Post-Coof Office Attire + Workleisure

Applied Male Fashion

As lockdowns and mask usage fades there are little things that will likely remain for some time following the end of covid times in America.  Hand sanitizers still literally everywhere (though the pressure to use them having dissipated).  Random plexiglass sheets in grocery store checkouts where you go on to slide your freshly non-sanitized finger over a keypad to toss in a rewards number anyway.  People still walking around like 28 days later is playing out in live action.  Truly some whacky times we’ve had so far this decade.

Among the biggest shifts noticed by those who work in white collar environments was the sudden drop in standards of what is considered acceptable office attire. 

There was a sudden shift in how people dressed when the first instances of “post lockdown office days” hit.  Back then it was a novelty; a weird feeling like being at your school after dark or on a weekend.  People wearing shorts and tank tops during summer 2020 was not unheard of.  You may have seen your boss in a T shirt for the first time.  You realized people you’d known for years had tattoos you never knew about.  Lots of people got exposed as either being incredibly out of shape of surprisingly jacked. 

With the lockdown and default wfh days gone, we now sit in an unstable state of tug of war between companies who want employees back on site, and said employees wanting none of it.  While macro implications might give hints to where this goes in the next couple of years, we will examine this situation in a vacuum and within scope; what are you supposed to be wearing to the office right now?  And why is a whole new targeted class of clothing on the come up?

Workleisure

The term was coined by one of our favorite fashion houses, cuts clothing.  It is derivative of the trend started a decade earlier by lululemon, “athleisure”, which brought the wearing of high-quality athletic gear as everyday casual attire into the zeitgeist.  Originally marketed toward women, the market has matured which means that the focus can be safely shifted towards the male demographic.

Much as yoga pants and spandex tops weren’t invented but rather ‘optimized’ by lulu, the category if items that qualify as ‘workleisure’ have largely all been around for a while.  The concept of dressing down in the workplace was spearheaded by tech companies back in the day, where the prospect of having to wear something uncomfortable while staring at screens writing code for 14 hours six days a week was something easily faded.  What are you gonna do as a business owner, tell one of the five guys in the country capable of writing a specific type of code that he must dress to standard? 

As the years went on other office environments became steadily more tolerant of downward pressure on workplace attire.  Slacks turned to jeans, ties were lost, and one open button became two.  Still, certain expectations were set, with some bosses graciously allowing for workers to strap up some clean jeans and a polo for “casual Friday” granted there wasn’t top brass or clients visiting the office that day.  From that point it kind of lingered until covid it, and the rest is history.

Now that we are 2.5 years into covid, things have stabilized a bit.  No more can you dress up in 8th grade sleepover tier clothes for your two-hour foray into an office at 10% capacity just to print a few documents and milk the Nespresso machine.  More people are on site, and maybe you’re now on a hybrid schedule.  If this is the case, you’re likely in the camp of “casual everyday”.

If you are in a customer facing role, you will be better off erring on the side of dressing up 100% of the time.  There are too many wannabe Mark Zuckerbergs nowadays who think they have the right to wear jeans and a T shirt in any environment and just let their swagger do the talking.  Unfortunately, you don’t have a $36 billion $11 billion net worth and have not earned the right to slap your dick on the table fashion wise.  If you’ve ever been in a position where you’re wearing jeans and a T shirt, talking to someone wearing a custom suit and tie, there’s an undeniable feeling of ‘higher importance’ coming from the other guy.  Does not apply to used car salesmen. 

What does all this mean for you?  The most accurate answer is its entirely industry and management contingent.  Based on our observations in major US metros, the number of guys dressed in the original white oxford and black/navy slacks combo daily is still down significantly from pre-covid.  Likewise, the number of quarter zips, straight fit casual pants and oncloud sneakers is up. 

What Pieces to Keep

Time for the decision fatigue relief.  Let’s keep it simple.

-         Mid Layers

o   Quarter Zips (black and/or color that fits you)

o   Vests (Patagonia fleece, non-bulky puffer)

o   Crew neck sweater (worn over an oxford)

Especially with the colder weather, quarter zips and vests are the best way to spiff up an otherwise overall casual fit.  It’s not necessarily about keeping you warmer (though it very well might be if your office decided to scale back the HVAC opex this year) but rather that these pieces give a default bump to your fit.  Best example is wearing slack and dress shirt only vs wearing a suit jacket along with it.  We also advise to throw any owned or branded/gifted full zip hoodies directly into the trash, won’t explain further.

-         Base Layers

o   Long Sleeve Henleys

o   Polos

o   Off-Traditional Oxfords and Button Ups

The stipulation on the Henley is that it looks much more acceptable in an office environment when paired with a vest.  It’s an otherwise dress down option, whereas the same look with an oxford or alternative button up leaves the option to remove the vest and still look somewhat dressed up.  You’ll need to take this into account.  Alternatively, polos are the laziest option that require zero thought, as their formality is primarily influenced by choice of pants and shoes. Reiterating our stance that the Ministry of Supply, Apollo polo remains the best cost-quality ratio for office wear and buying multiples.

-         Pants

o   Chinos

o   Lululemon ABC and Commission pants

o   Jeans

Yes, Lululemons get their own mention because they are that important.  We cannot stress enough how much 6am decision making you will save yourself by simply buying three or more pairs of these pants.  Khaki, navy blue, and black/obsidian.  Most versatile piece of semi-casual clothing you can own for both in an out of office business.  With regards to jeans, we advise to continue containing these to either Fridays or turbo dressed down half days (unless you overall office culture allows for routine jean wearing, YMMV).

Long Term Predictions

We’re firmly in the camp that working from home will become an ad hoc option in most cases, based on both positional duties and employer leverage (it is known that high performers can demand a lot more if putting up numbers, regardless of the state of the economy).  Boomers in upper management will continue to have issues and likely die on the hill [literally] while bleeding employees, while others will see naturally greater productivity based on whoever has the correctly placed intuition. 

With regards to wardrobe, will we ever see a true return to how things once were?  Nobody knows, but we can say with good confidence that most of the holdover influences from boomer/gen X office generation will be gone in all but the stuffiest of work environments.