A question about (enough) variety in casual wear... - YouLookFab Forum

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A question about (enough) variety in casual wear...

Runcarla

Veteran

It makes sense to have a closet proportionately heavy in work clothes if you spend 40-60 hours a week at work. When I retired, work clothes didn’t work. Even though I was thinking and planning for retirement, it still took a year to 18 months for my wardrobe to ‘catch up’ to my changed lifestyle and to reflect my style persona.

Without advance notice or preparation, a lot of folks have experienced a lifestyle change, with stay at home/work from home the new norm.

So...how does your closet measure up to this challenge so far? If you aren’t dipping into your work clothes, do you have ENOUGH of the right kind of clothes to feel good in your current life situation? How long before you think you might need/want to change things up? How will you change things up?

*This thread was prompted by the fact then when I opened up the new Nordstrom’s link for Canada, the ‘new’/what’s trending section was all about PJ’s, athletic apparel, and comfy sweaters!*

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24 replies

Latest reply was from anne

CarolS

Veteran

Funny you ask this Carla, because I've been thinking about it quite a bit as I try to dress for the day. I have been in a style slump for a couple of years and only just started to make some purchases in an attempt to go beyond the black ponte pants, black turtlenecks and black toppers that had become my uniform.

At the same time, until this hit at least, I thought retirement was about two years away, so thought I was also keeping in mind that I didn't want anything too heavily corporate.

That said, I find myself with very limited "at home" options that work for my current work at home balancing act. I want to be able to go for a walk during the day or take a quick yoga pose or two without changing multiple times during the day, so my new office clothes don't cut it. The clothes I need for now are, to some extent, the clothes I will probably need a lot of when I retire! If I retire?!

I don't know how or if I will change things up, to be honest. My strategy for now is to be ok with whatever.

Irina

Veteran

Runcarla, I was actually thinking just about it this morning. I thought I have enough in my weekend capsule for my lifestyle, working in the office full time. My office clothes is not suitable for my home, it is not “cat proofed”. I’m not in a mood for clothes shopping and feel like I should conserve our finances but having to wear same couple pants and a few t-shirts is getting on my nerves. I don’t know what to do, yet.

rachylou

Veteran

I’m pretty sure I don’t have good At Home clothes. My wardrobe is divided into Office Wear (which is dead weight in my closet these days) and Bakery Wear. The bakery wear is OK for a couple of days at home doing chores and gardening and going to the grocery... I look like a bum, but whatever for a few hours... But, well, I’m developing sympathy now for why my whole neighborhood is dressed by REI and/or Lands End.

Bonnie

Veteran

I am retired but have a similar situation because I moved from an area where it is hot (over 90-110F) for over 7-9 months a year to where is is cool (50-69F) for 8-10 months a year. When I moved here I had lots of flowy woven tops and almost no sweaters. I've lived here for a little over a year and have made some progress making the wardrobe switch. But having just worn the same sweaters/sweatshirts for 4-5 months, and looking forward to wearing them for an additional 4-5 months, I'm feeling less than fab. I'm thinking of dipping into my extensive summer wardrobe and wearing heat tech shirts underneath them.

Christina F.

Veteran

I am thinking about this because the physical environment of my home “office” is different than the out of home office. I think I may not spend significant time in the non-home office for a long time. Right now, my solution is non-right but presentable bottoms with boho blouses during the day, or elevated tees. The problem is that I issued short sleeve blouses a while ago, but they would not be perfect for my situation. The bedroom office is too warm and I have no control over it; I sometimes have vcons so I can’t wear tank tops, either.

A while ago Angie posted about some kind of boho utility formula - I am for getting the name of it. That’s basically what I am aiming for.

I think my summer clothes are sufficient and I had to bring out some of my shoulder season clothes early for this purpose. It remains to be seen if I have enough suitable pieces for the semi-long haul. I won’t buy much now but I will see how I feel if I’m still in this situation in the fall.

Liesbeth

Veteran

As you know, my casual wardrobe has been my focus since the start of the year. A lucky coincidence making it easier to dress to wfh. I'm not running short yet because staying indoors and generally being uninspired to experiment these days has led me to repeat-wear outfits until they are genuinely dirty or smelly - sorry if I'm painting a nasty picture and I'll try to step up my game now that our lockdown has been extended to at least another three weeks. But between the toddler and work and no more cleaning lady I'm happy to have at least less laundry :/.
Surprisingly, I have started wearing cashmere sweaters again needing to stay warm and comfy at home, that had been languishing since the birth of ds. Figured it's not worse to ruin them actually wearing them then to let them gather dust and become outdated.

