About Savlaine
A quiet guide to getting dressed for work.
Savlaine exists because "business casual" is a phrase almost nobody defines the same way twice. Most workwear content shows you a photograph and leaves you to guess whether it would survive a Monday at your office. This site does the opposite: it starts with what a dress code actually asks for, then shows outfits that meet it.
Who writes it
Thea Reeve writes and edits every guide here. Research and first drafts are AI-assisted; the structure, the judgement calls and the final wording are hers, and she rewrites by hand rather than publishing generated text as-is. There is no team behind the byline — one editor, working through one subject properly.
How dress-code claims are sourced
Anything on this site that can be right or wrong — what business professional includes, whether open-toe shoes read as too casual, what an interview dress code implies — is written against a published source, and the sources are listed at the bottom of the guide that uses them. If a source disagrees with another source, that disagreement gets stated rather than smoothed over. Taste is opinion; dress codes are not, and the two are kept separate on purpose.
What this site does not do
It does not tell you what suits your body, sell you a capsule wardrobe, or pretend one office's norms are universal. American offices differ by industry and by region, and a guide that ignores that is guessing. Where the answer is "it depends on your workplace", the guide says so and tells you what to look at to decide.
Sections
- Dress Codes — What business casual, smart casual and business professional actually mean.
- By Job — Teachers, nurses, lawyers, front desk — dressing for the job you actually do.
- Seasonal — Overcooled offices in July, a cold commute in January.
- Work Capsule — A small set of pieces you can repeat without anyone noticing.
- By Fit — Petite, midsize and plus size, sized properly instead of scaled down.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, write to cs@savlaine.com. Corrections get made to the guide itself and the updated date at the top changes.