What To Wear Everyday: What To Wear To Work

The landscape isn't any clearer post-Post-Covid

Last week I was in New York for a shoot and also to go to a couple of fashion shows, and as I was packing for my ~work trip~ it got me thinking about what I wear to do my job, and what people more generally wear to work - especially those who go in to an office. It’s also one of the questions I get asked the most - what should I wear to work?

My answer usually starts with - what’s the vibe? To borrow an organizational tool from NYMag, let’s use this matrix.

There’s obviously a lot of wiggle room with this structure.

Ok, so when I ask the question, I mean - is everyone in your workplace “professionally” dressed or is it kind of whatever. Like, if you’re a video game designer, I imagine the vibe is very different from an investment bank. Right? That said, it could be an investment bank with a casual dress code, which would still probably be different than, say, a teacher with a casual dress code. What I’m calling “analytical” jobs, are also, in my mind, the more serious jobs and tend to have more rigid standards for dress. “Creative” jobs, on the other hand, often have it looser, but I think most people want to look interesting AND appropriate, so it’s no less of a challenge. “Conservative/Fancy” means somewhat traditional (maybe the guys wear suits? or at least jackets?) whereas casual means… jeans are cool, but you know, shorts are probably not? I don’t know, if you can literally wear whatever you want, then I hope you’re having a blast with it!

You see, it’s not as easy as: QUESTION: what should I wear to work? ANSWER: a smart blouse and a pencil skirt with sensible heels. Thus, I’m going to offer some ideas for each rough grouping of office dress codes: Analytical/Conservative ; Analytical/Casual; Creative/Conservative ; Creative/Casual. I imagine most of us inhabit bits of all these realms in their jobs, but having some rough guidelines might make it easier.