The definition of business casual has been a moving target for a long time, evolving so much in the last few decades that it’s hard to pin down exactly what it means anymore. This is the result of several intersecting (and often opposing) forces at work: the relaxing of rules around office attire that began in the Casual Fridays ’90s, the WFH wave of the early 2020s, and the return to the office (and with it, the suit) of recent years. Add in the tendency of dress codes to vary by profession, geography, and corporate culture, and the strange middle ground between formal and casual becomes an even trickier needle to thread. For anyone in search of guidance, Miles Teller and Adam Driver, who appeared together this week at the New York Film Festival premiere of their new movie Paper Tiger, offer two stellar—if spiritually and stylistically different—ways forward.
Let’s start with Teller, the slightly dressier of the duo. His whole outfit stuck to a grey-beige palette and loose, boxy silhouette—a combination that channels vintage Armani in both color and fit. The shirt is especially good: cut wide through the body and tucked into pleated trousers that drape slightly over his shoes. A more fitted version of the same look could have left him looking like a corporate try-hard, but the extra fabric keeps things relaxed. And then there were the shoes. Rather than the expected leather loafer, Teller wore a pair of beat-to-hell black boots, a detail that adds character while speaking to a life outside his day job.
