Perhaps you work at an office with a stated dress code, or you've received an invitation to an event with the request to dress "business casual."

你可能在一间有着装要求的办公室工作，或者你收到一份参加某项活动的邀请，并要求穿着“商务休闲装”。

But what exactly is a business casual dress code? It turns out the answer to that question is confusing for many.

但是商务休闲到底是什么样的要求呢？事实上这个问题的答案使很多人感到困惑。

"This one is the murkiest¹ for our customers and for other people we speak to. Part of the problem is that there are so many trends that are so casual", Dorie Smith, cofounder of women's workwear brand Of Mercer, recently said to Business Insider.

女性工作装品牌Of Mercer的创始人多里·史密斯最近在接受Insider的采访时表示；“这件事对于我们的顾客、我们交谈的其他人来说都是很难接受的，部分原因是太多流行风格都是休闲风。”

Last June, for example, JPMorgan sent out a company-wide memo² encouraging employees to dress in business casual unless they were meeting with clients.

举个例子，去年六月，摩根大通下发通知鼓励员工着商务休闲装，除非要会晤客户。

Other firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers and BlackRock (which has had a business casual dress code since the 90s') followed suit in relaxing their office dress requirements as they sought to attract millennials, many of whom like to dress in athleisure in their spare time.

其他像是永华普道和贝莱德（贝莱德从上世纪90年代开始要求穿着商务休闲）为了吸引千禧一代，也放宽了他们的职场着装规范，很多年轻人喜欢在他们的空闲时间穿着运动休闲风格。

But the rise of athleisure and increasingly casual workplaces has led some people to don leggings and other inappropriately casual clothing items for the office.

但是运动休闲风格的兴起和越来越多的休闲场所，让很多人穿紧身裤和其他不正当的休闲服饰来上班。

Since more and more people are wearing leggings and other performance-centric materials as they socialize and do errands on the weekends, it seems only natural that the look would bleed into the workplace.

因为越来越多的人在社交及周末办事时，会穿紧身裤和那些注重运动性能的材料（制成的衣服），好像这种运动休闲风格渗透进办公场所是很自然的。

Leaning into that, according to the ladies behind Of Mercer, could be a big mistake.

据Of Mercer幕后的女人们表示，以上观点也是一种很大的误解。

"We've even gotten emails from HR at some of these firms that say, 'Help our analysts³ realize it's not OK to wear leggings to work,' Smith said. "People go too casual."

“我们甚至收到过上述这些公司的HR的邮件说，'请让我们的分析师明白穿紧身裤上班很不好，'”史密斯女士说，“人们变得太休闲了。”

You can, however, incorporate some elements of athleisure into your work wardrobe, like tailored pants that have some stretch to them -- just no sweatpants, yoga pants, or tank tops.

不过你可以在你的工装衣橱中包含一些运动休闲的元素，比如你的西装裤可以修身一些--但不要穿宽松的运动裤，瑜伽裤，或者背心。

"Our rule of thumb is to make sure you're dressing⁴ one step above everyone around you", Emelyn Northway, Smith's cofounder, said. "If people are wearing jeans, wear nice black pants instead. It goes a long way to making you feel good about yourself and to making other people feel like you know what you're doing."

史密斯的合伙人埃米琳·诺思维说道：“我们的经验法则是：确保你穿的比你周围的人更正式一些。如果人们在穿牛仔裤，那你就穿漂亮的黑裤。这可以有效助你感觉良好，并且让别人感受到你很清楚你在做什么。”

Recent studies have shown that wearing nice clothes in the office can actually be an effective strategy -- dressing professionally can affect the way people perceive you, how confident you're feeling, and even how you're able to think abstractly.

最近的研究表明：在办公室穿着漂亮衣服确实是个有效的策略--穿职业装可以影响人们对你的第一印象，包括你的自信程度、或者更厉害的可以依此判断你是否可以抽象思考。

The Of Mercer founders⁵ recommend going for a dress with a fit-and-flare silhouette⁶ or a wrap dress in a bold color.

Of Mercer的创始人们建议：如果穿裙子的话，就选择合体修身的款式，或者是一件颜色大胆的裹身裙。

After all, you'll never hear a manager complain that someone dresses too nicely -- but you might hear about someone who's dressed down too much.

毕竟，没有哪个经理会因为你穿着养眼而有微词--但是穿着随便则有可能招来别人的不满。