Pink Clothes & The Office
This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The Wall Street Journal just ran a story about the new “CEO pink” (gift link) — a muted, dusty shade that “means power in the office.” I thought it might make an interesting discussion here — do you avoid certain colors for the office, or adopt others to “mean power at the office”? Do you think that pink clothes have passed the Legally Blonde moment in general, or is it just the very specific pink that the WSJ is discussing?
(Obviously, we feature a lot of clothes of all colors here — the coming Suit of the Week is in fact a lovely dusty pink! But in previous years, there was some hesitation to wear pink to big meetings — so I'm particularly addressing the questions to those commenters! If you once hesitated to wear pink, do you still? When did it change for you?)
But wait! The WSJ notes that they mean a very, very specific pink — a pale, muted, dusty shade. Specifically, NOT hot pink:
Julia Sloan, the founder of the womenswear brand Sloan, says the shade captures the nuances of femininity in a way baby or hot pink don’t. “Pink has historically had a hard time holding that complexity.” This year’s breakout hue, Sloan believes, comes closest. “It doesn’t shout [like hot pink]. It feels elemental,” she said.
People quoted for the WSJ also note that you shouldn't wear the pink in a “fussy” texture like tweed or boucle — but you also “don't want anything dainty or exaggerated.”
The WSJ has suggestions for wearing the color “in a way that doesn't lean too saccharine,” though: Juxtapose it with sharp, angular lines and relaxed fits, says Kallmeyer. Look for loosefitting pieces and traditionally “masculine” cuts “to balance the softness of the color,” she added.
Phillips likes to achieve that contrast by pairing the gentle pastel with black shoes or a leather jacket. “If you go too feminine,” she said, “it loses its edge.”
I don't know — while a hot pink suit has always been something difficult to pull off, I'm kind of surprised to see this much thoughtfulness going into “how to wear pink to the office” in this day and age. Readers, what are your thoughts?
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / mc_stockphoto.hotmail.com.
To me, this is the standard Oxford button-front shirt pink color. I like it for button-fronts, blouses, and shells, but I can’t get into the suits, jackets/coats, or shirt dresses. Makes me think of a 90s Mary Kay exec. On the other hand, I am in love with the lavender equivalent of this in power clothing. I have a pale lavender herringbone blazer and Oxford that have been on repeat for my Spring/Summer wardrobe.
This exactly. I don’t really like collared shirts, but love the rose pink one I have. It looks beautiful inside of a dark grey suit and looks sharp inside of a linen suit.
When I was interning at an investment bank one of the other interns told me not to wear pink, and to generally dress as much like a man as possible. This was in the early 2010s, so not that long ago. I don’t even know what she was getting at, they’re not going to forget you’re a woman just because you’re wearing navy blue.
I ignored this, wore pink and purple to my hearts content, it has not hurt me at all. It’s business professional clothing, and pink is a reasonable color to wear .
Agree with this. I had a light pink suit as a first-year lawyer in 1988 (wore it with nurse-off-white pantyhose) and continued wearing pink for my whole career. Currently own not one but two hot-pink suits.
Refusing to wear pink at work, or viewing pink as unprofessional, is just misogyny and the patriarchy. It’s a woman’s colour and therefore it’s “bad.” I don’t have time for that bs.
Amen!
Seriously. This is so dumb. Are we preschoolers who need to be reminded that all colors are for everyone?
Historically there have been times when pink was more masculine and not more feminine.
I think the article above is more nuanced than this. Look at Kat’s last paragraph. It’s not about “pink” overarchingly. There are unquestionably unprofessional ways to wear pink pieces of clothing. It’s more that it is a bit odd to boil it down in such a specific way? Like, we all know not to wear a hot pink Barbie suit to court, but there are lots of pink jackets which would be just fine. Maybe because we intrinsically know this already and don’t need an article covering it.
My straight, male, GenX c-suite boss is wearing a blazer this color today and it’s not a remarkable event. It’s so backwards to encounter people who think certain colors are taboo for certain categories of people.
I have never once spent this much time pondering what I wear to work.
Agreed that this is thinking too much about pink. But also: is CEO pink any different from “millenial pink”? Did it become CEO pink because (some) the millenials are over 40 now?
This was my exact thought! I’m GenX, and I loved millenial pink the first time around and I’m here for it now, but it’s the same color afaict.
Has anyone watched Fair Play on Netflix? It’s excellent (and a
intense). They have this exact convo
My teenage son wants to buy some weights and take up strength training during the summer vacation. Any recommendations for videos and weights for a beginner level strength training program on Youtube? I see Fitnessblender recommended here, is it a paid subscription? He does not want to come to my Strength+Yoga class with me (understandably so, though I would love it if he did!). Thanks for any info.
I’d consider gifting him a Peloton app subscription for the summer, which includes both Peloton and Peloton Strength+, two different apps. Peloton is nice because he can try out a bunch of instructors and styles of training, and they are typically geared toward people who have free weights or are doing bodyweight only exercises. As far as weights go, my minimal setup at home has the following dumbbell pairs: 8, 12, 15, 20. I also have resistance bands and a yoga mat. At this point I would really like to have 25s and 30s, but I can still get a solid workout out of the collection I have.
Not on YouTube, but I’m really enjoying the ladders app for strength training.
Get him a YMCA membership
Not sure this is great either. At our YMCA, the kids want to just use the machines, and they often do not know proper technique. It’s easy to hurt yourself.