Dress Code in Banking - downtown

[salty]

hi i am moving to hk joining a tier 1 bank in a business strategy product role. I would say its a senior manager role.

Whats the expected dress code for men?
- how many suits should i get? colours? keep it simple?
- what materials should i get for the suits? i want something breathable.
- what about shirts - are french cuffs the norm in HK?
- people wear suits to and fro from office and home? or just leave the jackets in the office?
- I guess wearing a suit means a tie has to go with it always?

I come from - s.e asia so were very relaxed in office attire here. normally just the shirt and trousers. Suits are generally not worn unless we go to see regulators or senior clients.

All thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,

[bdw]

Every company has their own dress standards. Wear your best suits for the first couple of days and then see what everyone else wears.

Generally I find HK to be quite relaxed too. No jackets are really needed for 9 months of the year and no ties as well. But as I said, every company is different.

[fth]

It does vary a lot from firm to firm, my feeling though is that people do dress more formally compared to Singapore / Malaysia. I remember when living in Singapore you could spot the Hong Kong banker a mile off because he was in a suit!

[cookie09]

come in a suit with tie on your first days, then see what people do.

svp/ed above in my bank (which is reasonably relaxed) wear ties almost always. vps sometimes, below never.

i mostly carry my jacket on my arm when walking to/from office to keep cooler (relatively speaking) but i do wear it sometimes inside the office - especially for more formal meetings

last but not least, you can have suits made here cheaply and cheaper than almost anywhere else except india.

[Rob2020]

I wore a tie today for the first time MONTHS !

[beachball]

[SNAP] I remember when living in Singapore you could spot the Hong Kong banker a mile off because he was in a suit!

Note that the OP is not really a banker, but rather in the strategy group. Presumably this means relatively limited client interaction, so it really boils down to the culture of the respective organization (as opposed to general business culture). In this case could be anything from suit and tie everyday to shirtsleeves most of the time (with tie and maybe jacket for meetings with senior management).

[dipper]

If you're the senior manager presumably you'll be the one setting the dress code for your team?

[HKonelegger]

If you're the senior manager presumably you'll be the one setting the dress code for your team?

True but as his role may be very different from the rest of the people working under him, so the dress code for his team could be different. I wear a full suit and occasionally a tie when meeting with important clients but I have a lot more face time with people than people working under me so I don't expect them to be so formal with their attire and as such I am the only one in the office who ever wears a full suit or a tie.

A good bet would be to have a look at what your peer senior managers will be wearing. If they vary completely in their dress sense then you probably have a free reign to wear what you think is appropriate. Make sure your staff are clear on whether you expect them to dress in a similar fashion to yourself or if you are fine with them being more casual and you should be fine.

Full suit for the first week is a good bet until you have had the time to do a full recon of the workplace environment.

[Sleuth]

Wouldn't everyone like it more if this suit and tie nonsense just went away?

[Dreadnought]

You bet.