A friend texted me this morning that, instead of his usual (well, newly ‘usual’) WFH outfit of sweatpants and fleece pullover, he pulled on jeans and a button-front shirt.
“It’s like I’m a brand new man, Megan.”
And that’s where we are, as we slowly trudge towards the close of Self-Isolation: Week 1. Doing the absolute least is the new doing the most.
And that’s okay! SG HQ is here for even the most modest upgrades right now.
That doesn’t mean sitting down to your office (aka, kitchen table) in dry clean only-dress pants and a crisp dress shirt that needs ironing. Instead, think office-ready performance wear.
Whether you need a client-appropriate outfit for a video conference call (and honestly, I hope you do. The more life goes on through all this, the better), or you just want to feel slightly more put together than “sentient laundry pile,” our team pulled together the roundup for you.
You can feel like your most sneakily stylish self in these technical-inspired pieces that won’t make you look like you’re going for a social distancing-approved hike:
Gravity Long Sleeve Button Down | $74 | Devereux
Made in an antimicrobial stretch fabric, Devereux’s Gravity shirt looks like a traditional sport shirt you’d wear untucked with chinos or jeans. You get to look and feel pulled together, while sporting the button-front equivalent of a long-sleeve performance tee.
Wear the shirt with the top button unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up for a “working hard” vibe that works just as well for a 4:59pm happy hour in your living room.
Italian Knit Blazer | $298 | Bonobos
This blazer will serve you well long after self-isolating ends. It wears like a cardigan with more structure. Even though it’s fully lined, it feels anything but stuffy thanks to a super light construction.
Try it over a spring- or summerweight sweater for your next Zoom meeting. Actually, try it even if your next work call is over the phone only. When you feel dressed up, you’ll sound extra professional.
Pants, as always these days, are optional.
Hybrid Train ½ Zip | $128 | Hill City
Our team loves Hill City for its subtly sophisticated workout wear that can get you through your whole day.
You could wear this half-zip on an early morning run (keeping a CDC-recommended distance from other runners, of course!), or you could just pair it with jogger pants and a clean sneaker for a tailored casual WFH outfit.
Baron Performance Chinos | $125 | Mizzen + Main
While Mizzen+Main is best known for their stretch fabric dress shirts, they recently rolled out performance chinos that deserve a look from the casual workwear aficionado.
The machine washable pants come in two fits for a tailored, put together silhouette no matter your body type. The trim fit is slim through the hip and thigh, and taper from the knee down for a leaner fit. The athletic fit, on the other hand, offers up additional space through the hip and thigh with a more moderate taper from the knee down. Win-win!
ZeroGrand Stitch-lite Wingtip Oxford | $135 | Cole Haan
For anyone still sleeping on Cole Haan’s footwear, please consider these ZeroGrand wingtips for your next “wear to work and on the weekends” shoe.
These oxfords (Team SG favors the navy style, but you do you) with a flexible knit upper basically wear like a sneaker. If, for some reason, you need to leave the house and look semi-respectable, though, a pair of these with the unlined Bonobos blazer will do the trick.
Bombas Compression Socks | $18 | Bombas
While you don’t miss your office’s meandering daily agenda meetings, at least they gave you a reason to get up from your desk once a day. A good pair of compression socks can also help you look and feel your best when you’re doing lots of sitting in a new WFH reality.
These bad boys give you the lower-limb blood flow boost you may need after a day spent slogging away in your home office...or binging every season of Peaky Blinders from your couch. Who am I to say!