All too often content creators who have progressed from working a regular nine-to-five or have skipped the office environment altogether to being full time content creators, attempt to advise on outfitting their community for the office. Inevitably a record scratch goes off in my head, because nearly every time the product selections are ill-advised. Sometimes the recommendations are as out-of-touch as Heidi Klum claiming a woman could expose her back at the office during a workwear challenge in Project Runway circa 2012ish.
My favorite content creators are those who have not made the jump to that of full time and as such, are more attuned to what is appropriate for the average working woman / person to wear to the office / studio / classroom / place of work. I so very much enjoy following people who have built a career and therefore have made themselves influencers within an industry – education, fitness, design, academia, science – and are taking their community along for the ride.
I digress.
I am so excited to be back in the office, albeit on a tentatively weekly basis. I have been working from home since the start of the pandemic, working remotely from Asia for the past two years, and only returning to the office for a handful of times over our stateside vacation last year. When you have been forced away from the office of the job you love? Yeah, returning totally feels like a treat. That said, the below vacation-at-work looks from last year are not nearly as buttoned up as I would typically select.
While my typical day-to-day outfits will still be from my spring capsule wardrobe, I will be coloring outside the lines for my office wardrobe. Before opting to do a capsule wardrobe, I sent a suitcase of work clothing ahead to the states with a friend who visited our family in KZ. She had an extra checked bag that she did not need and volunteered to bring one our our suitcases stateside ahead of us. One less suitcase for our family to manage at Astana check in and Dulles baggage claim? Hell yes, sign us up!
I packed all of my work dresses and a few spring coats. My husband packed all of his linen items, perfect for spring and summer in the city. I will be posting my sartorial takes on appropriate office wear and while they will be more conservative that my acid bright fever dream closet and my pared down neutral capsule wardrobe, I hope that they inspire other to get excited to be back in the office and upgrade their own takes on nine-to-five style.