Gettin’ Carried Away

As promised, here is a guest post from:

Runnin’ Around with the Briefcase Blues: Finding the Right Carrying Case for a Business Trip

Anyone going on a business trip is always going to pay particular attention to what they wear. Although no one discounts the importance of matching or complimenting the dress code of your corporate hosts, we find that, far too often, travel accessories are overlooked in the process. Take briefcases, for example. What you carry to a meeting says a lot about you in terms of style and organization. So, we’re going to go over a couple of quick hints that should help you coordinate your briefcase to the type of meeting you will be attending.

Practicality vs. Style

The main issue when it comes to briefcase selection is practicality versus style. Hard-sided attaché cases are extremely chic and durable, but won’t hold as much as soft-sided cases, most of which have outside pockets and can expand to fit more documents and folders. Of course, the problem with using soft-sided cases is that many of them do not have the same elegant, formal appearance as attaché cases. So when one of these briefcases combined with formal attire, it can result in a stark mismatch. Before making the purchase, you need to consider several important questions: How many pockets and compartments will you need? Will you be using the briefcase for laptop storage as well? Are you planning on lugging the briefcase for long distances?

Dress Code

The dress code of the meeting is important, as is the general culture of the area you will be visiting. Above all, you want your briefcase to blend with the general mood and appearance of its surroundings. In general, a more casual type of briefcase will fit in better at meetings in the American South or on the West Coast, while a more formal case is usually necessary should the meeting be in New York or Washington D.C. Meetings held in Europe and Asia also tend to be on the formal side of things, as well, and the same is true for most of Latin America. Finally, in some South American locales, you can afford to go a little more casual.

So what type of briefcases work best for a casual or formal meeting? As we mentioned above, hard-sided briefcases give a more austere appearance, making it great for formal meetings, while soft-sided cases compliments best with business-casual wear, as they often project a more relaxed, yet professional appearance.

Colors

Another tidbit worth noting is that briefcases are a lot like business wear in terms of color. Black is best for formal affairs, while brown will blend in better if the meeting is laid-back. And when shopping for material, you’ll find that leather briefcases are the most flexible in terms of style; leather styles can range from sleek, structured black cases to more casual, rustic and artisan designs.

There are a lot of briefcase styles out there to choose from, and providing that you look hard enough, you should have no problems finding one to match your business trip. Just make note of what the business dress code is in advance, and once you have that figured out, make sure that your briefcase compliments, rather than contrasts, your own outfit.