A week in (unsuccessful) work outfits: WFH edition

This was supposed to be just another one of my week in work outfits posts, the twist being that I’m working from home right now, which given the current situation is not really a twist at all.  

I’ll tell you what happened: I really wanted to get dressed a bit more *properly* after my first full WFH week saw me in gym leggings three out of five days (great for a 5 minute yoga break, not so great when you are trying to feel all bUsInEsS and that). Not the same way that I usually would though, because what’s the point in working from home if you have to get fully dressed in the same thing you’d wear for the office?! I wear a lot of midi skirts, boots and blazers to work usually, and I don’t want to wear a blazer to sit at my dining table in the middle of a pandemic. A preposterous idea! You can’t make me. I want to wear something that feels functional but light and soft, something that makes me feel competent but also something that feels soothing.  

For some reason, I thought that doing one of these posts would force me to do that. 

Spoiler alert; it did not. I singularly failed to get the temperature right on any given day until we reached Friday, and worse still I didn’t really feel like I was dressed like myself for some of the week, which for someone who views clothes as an extension of my very self just didn’t put me in a good frame of mind. Let’s examine this shambles, since I committed to the post by photographing them each day, shall we? 

Monday 

If someone would have told me this time last year that I would own a pair of jeans that I would choose to spend a full day at home in, I would have laughed in your face, but that was before I discovered that vintage jeans were actually made for human bodies and that modern high street jeans, as I have long suspected, are not. 

I had a call that I wasn’t sure would be a videocall or not in the afternoon, so I thought I’d better wear something not too loungewear-esque, but also I was feeling sorry for myself, so I wanted to wear something loungewear-esque. The answer, apparently, was this cardigan – an old favourite – which combined perfectly with the jeans to make me look like a grandad. Congratulations me! 

Cardigan – C/O Joanie Clothing | Jeans – Vintage 

Tuesday 

I don’t know what possessed me to wear a jumpsuit that’s five years old and at least a size too small, but I think at the time I felt the utilitarian style would capture the practical but comfortable vibe I was after. And it did…five years ago, when it fit me. It’s also sleeveless, and I was freezing all day. Bravo. 

Jumpsuit – H&M (Old)  | Earrings – C/O Wolf & Moon

Wednesday 

Ahh, the only day I wore a skirt, and it’s one that looks fundamentally terrible on me. This is the point at which I started to think that 1) maybe the minimal outfit thing wasn’t for me, and 2) that I would soon rip my own fringe from my head because it was making me look so much like Ben from A1 with his curtains, even though I loved him very much at the time. The only thing I ended up liking about this was the scrunchie, and the jumper – one I usually consider to be one of my most comfortable – left me roasting.   

Jumper – H&M (Old) | Skirt – New Look (Old) 

Thursday  

There’s nothing wrong with these items; this is the best white tshirt I’ve ever owned, and the trousers are flowy and carefree and supremely comfortable. However, I didn’t feel super work-y in this ensemble – I felt like I was going on a plane. This is, now I think about it, an interesting parallel; both involve sitting in the same spot for hours on end and both you don’t want to be restricted for but want to look vaguely acceptable to the outside world in. The key difference is that I don’t often have to do 8 hours worth of work on a plane, and I just didn’t feel very work-y in this, although I can’t guarantee that it wasn’t the fringe throwing me off again.

Tee – C/O Organic Basics | Trousers – Nobodys Child | Necklace – C/O Daisy Jewellery 

Friday 

FINALLY, my friends, I found a decent temperature. I also felt not-too-horrible! I think it was the scrunchie, those things can save anything. The wide leg trousers and striped jumped combo felt like I could have worn it to work with heeled boots anyway, but bare feet, something of a Friday feeling and a glass of red wine at 5pm shifted it firmly into the comfortable working from home category.  Okay, so it wasn’t a particularly stylish effort, but after the previous days, it felt like a small win.

Jumper – New Look (Old) | Trousers – New Look (Old) | Earrings – C/O Ana Luisa 

Well…that wasn’t hugely successful, was it? The good news is that none of this really matters, because of all the things going on across the world right now, what you or I or anyone else looks like when they’re sitting at their dining table trying to do their day job as though everything is fine is neither here nor there. Still, I do hope to get a little better at this WFH outfit lark, if only so I can feel a bit more myself through all of this. Meet you back here in 6 weeks time?