To Dress or Not to Dress in Comfortable Casual

Closet Analysis: Dress the Part

The "comfortable casual" post has received many visitors and it's about time that I re-visit the topic especially since so many people are working from home during this pandemic. 

Over the past year, I have fallen into a slovenly routine. Here I am at 10:50 A.M. on a Sunday morning, still in my pajamas, writing this post. I change into regular clothes about noon, very often something that I wore the day before. Sigh. This has got to change. I rationalized that today was Sunday, not a day I would choose to deviate from this routine. Tomorrow.

A television commercial has embraced this phenomenon by having a suited torso of a man sitting in on a zoom meeting while his bottom half is still only in his underwear. Actually, there are several variant advertisements on this theme. 

No matter how casual, no matter how comfortable, you still want to look good and be productive. Looking good is a matter of opinion. Being productive is what counts. Are we more productive when we are "dressed up" even marginally better dressed than sweats? Speaking for myself, I would say yes. It's easier to play video games in my pajamas than it is when I am dressed, even in blue jeans and a t-shirt. I walk differently in my flip-flops than when I put on a proper pair of shoes, even my soft suede loafers. When I'm in my pajamas, I am not motivated to write, except when I'm writing about writing in my pajamas.

Noteworthy: 

It's not so much a direct correlation. Apparently, those who "have to" dress formally for work claim to be more productive when they dress down a bit. Those who can wear what they want to work usually "dress up" when having to prove their productivity to someone else. Hmmm?

It always comes back to appropriateness. And just about anything is appropriate in 2021. Factors you might want to take into consideration are:

Age   

Sorry. I don't want to be accused of ageism but there are some styles that older folks just cannot pull off. At the same time, older folks cannot look stodgy in a work environment. Contemporary classic (that's another blog post) is always the way to go no matter what the age. If your classic is dated because of shoulder pads, colour trends, or lapel widths, you are no better off than wearing ripped knee jeans.

Company Culture 

Yes even at zoom meetings. The suited realtor can forego the tie and button down shirt for a t-shirt, sport jacket and jeans but the jacket is still important. Even someone in a techie industry can put the jacket on over the t-shirt. Same outfit — t-shirt with jacket and jeans means dressed down for the realtor, dressed up for the techie.

Photo by Avigail Alfaro on Unsplash

Meeting with Clients 

Basically, the more money and trust a client has to relinquish the better dressed the salesperson has to be. Hence, realtors, insurance agents, and bankers dress in suits; whereas those in car sales don't have to because you will buy more cars in your lifetime than houses. Sales associates in designer stores can't be dressed like Wal-ly-Mart-ian greeters.

In conclusion, the suited techie at work is inappropriate in the same way the t-shirt and jean-clad realtor is inappropriate. Know your workplace culture, know your clients and keep things classic. You'll never go wrong with that formula (more to come on that topic). 

It's 11:48 A.M., this post is finished, I'm still in my pajamas. And no, pajamas are not comfortable casual — they just mean I'm procrastinating.

The day I decided to post is Tuesday, it's 10:46 A.M. and yes I'm still in my pajamas, but I'm ready to jump into the shower so that means I'm an hour ahead of my pajama pattern. Things are looking up. Since it's laundry day, I can't wear what I wore yesterday, so I am ahead of the game. With the start of the pandemic, I've noticed my expectations have become lower than usual. 😉 Time to change that!