According to Karl Lagerfield, “sweatpants are a sign of defeat”. They’re also supremely comfortable, and the athleisure trend might have a thing or two to say in rebuttal, but we can all agree that tracksuit pants don’t usually constitute business wear.
With many of us working from home – a symptom of both the modern approach to business and of the coronavirus pandemic – is getting dressed even necessary in the morning?
Actually, yes. And not only so the postman doesn’t judge you.
Research shows that dressing for work, even if your dining table is your desk, helps us to cognitively delineate between work and home life. Tempting though it may be to ‘just quickly’ pop a load of washing on, prep the dinner, reorganise your sock drawer and catch up on Netflix, putting on your work outfit allows you to get into the headspace of being at work, even when you’re not.
That said, comfort is still key. While we don’t recommend working from bed, fashion staples that move with you mean you’ll get from 9-5 without winding up in a state of undress. High waists, cosy knits, and quality basics are the home office uniform, and unless you’ve got a particular fetish, flats are the order of the day.
If your wardrobe’s looking distinctly pinstripes-or-pyjamas, we’ve rounded up our picks of the best in working-from-home-chic. Thank goodness for online shopping.
After all, with nowhere especially to go these days, we’ve got to get those cost-per-wears up somehow.