10 Best Outfits Engineers Wear In The Office

By Hannah Cobb Jun 09, 2023

Engineers typically wear business casual or casual clothing to the office. While many engineers do not have an official dress code in the workplace, they typically base their overall style on a supervisor’s dress style or gauge the type of dress worn by coworkers and use that to determine the formality of their style.

You will commonly find engineers in the office wearing casual t-shirts and jeans or polos and khakis. However, engineers do dress up in a more traditional suit and tie to meet with clients. If an engineer has a job that requires fieldwork, they will likely wear more practical clothing like hiking boots and a hard hat and leave the business casual for the office.

The bottom line is that engineers tend to dress for the work at hand rather than following a strict professional dress code.

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Business Casual or Casual

For everyday wear in the office, most engineers wear either business casual or fully casual clothing, depending on the accepted dress worn by supervisors and coworkers. Popular outfits for engineers in the office include a button-up shirt and jeans, a t-shirt and slacks, a polo shirt and jeans, or a blazer over a t-shirt for meetings or more important occasions.

If you need help figuring out what to wear in a business-casual setting, take a look at the definitive list of 34 types of dress codes for work.

Jeans, Jacket, and Hard Hat

On days when an engineer needs to work on-site, they often dress down in practical attire like jeans, a protective jacket, and a hard hat. In this case, workplace guidelines may dictate what an engineer wears. For example, some job sites require flame-retardant proactive suits or safety glasses.

You can find the 20 best affordable and sustainable black denim jeans to check out here.

Dress Shoes Vs. Outdoor Shoes

Engineers pick footwear for work based on simple practicalities. For days in the office, you will see most engineers wearing comfortable loafers or flats. But for days out in the field, most engineers wear sneakers or boots.

Take a look at the 20 best affordable and sustainable boot brands here.

Blouse and Slacks

Female engineers often embrace a simple business casual ensemble of a blouse and slacks in the office. Engineers tend toward more practical attire rather than sexy, fancy, or super colorful clothing most of the time, so women tend to pick white or neutral blouses in conservative cuts. Of course, this does vary from one person to another, and there is nothing wrong with expressing your personal taste!

Take a look at the 15 best affordable, ethical, and sustainable blouses here.

Button-Up and Khakis

For guys, the most popular outfit to wear for days in the office is a basic button-up shirt paired with khakis or slacks. For a more casual workplace, engineers will even wear the button-up shirt worn open over a solid-colored t-shirt.

You can find the 15 best affordable chinos and khakis to add to your engineer wardrobe here.

Sweater and Slacks

In the fall and winter, both male and female engineers commonly wear a simple ensemble of sweaters and slacks to the office. This practical outfit provides warmth and comfort and also looks dressy enough to meet a business casual workplace dress code. When going out in the field, engineers will usually swap out the slacks for sturdier jeans, and possibly throw a jacket over the sweater.

When you pick the perfect sweater to wear in the workplace, you want to make sure it comes from an ethical source. Take a look at the 10 best affordable, ethical, and vegan sweater brands here.

Nice Jeans

It’s true that engineers tend to dress down in the workplace, but they do keep their attire neat and clean, avoiding items like ripped jeans or worn-out denim. Likewise, wearing a casual plaid, checked, or even polka-dotted button-up shirt to the office is OK, but the shirt should be clean and free of wrinkles.

While you can get away with wearing the same pair of pants a few times in a row, it is also a good idea to avoid wearing the same shirt to the office two days in a row! One easy way to avoid this issue is to hang up five shirts at the beginning of the week, so you can grab and go on a busy work morning. Take a look at the 15 best ethical button-up shirts if you need to increase your collection.

T-shirts

By far one of the most popular items engineers wear on a daily basis is a simple t-shirt. In the office, engineers often stick to solid-colored, comfortable tees, typically worn under a button-up shirt or paired with a blazer for a smarter style. In some cases, the engineering workplace may have such a casual vibe that t-shirts with prints or funny sayings don’t stand out--but you should stick to solid-colored tees unless you know that for sure.

How many T-shirts do you need to own in order to always have a clean shirt to wear to work? Take a look at the ultimate guide to how many t-shirts you need here.

T-shirt and Blazer

Just like in the tech and IT world, engineers tend to blend business and casual elements in their attire when they need to present a more professional appearance for meetings. An outfit like a t-shirt, blazer, and jeans, would not look out of place in many engineer offices.

You can find the 20 best ethical and sustainable blazers to check out here.

Suit and Tie

Like most professionals, engineers do dress up in a formal suit and tie when the occasion requires it. This happens most often for meetings with clients, or when an engineer needs to take a client on a tour or site visit. Engineers commonly wear suits and ties to job interviews as well. Female engineers may wear a pantsuit in a neutral color, or a blouse and slacks instead.

Take a look at the 20 best affordable and sustainable suits for women and men here.

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About the Author: Hannah Cobb

I think of writing as my way to connect with the world. As a librarian with a degree in English and Library Science, I have used my research, writing, and editing skills professionally for over a decade. For the past two years, I have also provided ghostwritten content for fashion, sewing, and event-planning blogs, including how-to and product review blogs.

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