LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- Suits were swapped for jeans and sneakers throughout London 's financial district today , as bankers heeded warnings to dress down to avoid the potential wrath of G-20 protestors . Bankers in London head to work in casual attire . Many city workers have been urged to dress down to avoid attention from protesters . `` Only about 20 percent of people probably just refused to dress down . Everybody else is in jeans , '' said Jesse Feldman , a banker at French investment bank , Société Générale . All week banks and investment firms located in London 's City neighborhood have been advising employees to not dress in regular business attire . `` Staff are permitted to wear casual clothing -- jeans/trainers -- commencing March 30 . Avoid briefcases/branded bags/computer cases : Put materials in rucksacks or carrier bags where possible , '' U.S. bank , J.P. Morgan told employees in an email statement last week quoted on City news Web site Hereisthecity.com . Employees at Rothschild investment bank in London were told simply not to bother coming into work at all today . Among those who did commute to the office , bystanders said that the bankers are still easy to spot , conspicuously reading UK newspaper The Financial Times or dressing in a uniform business casual look . `` On the tube this morning I thought it was ridiculous because all these bankers could n't have looked more like bankers trying to dress down , '' Feldman told CNN . Instead of jackets , ties and Oxford shoes , polo shirts , khakis and loafers now fill the streets around the City and much of central London . `` I saw two bankers wearing matching baby blue sweaters , tight jeans and Church 's -- ridiculous , '' Feldman added , referring to the up-scale brand of traditional English shoes . One Web site that covers news and gossip in the City has been tracking the banker backlash to the warnings . `` It 's a mixture : people are falling into two types . The banks and the funds are certainly encouraging the staff to wear casual dress , but some are determined they wo n't cower to protestors and are still showing up in suits , '' said Vic Daniels , publisher of HereistheCity.com . On Monday , Bloomberg quoted one City professional , Graham Williams , 66 , who said : `` We 're not pansies ... most of us have played rugby or boxed . `` If any of those guys do get violent against us individually because we are wearing a suit , we will take action . '' The site also offers humorous advice for bankers to respond to protestors by dumping `` large blocks of ice '' to `` render them harmless , '' and encouraging bankers to `` find your inner G20 [ sic ] spot . '' Despite the jokes , precautions proved valuable Wednesday as thousands of angry anti-capitalist protestors converged on the City for demonstrations to coincide with the G-20 summit . By midday protestors had started smashing windows at a branch The Royal Bank of Scotland . Earlier in the day 11 people were arrested after being stopped in an armored personnel carrier . Thousands of police are continuing to patrol the streets in anti-riot gear .
Fearing , bankers dressed down for work in Manhattan today . Banks and businesses in the City warned employees not to wear suits . Some City bankers remained conspicuous despite attempts to dress casually . ` ` We are not pansies , '' said one defiant Bank worker , still wearing a suit .