Your lockdown WFH outfit says more about you than you think

It's now been almost two months since the UK went into lockdown, and even longer since most of us have sat at our regular desksand moaned over the state of the office kitchen with a colleague.

Remember when you used to spend forty minutes of your precious morning unceremoniously wedged between a Tube door and a stranger's sweaty armpit? We never thought we'd be nostalgic for those days, but here we are.

As we head into week eight (yes, WEEK EIGHT) of the new normal and find ourselves on yet another bloody Zoom call, it's becoming apparent that not all WFHdrobes were created equally.

We all have the colleague who insists on wearing a shirt and tie (just what are you trying to prove?) and the one whose camera mysteriously stopped working sometime in early April and has you questioning whether they've abandoned the notion of trousers altogether.

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Business as usual

At the beginning of each new week I make a series of promises to myself. I'll get out of bed at an hour I've not yet achieved since the Before Times. I will attempt to do something productive with my "commute". And I will, if nothing else, wear proper grown up clothes to "work". Reader, I am yet to succeed.

Instead once a week I ceremoniously try on my jeans and am so thrilled they still fit that I reward myself with a packet of crisps.

Yet there are people who are still getting dressed, get this, like they're going into an actual office. They have not abandoned all garments with a waistband or declared the bra dead. They just get up, get dressed, and shuffle on over to their makeshift desk to wow their colleagues with their blown out hair and all round togetherness.

Business up top, party down below

Mark in sales might look like he has it all together. Nice, crisp shirt. No sign of bed hair. But you just know that if he stood up mid-Zoom it would be all boxer shorts and slippers.

In many cases Mark started out with the best of intentions. But somewhere along the line he decided the bare minimum would do. From the waist up, Mark's all about the client meeting he has in thirty minutes and asking for your feedback on his latest pitch deck. But waist down you just know he's just dying to get back to playing Animal Crossing.

Athleisure is the answer to everything

The athleisure wearer is in a constant state of self optimisation. A virtual Yoga class in her lunch break? Sourdough starter to feed? Learning to speak Russian on Duolingo? Running a half marathon in her tiny garden? She does it all.

By rough estimations, the athleisure wearer is about one week away from learning to thread her own eyebrows and enlisting her partner to dye her roots. She might be hyper productive, but she also values comfort. Why wear heels when you've got trainers? Why not invest that pair of Lululemons you've always wanted when, given the current cost per wear calculations, they're practically free?

Loungewear is the new black

There's always one person who, come the team catch up at 9am on a Monday morning, claims they're experiencing "technical difficulties". We know you're wearing a bathrobe, Jennifer.

The first thing this person did when lockdown was announced was Google "best loungewear sets" and, well, they never looked back. Sure, it might not be the most professional of looks to be serving during your weekly 1:1, but these are unprecedented times. If you need a comfy two piece and some fluffy socks to get through it, who is your boss to judge?

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Florals? For Spring?

I've thought long and hard about the small things that will bring me joy post lockdown, and there's not much I wouldn't do to have my arms stuck in a floral dress in a fitting rooms again. The fear. The panic. The sheer relief when you manage to extract yourself from an inexplicably tiny garment without needing to call for assistance.

For many of us, particularly those of us who bought that Zara dress in every available print last year, it feels particularly devastating to have a wardrobe full of Spring midi-dresses (and yes, florals for Spring can still be groundbreaking) and nowhere to wear them.

So sometimes you just have to embrace that look good, feel good mentality. After all, you've got that cocktail making class on Zoom to get to once you clock off.

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Niche things to do while self-isolating:

Sort out your sock drawer: come on, there's no excuse. Get yourself a few drawer dividers and they will CHANGE your life.

Mix up your WFH lunch: we, personally, are hankering for a panini maker... the dream, right?

Listen to a great podcast: if you're bored of your old playlists on your daily walk, may we recommend listening to a podcast? Time will FLY by.