What does Casually Elegant mean?

The invitation clearly said "Dress: Formal", yet here is a gentleman arriving at your function in a silky, shiny shirt that is hanging loosely out of his trousers. The print on the shirt is outrageous evoking the eternal cosmos, complete with the stars and milky way. You are frustrated, then you smile and rush foward to welcome Nelson Mandela.

In Jamaica, organisers of OFFICIAL EVENTS use many creative ways to try and be inclusive of modern dress codes, but sometimes the wording on the invitation frustrates the guests themselves. At a recent function some guests arrived in three-button dark tailored suits with ties while the guests of honour (looking great ) were in short sleeved cotton shirts and low waisted slacks. The invitation said, "Evening Elegant".

Terms like Casually Elegant, Tropical Elegance, Semi Formal, Business Casual, Dress down are being used and no one knows exactly what they mean. Can I wear a nice pair of jeans and a dressy top and heels? Do I have to wear a tie or can I wear a Polo shirt? You end up evoking a mental image of the location and how other people who attend might be dressed, then hazard a guess.

While Lounge Suit sounds outdated, to the few in the know it means business attire. With the Shirt Jack, Nehru suit, and Rastafarian robes as acceptable business attire for men, the time has apparently come to update these time honoured codes to ensure that hosts and guests are comfortable.

There is a move to revisit these codes for OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS and create new ones to match this era and beyond. As practitioners who plan these events, the PRSJ must have a voice at that table when those decisions are being made.

If you have a view on dress codes for OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS and have some suggestions to make, do drop a line or reply by private email to prsj2009@gmail.com. Let us work together on a submission to the Chief Protocol Officer.

To help you along, here is the link to the government dress guide for journalists . Bear in mind that OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS relate to State events. They speak to the man and the woman takes her cue from that. Corporate event planners many times take their cue from what the State does.

This is not my area, but my personal view is to:
Keep Black Tie and Formal as is;

Change Lounge Suit to Business Attire - do not use the word suit as it dismisses cultural differences such as non-European traditional and ethnic wear;

If you want men to know that they do not have to wear a jacket and tie let the invitation read
Relaxed Business Attire.

Casual if jeans are acceptable to the host for that occasion.

More confusion? What say you?