The new workwear rules for the hybrid working world

The way we work hasn’t just changed. The way we dress for work has also seen something of a revolution. Along with greater preferences for flexibility, have come greater preferences for less uniformity in what we wear. Workwear for hybrid working has changed the rules.

Since the pandemic and increased levels of homeworking, what we regard as ‘work wear’ has blurred into our casual, non-work outfits. Leisure wear, tracksuits, and even pyjamas became acceptable for work, at least on the bottom half. 

“Some people have said that going into an office, they are unsure of the landscape now and wondering what to wear because everything has gone slightly more casual.”

Lisa Talbot

In a survey in 2021, it found 43% saw more people wearing jeans to work, 20% reported seeing more Crocs or flip flops, and 7% even said they saw more people wearing pyjamas. Everyday became ‘dress-down Friday’.

But as we move out of the immediate post-pandemic way of working, we are starting to change how we feel about what we wear and how we show up for our work.

The novelty of comfort clothing has now flipped so that we are excited by the idea of dressing up again. Coupled with a sense from many women that they want to make a statement and have more of an impact, what we wear has also become more of a personal branding exercise.

Check out the feature in volume 5 of The Homeworker print magazine: You Are What You Wear, exploring how your clothes affect your mindset and performance – plus your ultimate WFH capsule wardrobe.

Workwear for hybrid working

For people working in a hybrid manner, or just getting out to more in-person events and meetings, the style stakes have changed again. People are questioning their choices more and worrying about what to wear going ‘back to the office’ notes Lisa Talbot, an award-winning personal stylist. After the familiarity and comfort of working solely from home, going to see people in-person brings new fears of judgement and feeling exposed.

“A lot of them are saying, ‘my wardrobe now feels dated’… They are thinking it hasn’t moved with the times,” says Lisa. “Previously they might have gone shopping at lunchtime or been more aware of what other people were wearing or what was in the shops.”

She says, “Some people have said that going into an office, they are unsure of the landscape now and wondering what to wear because everything has gone slightly more casual.”

She says they are now looking at ways to repurpose their outfits to suit today’s more relaxed dress code. With her clients, she is suggesting ways to change a very structured dress or smart pair of trousers or looking at how to adapt an outfit by adding a belt, changing the shoes, or  wearing a different jacket. "They are having to learn a new pattern of behaviour of dressing down for the office.”

People are now looking at ways to repurpose their outfits to suit today’s more relaxed dress code… They are having to learn a new pattern of behaviour of dressing down for the office.

Smartening up and rewriting the rules

However, Lisa says there are two things happening. While people are generally opting for more casual workwear for hybrid working, there are also some people moving to wear more elevated looks.

For instance, she says, more people are wearing trainers to work nowadays but, “some of the women who didn’t wear heels now love wearing heels because going into the office is more of a novelty so they get to dress up and wear things they used to wear.”

This is not just due to novelty and style however. Partly this coincides with more women wishing to be noticed and have a voice in the workplace. McKinsey’s 2022 Women in the Workplace report found “women are more ambitious than ever”. 80% of women wanted to be promoted compared to 70% in 2019.

Progress has been slow (the report found women represent 48% of the workforce at entry level and only 28% at C-suite) but the increased flexibility now on offer is giving them options.

Getting on brand