When I first became a full-time freelance writer in 2014, I was excited, often liking to myself to, naturally, Carrie Bradshaw. I pictured chic ensembles, blowdried waves framing my face, a Mac on an immaculate wood desk with lampshade adjacent, overlooking a cityscape, as I thoughtfully conjure up my most profound realizations about clothes, life, and society. My reality, however, was a lot more Hannah Horvath. (If you’ve never watched Girls, the semi-spoiler is that its protagonist, played by Lena Dunham, completely unravels while working on her book at home, eats lots of random food, and generally goes nuts).
While in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, most companies have enforced a working from home policy to stop the spread. And while this is a welcome shift for many who have always wanted to work remotely and were never able to do so, there are some known pitfalls, and plenty of ennui, that I’d like to warn about. But as always, clothes help. And so, after working from home for nearly six years, I’ve learned a few things about what to wear which might be useful to you if you’re new to remote working.
Carrie’s more aspirational, iconic writing-at-home scenes grew increasingly out of reach.
1. Shower and Change Out of Pajamas by 12pm
Look, I know—after years of slumming it on the subway every morning: sweaty, uncomfortable, tired—the feeling of able to make a coffee and get back under a down duvet, grab the MacBook and reply to Susan in Accounts from the comfort of your own bed is gold. It’s the best of both worlds. And yet, something happens around the time it’s officially too late to call food “brunch”. What was cozy and comforting starts to feel slovenly, sloth-like and, ultimately, demotivating. If you let the working-in-my-PJs thing go too far, you’ll end up feeling listless. Think it won’t happen to you? Think again - it can happen to the most conscientious of us. It starts with answering one email, but once you start delving further and further in, it’s easy to slip into this pattern without noticing. Before you know it, it’ll be 2pm and you can’t remember if you brushed your teeth. As such, it’s good to have some ground rules. Carve out some focused work that takes you to 11am latest. Then, shower and get the negative ions going, at least blow dry your roots, and put on a fresh outfit.
2. Find Your Homeployee Sweet-Spot
Which brings us to my next point: a working-from-home look that feels just right can be hard to determine, and is yet important to ascertain. It helps to look to the concept of enclothed cognition. This dynamic, which explains how what we wear affects our brain’s workings, thoughts and feelings, has direct implications on how we should dress to inspire focus when there is so much distraction around us (Netflix and shopping sites are just a tab away and there’s no boss walking around behind us to limit going off-piste).
What I’ve gleaned is that it’s some kind of middle ground: you can be comfortable but not too comfortable. As per the point above, PJs are a clear no after 11am, and sweatpants will also demotivate. Tailoring and power-blazers also feel wrong, and so it’s worth investing in some good smart-casual loungewear that feels nice, but also inspires goal-seeking behaviors to keep you on-track.
Sweaters, snacks, and steaming-hot coffee are fundamental.
3. Use Color Psychology
Now that you have a good mix of loungewear, cozy yet polished looks, and favorite sweaters on rotation, it pays to think about what your job actually demands of you and use color to foster the right quality and trigger the right mindset. We wrote an overview about the qualities of colors here, but I’ve created an industry-specific cheat sheet here below:
MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS/PR: Pink for bubbly copy. Purple for powerful press releases. Citrus shades for friendly emails you have to feign.
JOURNALISM: White, monochrome, or neutrals, to foster the blank slate required to access your truest thoughts.
FASHION: Black, our industry’s official color, with a side of grosgrain and/or any kind of meaningful embellishment to remind ourselves of why we started.
FINANCE/CONSULTING/INVESTING: Navy blue is the color of numbers - which is why many banks use it. We associate the shade with loyalty, trustworthiness, and intelligence.
TECH: Metallic, silver, grey, black, all relate to innovation and silicon. A hoodie also never hurts.
SALES/RECRUITMENT: Citrusy shades inspire friendliness, energy and cheer, which you’ll need if you’re communicating to others non-stop and seeking an outcome such as a sale.
It also helps to know your personality-based style code - you can take the test on PSYKHE here.
As a last word, stock up on coffee, almond milk, diet Coke, matcha, or whatever keeps you going. Running out of fuel sucks. Godspeed to all, lather up, and here’s hoping that Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Grubhub can continue to operate safely.
In the world of post-pandemic dressing, one word has taken social media by storm: cheugy (pronounced: chew-gee). In the worlds of fashion and lifestyle, cheugy describes a look, a thing or a person that’s considered out of date.