Reimagining Office Attire?
Some news caught my attention this week that says more about the future of work than most might realize. On Monday Tailored Brands, owner of Men’s Warehouse and Jos A. Bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing will result in the closure of up to 500 stores and the restructuring of debt. While not going away, the landscape for men’s business formal wear may look very dismal for the foreseeable future.
There’s been a continual decline in the formality of the office attire for years. Peaking with the “IBM Suit” at it’s most formal, organizations in general have adopted business casual dress policies with an occasional or Friday “Jeans Day.” Going back a year ago, recall the stereotypical image of someone who “worked from home?” Sweats, t-shirt, gym wear. You know, comfy casual with very little emphasis on presentation. Will Remote Work be the end of Business Casual?
I haven’t worn a suit since February. Truth be told, my standard work attire these days are flip-flops, khaki shorts and a Polo or Columbia Fishing Shirt. Great for comfort, cool in the summer, easy wash & wear, but most importantly cost effective. The news on Monday was not unexpected. I can recall one of the few trips to the mall this year seeing the stacks of folded dress shirts at a Macy’s. My initial thought was, “those are going to be there for a while.” Turns out, I was probably correct.
It’s clear there will be an excess supply of “this year’s designs,” but how does this play out in the near and long term? Will we get to a point where while remote, the expectations are raised ever so slightly to at least dress for the camera? How will meetings work post COVID? Business Travel and Sales Meetings? Or are we just relegated to dressing up for personal occasions and weddings? To help me attempt to answer some of these questions I’ve called back in our favorite marathon runner and honestly, the best dressed guy I know, Mr. Mark Fung.
Thanks buddy! I think the impact of COVID will absolutely redefine how we view ‘office appropriate’ attire, and the first shift I see is stylish comfort trumping office wear norms. It only makes sense!
The first people I think of are all my peers and coworkers who are not only working from home, but are being asked to play multiple roles throughout the day: office worker, care giver, teacher, and overall jack-of-all trades. What is the clothing that is comfortable and versatile enough to allow them to conduct a Zoom meeting, give a history lesson, and feed some cranky toddlers, back to back to back? It certainly isn’t a navy cashmere blazer with a perfectly crisp white button down (side note – I totally recognize I am in the select few that miss wearing navy cashmere blazers 🙁 ).
And because this isn’t a living situation isolated to a select few, I think that not only are people figuring out their new norms when it comes to attire, they are allowing their peers and coworkers the grace and leniency to figure it out as well. Hungry kids, barking dogs, plumbing on the fritz, “athleisure” shirts and tops, baseball caps and buns, this is all part of the WFH norm right now.
What people were wearing comfortably to go on a Target run before, is now being seen on video conferences around the globe. The question will eventually (maybe very soon) become, was what you were wearing on that Target run considered appropriate in front of coworkers? Yes you may “Rose’ All Day”, but does Bob in Accounting need to know that? And is it sending the right message? That conversation may already be happening in HR departments as we speak…
But when it comes to customer-facing virtual meetings, I’ve still seen the desire to impress, and people still find the time to put a little extra time and effort in to polish how they present themselves. I think the meeting attire from so long ago (read: February) is getting dusted off and put to use… only to be put right back in the closet after that Zoom call ends. And if you think the entire ensemble is getting put to work, well I’d wager that it’s a coin flip on whether or not that person staring at you on your screen across the interweb is wearing the matching pants, or a pair of workout shorts. But overall I think the desire to impress a prospective mate, in this case a customer, in inherent in all of us. The question here for me is not when do we stop trying to impress customers, but when do we redefine what impresses customers?
And as for travel clothing, we could do a whole blog post on that future all by itself! Anti-microbial fabrics, major fashion houses and brands releasing their own mask lines, maybe even disposable clothing? The future is so unclear here, but the fashion industry has shown an amazing ability to pivot and produce masks, why not pivot entire styles and designs to feature function first, form second?
Thanks Mark! I can definitely see the need for utilitarian styles working from home. The more informal the settings for work, the more informal the style. I do hope that as with all things that are cyclical, especially fashion, business formal stages a comeback at some point, but that’s just me. There’s just a certain mental mindset that kicks in when the suit goes on. In the meantime, it appears that there may be some buying opportunities for sport coats, suits, shirts and other business formal and casual items.
Much like everything else getting re-imagined this year, it looks like we’re in for change when it comes to working attire. If I were to play out other scenarios based on my own experience, I would also say that Dry Cleaners are having a tough time in similar fashion (pun intended). If I’m not wearing the dress shirts, slacks and jackets regularly, so too are my Dry Cleaning needs diminished. Its amazing to think of the myriad of small businesses and industries that are impacted by a redefinition of the workspace. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the secondary impacts as it relates to the shift from office to home office. While not quite the level of a 5th Industrial Revolution, I would say we’re getting pretty close.