Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.

Dear Manolo,

In August I am going to a three-day training workshop in Philadelphia that will be attended and taught by senior people in my field from around the country. The dress code, according the information packet, is supposed to be “casual, shorts, sneakers and sandals are appropriate.” Can you please help me interpret this?

Monica

Manolo says, the Admiral Manolo, standing on the bridge of his imaginary star cruiser shouts, “It is the trap!”

It is the well-known fact that the “casual business attire” is never casual, nor very good for doing the business. What it is very good for, however, is proving that you are someone whom one can do the business with later, after the casual thing has ended

For the example, if you were to take this admonition to casualness at its face value, and showed up at the opening breakfast breakout session wearing the dirty running shoes and the tighty bicycle shorts, rocking your favorite, faded “Actuaries Probably Do It” novelty t-shirt, it is unlikely you will be considered the serious person.

This is why the Manolo usually recommends the modified preppy-wear for the important out-of-the-office outings. One rarely goes wrong with khaki and cotton tattersalls, as long as the Prep-o-Meter is not turned up too high (which the Manolo defines as asking other people to refer to you as “Muffy”.)

If you wish to wear the sandals, the Manolo recommends the Bernardos, which were good enough for the Jackie O, and thus good enough for anywhere. Here is the Dazzling, the aptly-name classic strappy sandal from Bernardo.