The classic suit and tie have largely been cast aside across much of the financialservices sector in favour of more flexible "business casual" attire.

Accelerated by homeworking post Covid, comfortable attire including knitwear andchinos now seems to reign supreme, both at home and in the office.

However, with many fund professionals mandated to come into the office more now,there are signs that the formal suit and tie could make a comeback.

Stylists say many male clients in particular find dressing for the office has become aminefield.

"A lot of my personal shopping clients say to me [that] they wish [they] could stillwear suits to the office as it was so easy. All they had to do was choose a shirt and maybe a tie and they were done," says

Sarah Gilfillan, a personal stylist for men at Sartoria Lab.

Daniel Johnson, a personal stylist based in London's Mayfair district, says the mostcommon question he has been asked in the six years since Covid is "what do I wearto work?"

Clients tell him they used to wear a suit to work every day which was "easy" becausethey did not have to think about what to wear.

But now "nobody" wears a suit, he says.

Part of the problem is that the phrase "business casual" is vague and open tointerpretation.

Caroline Walker, managing director at Cavendish Employment Law, says: "Thegreatest challenge in moving away from the formal suit is the grey area thatremains and there seems to be no rulebook yet on how far the boundary can bepushed."

More relaxed dress codes have been commonplace at financial giants like GoldmanSachs and BlackRock for several years.

Walker says jeans and jumpers are now acceptable in the office.

However, some employees are "taking smart casual further with on trend shortsand even sportswear".

She says she is aware of clientswho wore flip flops to workafter being told by theiremployer they could wearsandals to the office.

Gilfillan says some people viewbusiness casual as "a collaredshirt, tailored trousers and ablazer" while others view it as "apolo shirt and chinos withleather trainers".

More guidance from companies on what to wear to work could help staff navigatewardrobe choices in a post-Covid world.

Walker says it is "certainly simpler to have office attire following the same formulaof white shirt, tie [and] pressed trousers" for men and "trouser or skirt suits" forwomen.

"As old fashioned as it may now seem, it avoids the risk of interpreting the new wayof working too broadly and needing to be pulled up," says Walker.

According to an Ignites Europe poll of 258 fund staff, almost half said they wouldlike to see smart office attire make a comeback.

Gilfillan says clients are increasingly coming to her to "elevate" their work dress.

"I've had lots of clients who say they want to 'level up' after a promotion todistinguish themselves from the junior level staff, and feel more senior and in aleadership role, without alienating themselves." she says.

"When you feel good in your clothes, it makes you feel much more confident andboosts your performance."

Meanwhile Johnson says some are requesting to dress better because they do notwish to look like everyone else in the office.

"While dressing in the right way is a small factor in overall career progression, itboosts a person's mindset and self esteem. It makes the rest of your organisationstand up and notice, even if in just a small way and this forms a welcomecontributing factor when the decisions are made about promotion," says Johnson.

Some companies are even beginning to "double down on formal attire" because it isseen as "more reliable in turbulent" economic times, according to Johnson.

But with this summer's four record-breaking back-to-back heatwaves forcing manyemployers to adopt more casual business dress codes to cope with the heat, anywidespread return to the traditional suit-and-tie culture may be some way off.

Walker says: "Does it really matter? After all, if you are clean and presentable [...] andmost importantly act professionally and in a manner that upholds the values of thebusiness, surely these are the attributes that employees should be judged on."