Curious if anyone has ever considered suits without ties as an intermediate step between full boat business dress (suits with ties) and business casual? My boss (30 year tenured executive) has this as the go to dress code for the department and I just think its weird. We have a company wide meeting next week with 200 of our mid and high level managers. The stated dress code is "business casual". From years past I know this will mean some folks will wear sport coats but most will be in shirt sleeves and some in polos or golf shirts. All will be wearing slacks or khakis. My boss, who is an absolute great guy who I love working for, has decided our department needs to step it up a notch to this "suits no ties" dress code. Honestly, I think its because for the last 30 years he has been wearing a suit every work day, he may not even have sport coats or non suit trousers. In any case I will do what he says but instead of looking a bit sharper then the rest of the folks there I think we just look "incomplete". If we wore ties, I think people would say we were trying to make others look bad so by leaving off the tie, perhaps its his way of avoiding that while still one upping the rest. Its one thing to wear a tie and end up taking it off as the day winds down but to start the day with a suit, wingtips, etc and not have a tie on just seems uncomfortable to me. Am I wrong? Is this a generally accepted degree of dress formality? 

Bow Tie

Eh, I'd call it lazy-man's business wear if anything , though I have seen it done before.  If I'm wearing a suit, I'm wearing a tie.  

If the idea is to be dressed above khakis and polos, but below suit and tie, I'd go tieless with a sportcoat/odd trousers so you're meeting the jacket requirement, and wear a pocketsquare.  Sportcoat/trouser combo also gives more options for shoes since you're usually wearing oxfords/captoes/maybe wingtips depending on style, with a suit, and can be more versatile without one.

I do the Vegas style suit/no tie quite often during the summer. It's a relaxed feel and look, but still conveys what a suit should.

As long as you do it right, that is.

To the average person, a suit is a suit. They don't understand the differing  degrees of formality with your clothing, but they can tell if it looks good or not. A few rules to follow is never use this approach with pleated pants, go for a narrow lapel, and your shoes will have a big impact as well. Stick to an open laced wingtip, simple Oxford, or a nice loafer. My personal favorite is a double Monk strap for this application.

One other little thing to set yourself apart. Instead of a squared off pocket square, use a contrasting color and fluff it up. Have some fun with it!