Kathie

Veteran

Carla- a great question. I came to YLF as an under-buyer with a smaller wardrobe, and having moved from the more temperate Pacific Northwest to the mid-Atlantic of the US. I devoured information about solving wardrobe bottlenecks, and buying for my actual lifestyle. After almost three years here, my wardrobe had evolved to be super useful, for my four-season climate, with 5 days going-to-work, and weekends. Just enough variety, but far from feeling overwhelmed by my closet. I’ve been working from home for two weeks, and have been noting different wardrobe holes, namely jeans (I only have three pairs- plenty for weekends, not quite enough for wearing them every day long-term) and gear (3 pairs of shorts, two of which are 15+ years old and near the end of their life, 1 pair of longer workout pants.) It will be getting much warmer in 6-8 weeks where I live, so I’m holding off on jeans for now. But, the gear is likely to be an issue I solve sooner. CarolS nailed it, in terms of my similar issue- my work clothes are not suited to a quick lunchtime bike ride with one of my DSs, nor a post-work day socially distant stroll through our neighborhood. Thankfully, since my jeans and gear capsules are quite small, anything I do add would get worn, no matter what my life looks like in 6-12 months.

ETA- I also don’t have a separate loungewear category. My PJs and gear double as “loungewear” depending on my activities for the day, so I think that’s also why I’m feeling the pinch, in terms of gear.

slim cat

Veteran

Most of my casual clothes are from the previous very casual work so I'm good in that regard. However I'm starting to feel like I want to wear dressier clothes for everyday and hopefully start doing just that. YLF blog/forum is really inspiring and uplifting in that way.

Anonymous

Honestly, the balance in my closet between casual "daytime" clothes and sweats/shluppy stuff is too heavily weighted to the latter. At the beginning of fall, I decided I'd create a little at-home/loungewear capsule of mix and match sweat/lounge pants and tops. So I have about 5 tops and 3 bottoms, and really don't like how I feel or look in any of them. Sure, they are comfy and easy, but I feel like a ragbag wearing them - like right now for example. So - all of this time at home (it's only been 2 weeks but feels like 2 months ) has made it clear that lounge-y stuff is not for me. Any new clothing purchases should be casual pants and tops that are wovens - with less emphasis on knits. However.......I'm playing along with my martyr persona right now and wearing the heck out of whatever I own and not fretting about what I wish I had.

smittie

Veteran

The main issue for me right now is is Rainwear, which I really don’t have at all.
It’s going to rain a lot in the next few weeks, and I want (need) to keep up my daily walks.

Prior to this situation, I wouldn’t walk in the rain.

CarolS

Veteran

Such an excellent point, smittie. One don't really have the luxury to pass on walking in the rain when it's the only outing there is in a day. Our perspectives on many things change very quickly!

Sal

Veteran

I am fairly well set up right now. Lots of gear really and soft knits and jeans. I have changed my All Birds to indoor work from home shoes as I don't like wearing slippers all day.

Staysfit

Veteran

This is a thoughtful and relevant question. I am learning some things about my personal style from having to work from home. I am not one to wear leisure wear during my workday. I feel best, and believe I am most comforting to those I serve when I maintain the Genuine Composed elements of my personal style, I find myself gravitating towards sleek lines, simple silhouettes, a neutral palette, and then adding well curated details like earrings, scarves and comfortable sneakers. I need less variety and am learning the most unique aspects of my style are the elements I repeat rather than those that I vary. I have little need to make additional purchases as I have what I need right now, but I am finding it easier to cull unnecessary items from my wardrobe so they can be passed on to someone else who will enjoy them.

cindysmith

Veteran

I've been having sort of the opposite problem. Working in a grocery store, putting in 9-14 hour days, I have had no time to wear anything but work clothes and whatever I'm sleeping in. Now that I'm having to take a leave of absence to guard my physical health (my COPD makes the Coronapocalypse very dangerous for me), I am looking forward to playing around with my off duty clothes. I have nowhere to go except the laundromat unless I get to have Miss Mollie for a few days, so I don't know what on earth I'm going to find myself wearing, but it won't be whatever I would be okay with wearing to bed. I have missed the fun of picking an outfit, and even though I have nowhere to go, I am excited to play with my clothes and shoes again.

And work out. I'm excited to get to work out again. I might not be able to go to the gym, but I can do yoga, body-weight type stuff, and some dumbbell exercises. I actually have gear for that, and it will be nice to actually NEED it again. I haven't been to the gym since before Valentine's Day, and I've missed it.

Gretchen

Veteran

I'm in generally good shape, but finding that I miss my ponte pants. I donated 3 pair in January figuring that I mostly wear them for long distance travel, and would replace when there were sales. Now I wish I had them to fill that hole where I want more than leggings but not jeans. My one pair remaining is getting a workout, and I may give in and order 1-2 pairs if this SIP is extended.

