Maintaining social distance is extremely important if we are to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus. To that end, most of us are working and staying at home, which can have a big impact on our style and dress code. A lot of this has to do with the extent to which we are visible to others via videoconferencing, but it is also driven by our own personal needs. 

The styles and dress codes of my friends, clients and family members who work from home runs the gamut. Some are dressy, and some are as casual as can be. For fun, I’m going to define five levels of work-at-home style.

Level 1. Maintaining the Dressy Status Quo

Your dress code at home is as dressy and pulled together as it would have been if you were at the office, or in your regular work setting. You don’t make the distinction between working at home or at the office. You style your hair, apply your make-up routine, and choose a dressier professional outfit to wear daily because that’s the way you roll. It makes you feel fabulous and productive. Plus you get to enjoy and wear your fun wardrobe of beautiful items.

Level 2. Relaxing into Polished Casual Wear

You style your hair, apply your make-up routine, and choose a professional outfit, but add a more casual integrity to the look. That means leaving off the blazer and jacket, and wearing a cardigan or wrap instead for warmth. You wear fewer accessories, add cosy socks, and leave on your house shoes or slippers instead of wearing outside shoes. You opt for smart casual looks instead of business casual looks. You might need to wear warmer tops because it gets cold working at your desk. You wear jeans instead of dressier trousers, tailored dresses, and skirts. You wear less fitted and structured clothing, but still look professional.

Level 3. Halfway House

This dress code makes me laugh. There is a strong disconnect between the top and bottom half of the outfit. You dress professionally and quite formally on top — where co-workers can see you — but there’s one heck of a casual party from the waist down. Styled hair, make-up, accessories, and professional separates up top, but leggings, lounge pants, pyjama bottoms, and slippers or no shoes at the bottom. 

Level 4. Loungewear and Athleisure

You like the Lululemon look and typically wear workout wear as casual wear when you work and stay home. Leggings, track tops, T-shirts, workout tops, fleece tops, sneakers, and items like that in any brand. Sometimes you style your hair and wear make-up and accessories, and sometimes you don’t.

Loungewear is not workout wear or Athleisure. Lounge items are soft and floppy knitted sweats in unstructured silhouettes, like a sweatshirt with joggers or roomy track pants with cosy socks and slippers. Some people wear robes, kaftans, shorts, tees, and flip-flops instead of sweats.

Level 5. Pyjamas

You’re working at home in what you wore to sleep in the night before. You haven’t changed or showered, and haven’t done your normal daily grooming regimen. You get cracking with work soon after you roll out of bed because it doesn’t matter how you present yourself. No one will see you, except for family members or roommates, so why bother with daily grooming right away. You can shower after your work is done.

I work from home when I’m writing YLF blog posts, participating on the YLF forum, and attending to my clients needs online. Although my outfits are not visible to anyone but hubs Greg and Yorkie Sam when I work at home, I dress up daily because that’s one of the fun and stress-free parts of my life. After all, I’m a fashion professional, so I want to look fashionable, dressy, and pulled together each day. What I wear makes me feel appropriately turned out for my profession, and more productive too.

My dress code is a combination of Levels 1 and 2. I shower every morning, choose a professional outfit, style my hair, apply make-up, wear some accessories, and absolutely wear and enjoy my pretty dressy clothes. I will wear dry-clean-only items, sport dressy dresses and skirts, go business casual, sport pearls, wear lippie, and curl my hair for working at home on my desktop or laptop. I will though leave off the blazers and jackets, and wear slippers because we don’t wear outside shoes at home. I sometimes cover my shoulders with a cashmere or woolly wrap, because it can get cold working at my desk.

Over to you. What’s your dress code level when you work from or stay at home? Remember that there is no right or wrong answer. Style is a personal choice and the best way to dress is the one that works for your life and headspace.

These looks are for you if your wardrobe doesn’t veer too far from a black, grey, denim and white palette, and if you prefer to wear pants and jeans to skirts and dresses. The looks are simple, minimal, and quite casual. 

