Whether it's dressing for a basketball game, an Alicia Keys concert or a business meeting with Jay-Z, looking sharp is a must for the employees of the National Basketball Association's Brooklyn Nets team and their home arena, Barclays Center. That means a shirt and tie for men, who make up about two-thirds of the roughly 200 employees at the venue and a separate office at 15 MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn.

"Our CEO [Brett Yormark] really sets the standard here, so I try to take a cue from him," says Kari Cohen,...