046. STYLE SUBCULTURES: Dressing For Work
Your 12-Piece Capsule Wardrobe [Workwear Edition]
Happy Sunday Everyone.
Before I get onto today’s topic, I’d like to share that I have decided to no longer include affiliate links in this newsletter. Going forward, recommendations you find in Every Body Gets Dressed will link to a retailer’s website with no kickback to me if you make a purchase. This is a decision I have come to after assessing the direction of the newsletter and how to best serve its subscribers. Firstly, while I wholeheartedly support the use of affiliate links in the right context (which includes other paid and unpaid newsletters), it doesn’t align with the narrative of Every Body Gets Dressed. This newsletter is written to provide you with more transparency into this industry and help you make savvier shopping decisions. This includes shopping less and more consciously and, put simply, I don’t want to profit from you spending money on clothes. Secondly, I believe in conserving corners of the internet free of ads, sales, biases, and influence as these remain resolutely rare. Like many of you, I pay to listen to music and watch movies ad-free, and thanks to those of you who pay me to write, I share my unfiltered and unbiased opinions. So here I am, putting my money where my mouth is. The only thing I’ll be selling from here on out is a paid subscription. Your girl’s gotta eat. Thank you for being here.
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This week,
from published an essay on what she coined ‘Corporate Fetish’, the romanticisation of office culture. In the letter, Emily highlights the many recent examples of brands and publications who put power shoulders, water coolers, and swivelling desk chairs at the heart of their creative direction (e.g. The Elder Statesman Fall/Winter 2024 campaign, Kim Kardashian promoting Skims’ Nipple Bra, British Vogue November 2023 cover story, even Reformation’s You’ve Got The Power Monica Lewinsky-fronted voting campaign). It resonated with the increasing amount of messages I receive from subscribers asking for recommendations on how to dress for work. Specifically, the question I get over and over is ‘How to dress for work and still feel/look like myself?’.During the ten years I worked in an office job, the environment - I worked in tech and fashion tech - never required smart attire. Amazon, where I worked for five of those ten years, is as rigorous at enforcing a dress code as they are at providing safe working conditions to their operational workforce. How I dressed for work was therefore always up to me and looking back, I can say that the amount of effort I would put into it would be in direct correlation with my job satisfaction at the time. Hence the tragic little sweatpants towards the end. Earlier on, I had worked a bunch of retail jobs while in college. If those required smart attire, I would head down to Zara or H&M and pick up a set of nondescript blazer and pants. I didn’t consider the possibility that one could honor a dress code while still dressing like oneself. I would just keep my gaze down when walking home from work, hoping I wouldn’t bump into somebody I knew.
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Back to your messages, I can’t say I’m surprised you’re struggling to dress for work whilst preserving your individuality. There aren’t always options, or they are merchandised poorly; out of the 3,237 dresses currently listed on Net-A-Porter, only 9 are suitable to wear to the office if the ‘workwear’ filter is to be believed. I thought you might like to explore this topic as part of the 12-Piece Capsule column (see past editions here). Just as a capsule wardrobe doesn’t have to look like the widely advertised beige version of what everyone else is wearing, there isn’t a cookie cutter approach to dressing for work. Today’s newsletter shows five different examples of what this might look like. I also include some of my top tips for building an outfit for work. As many of you have communicated that you’re already thinking about your spring wardrobe, I have chosen mostly transitional pieces. All the pieces featured might not be adequate for every single work environment; the fundamental goal of this column isn’t for you to shop the items featured but to get you leveraging your existing wardrobe in new ways, thinking of color coordination, combining statement with basic pieces, building a high-low wardrobe, etc.
Tip Number 1
Workwear conveys professionalism and the most strict work environment might not allow you to distract from it. For example, you might be forced to stick to a neutral colour palette. In instances like this, paying attention to shapes and proportions can go a long to make you feel unique and honour your appreciation to great clothes. Prioritise great fits, sharp cuts, voluminous sleeves, etc.
Workwear Capsule Example 1 (Modern Classic)
Tip Number 2
If you have a full-time office job, don’t be tempted to save on your work wardrobe to spend it all on what you wear after work. The wardrobe you wear most is arguably the one that matters most and warrants a decent share of your overall budget. This isn’t about others - your co-workers might be clowns - you’re dressing for yourself and showing up as your most comfortable and confident. Besides, from the perspective of building a well-balanced high-low wardrobe, pieces that require quality materials and expert craftsmanship often pertain to workwear, for example jackets and tailored pieces. Pieces you wear in your downtime, for example loungewear or even going out clothes, tend to be available at a variety of price points for similar quality (more on this in the next edition of this column).
Workwear Capsule Example 2 (Nineties-Inspired)
Workwear Capsule Example 3 (Classic Minimalist)
Tip Number 3
Include a small element that sparks joy in every outfit you wear to work. This can be as small and discreet as a hairpin, a brightly colored element, or a luxurious piece like soft cashmere. That can also be your coat, you can get away with something bold since you won’t be wearing it indoors but it will greatly affect your mood as it bookends your day.
Workwear Capsule Example 4 (Sophisticated Feminine)
Workwear Capsule Example 5 (Preppy)
So appreciative of your transparency and proud to be a paid subscriber for your exceptional content and writing! 💕
Such great wisdom on all fronts. This idea of not spending less on work clothes when they're the meat of what you wear all week and always including something that sparks joy -- these are such gems. And that cashmere vest!