You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

What's the Difference Between Business Casual and Smart Casual? A Handy Guide on How to Dress. (Infographic) If you're not sure how to dress, we've got your back.

By Kim Lachance Shandrow

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Shutterstock

If you think black tie means Chucks with a tux, you're doing it all wrong. Or are you? Deciding what to wear when to which event -- so you don't end up looking clueless -- can be overwhelming for the fashion-challenged. But, with a little help, it's not so bad.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a quick and dirty cheat-sheet you could refer to before hobbling together your outfit for your next important soirée, interview or meeting? A dress codes 101 decoder, for him and her? Lucky for you there is. Check the informative infographic from Mannix Marketing below. It covers everything from casual to business casual, to business formal to black tie and beyond. (Do us a favor and ignore the weird Homer Simpson reference at the top, okay? Yeah, it threw us for a loop, too.)

Related: How to Dress for a Business Meeting. Yes, Seriously. (Infographic)

So, yeah, not all dress codes are created the same. If the occasion, or your office -- lucky you! -- calls for your basic no-brainer casual, breathe a sigh of relief and reach for your favorite T-shirt and jeans combo. The clean ones, people. Not the stinky wrinkled ones in the hamper. Do we really have to go over this? We're starting to sound like your mom.

If business casual is the mandate, classy dress pants and a crisp, collared shirt or blouse should do the trick. Top it off with a snazzy pair of dressy shoes and you're set. The authors of infographic, notably not personal stylists, nor fashion designers or editors, suggest you slip into khakis, the safe choice, for biz casual, but we're not so sure. Do people even wear khakis anymore? In some places, a nice pair of jeans will fit the business casual bill, as long as you dress them up with a nice top.

Then there's "smart casual," whatever that is, and business and business informal. And semi-formal, formal and black tie. Confused yet? Time to conveniently refer back to the handy how-to below. Running potential outfits past your best-dressed friend ahead of time helps, too. Good luck, champ. Knock "em dead. Whatever you wear, you probably look better than you think.

Related: How to Set Your Office's Dress Code

Click to Enlarge

Can You Guess the Largest Companies by Revenue in Each State?(Infographic)

Related: What to Wear When You're In Front of the Camera

Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at Los Angeles CityBeat, a news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has also written for Government Technology magazine, LA Yoga magazine, the Lowell Sun newspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at @Lashandrow. You can also follow her on Facebook here

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Says This CEO Is the 'Taylor Swift' of Tech

Meta's CEO posed with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Instagram Wednesday.

Real Estate

3 Emerging Trends Shaping the Future of Real Estate

These three innovations are reshaping the real estate industry — discover tips for effectively covering these trends.

Leadership

What We Have to Gain By Talking About Grief and Loss At Work

I lost my husband to cancer during Covid — here's how it changed how I lead at work.

Side Hustle

This Mom Started a Side Hustle After a 'Shocking' Realization in the Toy Aisle. Her Product Was in Macy's Within the Year — Seeing Nearly $350,000 in Sales.

Elenor Mak, now founder of Jilly Bing, didn't plan to start a business — but the search for a doll that looked like her daughter inspired her to do just that.

Fundraising

Avoid These 9 Pitch Deck Mistakes When Asking Others For Money

Crafting an efficient pitch deck requires serious effort, but at least it's not wandering in the dark since certain rules are shaped by decades of relationships between startups and investors.