年轻人更喜欢穿表达独特个性的服装

　　To older people, young people's style can be difficult to understand. Going far beyond business casual, the clothes seem either highly informal or provocatively young -- jeans, athletic shoes, tight T-shirts and miniskirts, for instance.

　　But young workers are replacing traditional business dress with their own complex sets of rules and subliminal messages. Their choices among brand-name items are meant to communicate substance. Rather than Gucci versus Allen Edmonds, for instance, the choice may involve Nike Air Force versus Chuck Taylors. (Read: urban vs. surfer.)

　　In a way, their aesthetic represents a new kind of uniform -- one heavily dependent on corporate labels. But young people say their mix-and-match style offers them more versatility and creativity than the old uniform did.

　　'You know when someone's real and when someone's corporate,' says Roman Tsunder, 34. As chief executive of Access 360 Media Inc., a youth-market consultant based in New York and Los Angeles, his clients include MTV and AT&T.

　　Mr. Tsunder says he saves a suit for some occasions, such as meeting with investors who might lose confidence if he appears too edgy. But he's careful to note that his isn't a businessman's status suit: He bought it at Zara, the fast-fashion chain. He has on more expensive clothes on the days when he wears Diesel blue jeans, a white J. Lindeberg belt and Prada shoes.

　　For a recent meeting with MTV, Mr. Tsunder wore silver Nike Air Force athletic shoes and a white collared shirt under a mint green V-necked sweater 'because it's youthful.' With a more conservative client, he says, he'll wear something more 'aggressive,' such as 'a collared shirt that I found in the south of France.'