From Sloppy to Stylish When You Work From Home

Posted by Jill Chivers in Shop Your Wardrobe Strategies

Do you work from home? I do, and it can be so easy to slip into sloppy, or at least some version of VERY relaxed dressing.

Working from home has meant that many of us have ditched the corporate attire and have surely and steadily moved down the style scale to a point where we can be wearing the most casual of attire, including sleep wear to workout wear.

I have had the occasional workday that started with me tearing into the office very early (long before many office workers were even on the bus to work, let alone seated at their desk, ready to go).  Which meant I was almost always in my pajamas.  I told myself I was getting a jump on the day’s tasks, and so that made it an efficient way to start the day.

Wrong!

What happened was that too often (not always, but often enough), I ended up still attired in my pajamas deep into the day.  I would tell myself that after this email, I’d go shower and get dressed.  Or after doing this one last thing, I’d clean up and return to the keyboard, dressed and refreshed.

Pah!

I’ve learned that starting my workaday day in my pajamas never works, no matter how early it is.  I don’t feel great working in my pajamas in the first place, but it leads far too often into sloppy dressing habits that make me feel even worse.

And I’ll go a step further and say I don’t believe anyone really feels great  — their most productive, their most creative, their most in flow — working in their pajamas at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I certainly didn’t, on the rare occasions it happened.

Now I never go into the office until I’m dressed and ready for the day. My morning routine comes first – before emails, before office tasks, before projects and creative work.

So now we’ve gotten the pajamas-as-workwear question covered, let’s talk briefly about how you can bring more style into your work-from-home attire, so you never slip into sloppy.  We’re going for comfort + style!

Here are my 3 tips for upstyling casual work from home ensembles:

  1. Recognise the impact of what you’re wearing on how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking.  There is a definite link between our clothing and outfit choices and our thinking and feeling!  Think about how you want to think and feel today, and how your clothing choices can support that.
  2. Wear at least one piece of jewellery, even if it’s just you and the keyboard (and the cat). Accessories add a little bit of zest to an otherwise fairly casual ensemble and you often don’t need more than one to upstyle an outfit.  Think necklaces, earrings, bangles, bracelets, rings, belts, neck scarves, head scarves, hair pins and combs, hats, brooches and pins.
  3. See today as an opportunity to try a new combination you haven’t tried before.  Mix in the “only for good” stuff with the more casual gear and create truly unique-for-today outfits.  Experiment with how certain combinations look, and make you feel.  Clothes should be fun!

And if you are tired of your wardrobe, try the 30 Day Shop Your Wardrobe Challenge. It’s completely free.

Just one accessory is often all you need to upstyle a casual outfit

Just one accessory is often all you need to upstyle a casual outfit

 

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