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Read our privacy notice . No dress code elicits the same collective groan of frustration quite like ‘smart casual’. It’s the sartorial equivalent of fence-sitting and offers no real guide to event dressing, serving instead as an opportunity for hosts to cop out so that they don’t seem high maintenance, and can perhaps even outshine any attendees in the mood to out-dress them (Libras, Leos and Geminis , we’re looking at you).
Sometimes the smart casual dress code is implied, rather than stated directly. This occurs when the event or get-together in question is an ad-hoc plan made with friends and extended slightly beyond the inner circle – to partners, visiting pals, siblings, cousins and more. Vastly different to a pre-planned pub birthday or celebration, it’s those seemingly nonchalant trips to bars and local watering holes that threaten to catch out even the most experienced fashionistas in the city.
The outfit needs to be casually cool and comfortable, but complemented with a statement piece or two. Shoes can work to elevate the look, but avid cyclists will struggle to race through amber lights with heeled Mary Jane’s on their feet. The glue that holds British culture together, pub trips are.
