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The wardrobe whisperer
Our experts help one reader find a flexible home/office wardrobe
QI’ve returned to my London office three days a week and am working from home on the other two. I don’t want to have two separate wardrobes – one for the office and one for home working – so what pieces do I need that will work in both environments? It’s annoying to feel overdressed at home, or underdressed at work. We don’t have a strict dress code, but I like to feel like I’ve made an effort while still feeling comfortable. I’m a size 12, 48 years old and sick to death of sweatpants.
AJosephine, the smartcomfort crossover that you’re looking for does exist. Only in the depths of winter did I succumb to wearing tracksuit bottoms when working from home, and I’ll admit it was a particularly low point, sartorially speaking.
Throughout the rest of the lockdowns, I wore jersey dresses, fresh knitwear and soft blouses – all of which are still comfy, but didn’t lead my colleagues to think I’d totally let myself go. Now that I’m heading back into the office I’d still wear those pieces, and not be embarrassed to say that the only change I’d made was leaving my slippers at home.
Here is the capsule 3:2 flexiworking wardrobe I’d recommend you need for the late summer and early autumn season ahead. It’s all about how you layer up these items depending on whether you’re WFH or WFO, and the only other staples you need to mix and match in with them are classic crew-neck T-shirts in white and black, and perhaps a pair of black leggings in case you’re ever tempted to do a dress-down Friday in your own study.
The proportions of an oversized shirt are ideal for dualpurpose dressing – wear the Cos style below belted at the waist and over smarter trousers in the city, or loose to pad around your home office with the aforementioned leggings.
Lots of labels, from Max Mara to H&M, sell smart trousers with hidden stretch waistbands built in – the ankle-grazing H&M style I’ve selected could also be worn with your staple white tee tucked in. Ditto Seasalt’s jersey skirt: it’s the height of comfort, but does not read as remotely leisurewearish to me.
The only piece I’d recommend that steps outside of this switchable formula is a jersey dress. Me+em’s checked ponte style is the perfect heading-into-autumn piece to wear on those occasions when you want to feel really pulled together. The fabric is so soft, though, that you won’t feel desperate to take it off after a day full of video conference calls.
My final tip; do bother to put jewellery on, for both home and the office. It only takes a minute to add earrings or a necklace, and it’ll transform your mindset as well as your Zoom portrait – even if you’ve sneakily kept the slippers on off-camera.