By Tuesday Kahl
Published 09:00 am
Home Office Outfit Ideas
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stay at home mandates all over the world, many folks have shifted from commuting to the office to working entirely from home. This change in work scenery is a huge adjustment for many — there’s the benefit of no commuting, but there’s also a mental shift that occurs when we prepare for our day that is now lacking. It might be tempting to cozy up in pajama pants and a Nike hoodie, but we’re going to dive into the different arguments for dressing up and dressing down for your at-home workday.
Dressing Down
Many of us may have defaulted to shorts and a tank top as our outfit of choice this past spring when stay-at-home mandates began. There’s something to be said for the amount of work you can get done when you’re comfortable or how not getting ready for your day can have you starting work and getting done earlier. Comfort is soothing, and you aren’t leaving your home, so why dress up?
If you’re feeling antsy, you could even rock a more formal henley, sweater, or blouse on top and joggers on the bottom. It’s the work from home mullet, business in the front and party (or, uh, comfort) in the back. An essential part of deciding whether the only routine you need is walking from the bed to the home office desk or getting dressed like normal is evaluating which way you’re more productive, honestly. Are you missing office structure, or do you thrive when you can do things at your own pace?
Dressing Up
While the temptation to dress down is there and potentially permissible with this change of circumstances — there are some reasons we may want to keep the routine of dressing up for work.
The first reason to dress up might be because your employer asks you to, or you’ll be expected to interact virtually with clients. Additionally, dressing up can have some positive impacts on our minds. Rolling out of bed and taking those few steps to your desk may not be enough time or enough routine to get your brain focused, prepared, and ready for the day. Some folks thrive with routine and structure; with that lacking in a work-from-home setup, getting prepared for each day and making time for it in can help you create structure in an otherwise unstructured world. This preparation for your day has lots of mental benefits and could help you maintain better productivity levels.
Even if you opt to dress up less than you usually would, the preparation gets your brain ready to get into work. You can trade that V-Neck T-shirt for a nice blouse and those pajama pants for a pair of stretch jeans and be ready to rumble. If you’re someone who typically does their hair and makeup, but you don’t want to put in as much time, you could look for quick hairstyles and reduce the amount of makeup — just keeping your video call-look easy and quick.
There are arguments to be made on both sides. Your first step in deciding is to check with your employer. Knowing their expectations of your work from home dress code is crucial — it turns out you may not have much choice in the matter. If you opt for the work from home mullet, just don’t take it too casual in the back in case you need to stand up or stop your cat from knocking over your beloved houseplant mid-video call.
Your choice to dress up or down can also change day to day based on how you’re feeling — there are no rules to this game. Maybe the one thing we can agree on is that you don’t need shoes when working from home. Unless you wear shoes in the house anyway, forget about your heels, your loafers, or other office-appropriate shoes — you don’t need them. Socks or bare feet will be just fine for your video calls; no one is looking at your feet through a computer screen.
We hope this helped you make the call on how to dress when working from home or gave you some ideas on what the options might look like since people in many parts of the world are looking at working from home for the foreseeable future.
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