For me, dress codes have always been something of a novelty. Before coming to Cambridge I had worn a suit all of two times, and unlike many of my unfortunate peers, my sixth form had no real standards of what to wear. Our head of sixth form once claimed “If you can’t get arrested for it, you’re probably fine to wear it here”.
Smart dressing in Cambridge has therefore been something pretty new to me, and has managed to be both confusing and exciting all at once. Tackling black tie for May balls, or picking out a tie for matriculation has gone from something I’d sneer at as snobbish to a challenge I relish. There is, however, one of the new dress codes I’ve had to tackle since coming to Cambridge that has left me confounded by its vagaries: smart casual.
My most recent encounter with smart casual was on a work experience placement at a newspaper. Excitedly reading my email and looking forward to what lay ahead in my day of journalistic fun, my mood quickly soured as I read the dreaded words “Dress code: smart casual, no jeans or trainers”. Any anticipation I had about the placement quickly turned to panic as my mind fixated on the simple fact that I hadn’t a clue what smart casual actually was.
This was a serious problem. Those who’ve seen me hurrying around Sidge late to a lecture will know that jeans and trainers are essentially my second skin, and my non-casual assortment of clothes is made up of the same suit I wear to every formal, eBay-bought black tie.
