What should I wear to the Office in warm weather?

Mr Hasseloff summer wardrobe might not be appropriate for all environments. Photo: FremantleMedia Ltd/Rex Features

How casual is too casual in the Office in August?
Simon, via email

Well, this depends on several factors, Simon: what kind of Office work, how hot it is and what you consider "casual". I have some friends who think males simply remove your tie is progressively to raving it up. I have other friends who consider wearing a t-shirt with a swimming shorts as basically the black tie. There is, as your question intimates, a world of possibilities between a tailored suit and shorts, hence the frequent confusion about what "random" actually means and nowhere is this more confusing than in the world of work. For some people, "work clothes": a smart dress from Zara; for others (me) means sitting on all day at home in a bathrobe is (at most). As well as to define "casual" in a way that includes all kinds of people? I find that when faced with a question like this, the easiest way to solve the problem is to treat it as one of those puzzle questionnaire that you get often in American magazines. So let's get started.

1. is ...
(a) just a little warm.
(b) hot.
(c) unbearably sickeningly hot and walking out is like walking into a wall of dirty, sweaty heat?

2. what kind of Office do you work?
a terrific Investment Bank.
(b) an average without conviction to fashion/advertising/design business.
(c) alternated between the House and beach.

3. how to dress up your boss?
(a) in a suit of ￡ 850.
(b) Jeans and t-shirts.
(c) a swimsuit.

4. What is your day?
(a) Big, important meetings.
(b) dicking around on the internet.
(c) hanging out on the beach.

What are you wearing more comfortable?
a dress, or maybe some chinos for a long time.
(b) Jeans and t-shirts.
(c) nothing on my top half.

For each (a) was answered, add a point, for every one (b) add two points for every one (c) three. If you scored 5-9 points, means "random" to you only a gentle loosening of the tie. If you scored 9-14, "casual" is jeans and a t-shirt or cotton dress equivalent. If you scored 15, David Hasselhoff on Baywatch and you should just stay in your swim shorts red. Don't annoy the Hoff!

But there is another element to the casual discussion that quiz could not touch enough: generational debate. There is no doubt that the younger someone is, the more of their skin they like to show off. This is because the skin on the young is still developing is very sensitive to the touch, and this is why I hate having too much material that covers their bodies. So, babies and toddlers hate always dressed like a rule and that they prefer to run in their diapers, throwing off the body in which you just forced them. Once this young beauty reaches 20 years and teenagehood, if I'm a guy who is wearing jeans as low as possible, flaunting their funds, as young baboons, as part of their pairing desperate to 24 hours of dancing, which usually is in vain. If they are girls, are likely to wear very short skirts and dresses, jeans so tight and lowbed seem to be half-finished leggings or shorts so small are little more than denim knickers. And that's all well and good, but can cause problems in Office. The 26-year-old woman who comes to work in a t-shirt emblazoned with a slogan cropped on how much she likes to party all night might cause some consternation the boss in his three-piece suit. But the young woman, the word "casual" is essentially an abbreviation for "cropped" t-shirts. There is little point trying to legislate against young people what they wear, even if – heaven knows – many have tried.

Rather, it is easier to make them and anyone else who promotes these garments to look at this from an alternative point of view. When you see your loved one on their way, in the Office and feels that perhaps some are dressed inappropriately, stop them, sit them in front of a full length mirror and say: "your boss. Them good and hard picture. Would be happy if they saw you dressed like this? " If you say yes, simply shrug your shoulders and leave them to their fate. If there's one thing I've learned in my years as a columnist (and that is not an exaggeration – literally I learned one thing) is that you cannot stop people who wear what they want. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't stop Wearing them knit animal hats.

Ultimately, the problem with casual comes down to a good judgment. Most people know that skirts to the Office should end just on the knee and that jeans adorned with hardware and tears are not ideal. But some non-young, mostly. And if the only way you learn is by their leader having a Word with them, fine. They'll head out in Zadar or Jaeger and buy a dress, or you can start working from home in their pants. And let me tell you, that the latter option is not one since.

Send questions to Hadley Freeman, ask Hadley, The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Email ask.hadley@theguardian.com

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