I also did a full gear audit this weekend. Added several tops and leggings to the donate pile, and bumped a couple tops up into "try with a topper" while in this SIP situation.

I'm also well aware that I can't complain - I have a large wardrobe and it's serving me well during this time.

Bijou

Veteran

I find my needs for working from home differ to my weekend needs, I need to be smart work casual for video conferencing. So I am often wearing a more casual dress or blouse and skirt/jeans. I should be fine in mixing up work and casual pieces, but I know I will miss wearing my more formal suits and evening wear capsule.

For winter I predict my 3 knit / woven dresses will Be in high rotation. It is quite nice rediscovering some lesser worn items. Today I wore my pineapple blazer (in finds) with jeans and enjoyed how it was smarter than what I would wear normally for a day at home. I have also rediscovered my pink loafers which make for a perfect work from home footwear choice.

Campbell Italian linen blazer in Ratti painted pineapple

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Anonymous

I'm ok right now and don't feel the need for variety, between my loungewear and gear. The days I've gone out for errands I just wear normal workwear.
I will be in trouble in summer for lack of shorts though. I may just wear my tube skirts during the day, but only have 1 pair of sleeping shorts.
I also need biking kit, especially shorts.
Did I mention shorts are my nemesis

Style Fan

Veteran

I am mostly retired as well but I do small projects. All that has been put on hold now. I have a small wardrobe to start with and my loungewear is in a sorry state. I was planning to buy something in Montreal but that plan got halted.
Smittie makes a good point about raingear. I am used to walking in the rain because dog owners walk in all weather. I do need footwear for the rain.

Kate

Veteran

I've been working from home for decades, so I have a great work wear closet now, but it took me quite a while to figure it out. It's casual, comfy, but will stand scrutiny for in-office meetings as well as virtual meetings.

I also have a small but beloved section of going out clothes that I am also happy to add to whenever I feel the need, because I use this stuff and love it. The only thing I need to do is winnow some of my more dressier dresses, which I do not tend to wear. Dresses that get the most wear are summer dresses, followed by A/W sweater dresses. I will probably add one summer dress to my collection this summer.

I do have a very small dedicated set of clothing—demotions from workwear mainly—that I use when I'm gardening, doing heavy duty cleaning, painting, etc.

Joy

Veteran

Like Bonnie, I am retired but still adjusting to a different climate. When I moved here I had no real transitional clothing. It was all either heavy sweaters or sleeveless. It finally dawned on me that I needed some things with sleeves, even under jackets. About 4 to 5 months are snowy and cold. The rest of the year is transitional with a few hot days tossed in. A big change coming from 8-9 months of summer humid hot heat and then overnight, winter. No real transitional weather.

celia

Veteran

Very good question , Carla. Last summer I decided to upgrade my casual wear because whenever I tried to change from my work clothes to comfier clothes to wear after Aikido or whenever I was in a casual outdoor setting my clothes just didn't cut it(we are talking about old and saggy sweatpants and the like).
I have been buying slowly and keeping to a color scheme of purples/pink/grey/black/white.
One week before WFH, DH and I bought 2 pairs of sneakers each on an outlet, of all things to buy on vacation
So, all in all I feel pretty happy with the little I have for now.

Keturah

Veteran

I’m a SAHM with an exuberant and active three-year-old boy. I work from home part time for a physical therapist. So I have no real work requirements.

That said, my wardrobe has been a work in progress for the last year or two. I never wore proper corporate work attire. But I had a vast closet of artistic, fun, and beautiful clothes. My wardrobe is now small. I’m really transitioning a lot with some style tweaks and obvious lifestyle changes. That’s probably been the easiest yet hardest thing: creating glam yet casual wardrobe.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

My usual pyjamas consist of a tank top, ankle fitted trousers, a cardigan & a scarf, so I've taken that same formula for my WFH outfits. I have kept the main clothing pieces in a particular palette of neutrals (chocolate, beige, khaki & navy) but I do like variety, so I incorporate colour through my scarves.

I was feeling a little closet fatigue after 5 months of this though, so I decided to add in more colourful accessories than just the scarves - wearing my fun earrings & painting my nails has helped. Maybe I'll eventually graduate to wearing colourful lipstick for my video calls too

anne

Veteran

This is only my second week of working from home, but I do feel like my casual and lounge wear will be getting a thorough work out. I am a small wardrobe girl by Ylf standards, adding only 12-20 items a year minus knickers and socks/hose and sometimes with the addition of hand-me-downs.
I could wear work wear to wfh, and maybe I will, but I am up earlier than DH so have to dress in the dark and it just seems too hard (usually I packed outfits the night before, but I have been going to bed early exhausted.) Temperature range is greater than the office too.