Business Casual Linen Outfit Ideas

by Roger Saenz PUBLISHED:

Look 1: Coastal Office Work Outfit

Linen business casual outfit with blue striped shirt, cream pants, brown loafers, and silver watch.

This outfit sent me down a rabbit hole because it gave me the overall sense of an office along the coast. I remembered reading a couple of years ago about a bank, which I thought was JP Morgan opening an office in Malaga(It was actually Citi). Long story short I went and search for the post again and they had just closed the office in Malaga.

I’ve tested this color and stripes combination several times and it looks great as a summer office outfit. Personally, I’ve also worn it for an afternoon coffee gathering with family.

Shirt | Linen Trousers(Khaki) | Watch | Brown Loafers

Look 2: Textbook Office Outfit

Blue linen shirt with navy drawstring trousers, black watch, sunglasses, backpack, and black loafers.

The reason I call this a textbook office outfit is because a light blue shirt and navy pants is one of the most common business casual office combinations of all time, so overall, it’s a safe outfit. The thing with this specific combination that I have here is that it’s styled a linen shirt, which can totally change the look. I decided to use cotton pants instead of linen for two reasons:

  1. I’m trying to keep the outfit as office appropriate as I can.
  2. I couldn’t find a pair of navy linen trousers that met my expectations. It was a challenge to even find a good pair of 100% cotton ones that can be worn without a belt.

Blue Linen Shirt | Navy Cotton Pants | Black Watch | Black Loafers | Colombian Leather Backpack

Look 3: Taupe Linen Shirt and Charcoal Gray Pants

Beige linen shirt with dark jeans, suede loafers, blue watch, and brown woven belt.

I think this is the kind of outfit that lets everyone at the office know that you have a sense of style. Taupe is not a common business casual color, even though it’s a totally appropriate neutral. Add to that the variation of charcoal gray pants instead of black and maybe you’ll be asked for fashion advice(or not).

Taupe Linen Shirt | Charcoal Gray Pants | Watch | Suede Loafers | Braided Belt

Look 4: Virginia Beach Office Outfit

Blue shirt with navy linen joggers, brown loafers, silver watch, and brown backpack.

I started talking about Malaga and now we’re at Virginia Beach. The color of the shirt is known as “Mariner’s Blue”, and I found it at Banana Republic. It adds variation to a plain Oxford shirt offering both a different texture with linen and a different shade of blue. The pants are, once again made of 100% cotton.

Mariners Blue Linen Shirt | Navy Cotton Pants | Watch | Shoes | Braided Belt | Colombian Leather Backpack

Look 5: Linen Shirt and Pants Outfit

Navy linen shirt with olive pants, brown loafers, black and gold watch, brown backpack, and belt.

The pants are actually a linen-cotton blend, but you get the idea, having linen in both the shirt and the pants. The advantage of using darker colors for this outfit is that since we’re using linen which isn’t the first fabric that comes to my mind for the office, we can make it more office-appropriate by choosing darker tones that help hide the casual feel of linen.

Ralph Lauren Navy Shirt | Green Linen-Cotton Blend Pants | Brown Loafers | Braided Belt | Colombian Leather Backpack

Look 6: Safe Linen Work Outfit

Light blue linen shirt with dark pants, brown loafers, silver watch, and brown backpack.

To be honest, every time I see a light blue shirt in a business casual look, I get the feeling it’s a “boring” outfit, but that’s because I’ve seen the shirt a thousand times at this point. However; it’s still a solid option for the style and I tried to style it differently here with charcoal gray pants and suede loafers. We’re also using a linen shirt, which makes the overall combination more interesting on it’s own.

Blue Linen Shirt | Charcoal Gray Pants | Watch | Suede Loafers | Braided Belt | Colombian Leather Backpack

Look 7: Taupe Shirt and Green Pants

Taupe linen shirt with olive pants, suede loafers, brown belt, and brown backpack.

I don’t even need to reinvent the wheel with the name of this outfit, the combination of taupe, green and linen for a business casual look speaks for itself. We’re styling neutrals that are office-appropriate but not commonly used for this style.

Taupe Linen Shirt | Green Linen-Cotton Blend Pants | Braided Belt | Colombian Leather Backpack

Look 8: Linen Shirt and Pants Outfit

Black linen shirt with cream pants, silver watch, brown belt, brown loafers, and brown backpack.

This outfit helps you wear linen for both your shirt and pants without making it obvious you’re wearing linen.  We often associate linen with lighter colors like shades of blue or white, but green usually isn’t on that list.

Shirt | Linen Trousers(Khaki) | Watch | Suede Loafers | Braided Belt | Colombian Leather Backpack

Look 9: St. Patricks Day at The Office

Green Ralph Lauren linen shirt with light pants, brown belt, silver watch, and brown loafers.

The title of this outfit makes it clear it was written by a human. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the outfit, and I decided to sacrifice the SEO boost in for something funny that my readers will enjoy.

Now, let’s talk about the outfit: We’re styling a green linen shirt again, but this time with light gray linen-cotton blend pants and brown penny loafers.

Shirt | Trousers(Light Gray) | Watch | Brown Loafers

Be Careful With Linen For The Office

Linen isn’t a common “business” fabric. It’s by far the most popular summer fabric, but there’s a reason you probably haven’t seen many “linen office outfits” until know. If you look back at the nine outfits, you’ll notice that I didn’t use a white linen shirt for any of them, there’s a reason for that. A white linen shirt shows more wrinkles than the same shirt in darker colors. Linen is an amazing fabric, but the wrinkles can be a deal breaker when it comes to business casual outfits.

If that’s the case for you, check out my post on 12 summer business casual outfits ideas.

I’m the founder of Tropauno.com. As a men’s fashion blogger and aspiring fashion stylist, I spend countless hours researching products and styling tips so you don’t have to. My goal is to help you save time, avoid costly mistakes, and feel more confident in what you wear.