc from the Royal Constbulary) were used by the British to put down the Irish near the beginning of the last century.

They were known, and despised, for their mistreatment of civilians.

((I))

>a "Black and Tan" will get you a half-pint each of Guinness and Bass, and "Half and Half" refers to Guinness and Harp.<

Bass is from England. Harp is from Ireland.