A Sense of Style: What to Wear Whether Working From Home or From the Office

A Sense of Style: What to Wear Whether Working From Home or From the Office

It’s nice that some of us now have the option to continue working from home or going to the office. The only thing that we really need to keep in mind is the way we dress whether we’re at home for the day or at work.

When working from home, if you know you’re not going to have any meetings or anything of that sort, wear a nice shirt with a pair of jeans. I know most of us still want to wear sweatpants or joggers with a simple tee, but you don’t want to take a chance if a meeting happens to come up. It’s better to be dressed up as much as possible like you normally would for work.

For the lucky few of us who only have meetings that happen at a fixed time like once a month or something, you can wear whatever you like. Don’t forget that what you wear can also affect how you perform at work, even if you are working from home. If you’re dressed too comfortably, you might feel a bit more at ease and may not push yourself to finish whatever you have to do then. If you’re overdressed, you might feel so uncomfortable that you might be focused completely on what you’re wearing and might not put all your efforts into the task at hand.

What if we must go back to the office? Well, wear what you would normally wear to work. Don’t overdo it by spending too much time on deciding on what to wear but do put in some effort. You don’t want to look like you just woke up and ran to work but you want to look effortless and like yourself. If you do like to dress up a lot, think twice as you might regret wearing something so fancy just because you never got the chance to do so until then.

If your work environment is laid-back and you can wear whatever you want, please don’t wear something worn-out or super simple like a logo t-shirt with sweatpants. Wear something classic like black joggers and a plain shirt if you really want to wear something comfy. But it’s always better to wear jeans with a plain shirt or a shirt that’s a bit dressy like a silk shirt or an oxford shirt.

Having a good sense of style doesn’t mean that you must wear something super dressy or laid-back. You just need to figure out what outfit works best in each situation. It’s easy and worth the effort to look good. When you look good, you feel good.

Shefali is the author of Own It! Love What You Already Have of which all book proceeds go toward good causes. She is an executive at her family’s business, and board director for two other companies. She’s an alumna of Columbia Business School in New York City and Drexel University. She lives in Dubai with her husband and continues to travel for work. To learn more, visit shefalikarani.com