Remember that none of the models are wearing jewellery, handbags, or statement eyewear, all of which can amp up the look, add a little shine, and create interest. So bear that in mind when you think the vibes are boring. Small tweaks can make a big difference.

1. Textural Grey and Volume

A column of charcoal grey is created by pairing two luxurious pieces in dressy fabrics. Trendy cropped dress pants with a high waist and pleats are fabulous with a semi-tucked and oversized cashmere or merino pullover. Relaxed dressy is a very 2020 fashion concept, and this is one way to do it. Flat black oxfords bookend the model’s hair and add a polished touch. White sneakers can work too. Of course, you don’t need to choose an oversized pullover or pleated pants. Wear the components YOUR way.

2. Sporty Comfort

Combine a pair of wide leg track pants with a cropped boxy sweater and finish off the look with sneakers. Here, the black top and bottom create a streamlined column of colour. The tuxedo stripes on the bottoms add interest and pick up the white in the sneakers. The track pants are sported at the new on-trend shorter full length that showcases the shoes. Athleisure with a bit of spunk.

3. White Jeans Magic

Combine a pair of white jeans with a grey top, black belt, and black shoes, and Bob’s your uncle. Here, the pullover has been fully tucked to showcase the high-waisted belt, but you can choose to semi-tuck if you like, and with any type of grey top. I love how the belt and shoes amp up the polish of the look.

4. Trendy Jeans and Big Shirt

This is my favourite of the lot because I have the jeans, and love white tops and shirts. Combine a pair of trendy jeans with a BIG white trendy shirt or blouse. Semi-tuck it for structure, or leave it out to drape in a straight and architectural way. Finish off the look with neutral dressy flats or white sneakers. Feel free to flip things around by sporting white jeans and a dark blue or black big shirt. I’d wear white loafers here but the black is fab with the model’s black hair. Add jewellery, eyewear, watch and bag as desired.

With the uncertainty and stress of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, we have much bigger things to worry about than fashion and style. For the moment, though, I will continue to write daily updates as I have done since April 2006. It is therapeutic for me, and I hope it’s a welcome distraction for readers of YLF.

I have always taken the responsibility of writing blog posts quite seriously. I have seen first-hand how fashion and style can make a difference in someone’s life, and it’s my goal to bring a little of that to people who read YLF. I hope that my posts will continue to help in some way. Maybe providing a distraction, a sense of normalcy, or something fun and light-hearted to read in the midst of the onslaught of worrisome news.

Together, in blog posts, blog comments, and on the forum, I hope that we can relieve a little of the stress, and amplify some of the things that spark joy for us fashion lovers. And maybe also look forward to the time that we’re beyond the pandemic.

In the meantime, I wish health and safety to you and your family.

Ironing, steaming and pressing clothing is generally not our favourite way to spend our time. Most of my friends, family and clients abhor these chores. But it all depends on whether you’re at peace with the crease. If you enjoy a very polished style and pristine looking wardrobe items, chances are high that you’ll go the extra mile and iron them. If your style is a little or a lot more RATE (rough around the edges), you’ll probably be more relaxed about having a few creases.

I don’t enjoy ironing that much, but my tolerance for creases is very low. With the exception of a casual linen shirt on a hot Summer’s day, I feel untidy and unpolished in clothing that’s creased. So I bite the bullet and iron creased clothing to make it look neat, fresh and “new.”

I send some clothing for dry cleaning and launder the rest myself. Excluding underwear, socks, and workout wear, I do not launder clothing after one wear unless it’s stained or has an odour. This is how I grew up, and the habit stuck. It’s a waste of energy, time and resources to wash an item that really doesn’t need a wash, and excess laundering is hard on clothing. I air out some items, and fold or hang the rest neatly back in their spot in my wardrobe. I iron the items before wearing them again, so that they look and feel pristine.

In a very real way, ironing helps me to launder less frequently. I guess I am using extra energy for the ironing itself, but I think that overall it’s more sustainable than laundering items after every wear. And definitely less expensive, both financially and environmentally, than sending items to the cleaners. So think of it as ironing to save the environment, and maybe it will feel less like a chore.