Gen Z’s Rules for Appropriate Office Wear
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Who should set the rules for appropriate office wear — and what do you think about what the WSJ calls “Gen Z's new rules for appropriate office wear”? Which old rules no longer apply, and which ones DO still apply? What considerations should a newbie take into account when deciding what is appropriate office wear?
There was a really interesting piece a week or so ago in The Wall Street Journal (gift link)…
As Gen Z enters the office, some of them are obliterating old rules about how to dress for work. Crop tops, pajama pants and miniskirts are all fair game. Classics like suits and pencil skirts are getting a sexy, youthful rebrand, with trends like “corporate fetish,” “office siren” and “corpcore” proliferating online. Brands are eagerly marketing less-than-traditional workwear that speaks to both of these shifts. …
[Olympia Gayot, the creative director of women’s and Crewcuts at J.Crew] said J.Crew didn’t subscribe to a particular view of what clothing was safe for work. “If you want to wear a miniskirt with a blazer to the office, I think that depends on where you work,” she said. “You have to make that judgment call.” Gayot emphasized the importance of styling; a miniskirt might look more modest when paired with a sweater and tights, for example.
It should probably be noted that the tweed lady jacket pictured at top is in J.Crew's “wear to work” section — but the matching tweed skort is not. (I can't decide if the fact that it's a skort makes it better or worse as theoretical office wear.) Here's another interesting point to keep in mind:
Heather McLean, executive vice president of product at Aritzia, said despite the marketing, the trend wasn’t always meant for the actual office. The brand also introduced cropped blazers and ones with cinched waists that are designed for a night out.
It's an interesting question, I think, and of course varies greatly based on which industry you're in and where you're located.
I will always remember (with some shame!) wearing a very short miniskirt to my first real workplace, the women's magazine Family Circle. Possibly important notes: it was a 98% women's office — but I did sit relatively close to the EIC, who was big enough of a deal that she sometimes had VIPs visiting her office.
I wore the black corduroy skirt with black sweater tights, and one of the other junior editors, maybe about 8 years my senior, stopped me in the hallway to tell me that if my fingertips didn't touch the bottom of my skirt I should maybe reconsider it. Yikes. I think she did it in a “big sister” spirit as best she could, but I still remember it well, perhaps in part because she was one of the more bohemian members of the staff, dressing casually, while a lot of the older women I worked with were regularly in skirt suits.
So, again — know your office! It's an open and real question who gets to decide what is appropriate office wear. We've always advised the youngest readers here (or those newest to the office) to take notes from the midlevels you see around you… but in this day and age, where many midlevels may be frequently working from home, this may not be the best or only gauge.
There is always the actual dress code, should your workplace have one, but a lot of times these can get outdated very quickly… I remember (in the past 15 years!) writing about a workplace that required pantyhose at all times, including beneath pants.
How to Know What is Appropriate Office Wear
Some of the old questions, like “would you wear it to sleep in” and “would you wear it to the gym” perhaps aren't as appropriate anymore… but here are some questions that I think are kind of timeless:
– can you move freely in the outfit, or at least as freely as your job requires? If getting something out of the bottom file drawer is going to be difficult because of your skirt, then maybe it's not appropriate for work, but rather evenings out and other filing-cabinet-free zones.
– does any part of the outfit make noise in the hallway? If you wouldn't want to hear someone's faux leather or corduroy swishing down the hallway while you're trying to focus, you probably shouldn't wear it either.
– do you need specific underwear for the outfit? I like to think of Thoreau's quote about “beware all enterprises requiring new clothes” — if you need a very specific bra or other underwear, that may be a sign that it's not appropriate for work.
– can anyone in the office wear this outfit? If you don't want to see your geriatric male boss in a crop top, that may be a sign that you also should not show your belly at the office.
Finally — and this is the most difficult question to ask yourself:
– does the outfit represent the Me I want to be seen as in business? We all may have “sexy office siren” in us, but is that what you really want your coworkers to see you as? Traits you may want to play up: dependable! attentive to detail! imaginative! creative! street smart, in that “reads the room” kind of way! Traits you may want to play down: your sex appeal… your six pack… your love of jammy pants.
Readers, what are your thoughts? Are you seeing these kinds of styles at your office? Do you think Gen Z will succeed in redefining what is appropriate office wear — or do you think the system will favor those who adhere to previously established norms?
has anyone ever used Noom to help with weight loss? My doctor suggested it, but I’m skeptical. I know what to do to lose weight, but struggle with stress eating
Spend your money on compounded tirzepatide instead (I have tried both – guess which one was successful). You’re welcome.
I came here to say the same thing. I felt like Noom’s heart was in the right place, but I felt like it was made for someone very new to diet culture. And I forgot to cancel before they automatically billed me for the next six months. GLP-1’s did what nothing else did.
A close friend used Noom and lost 38 lbs. and has kept it off for over a year. It was free to her through her health insurance and I know that would also be true with my health benefits.
I read an interesting article about how Noom employees were suing the company because they, as minimally trained customer service agents, were expected to act as therapists for people with disordered eating due to suicidal ideation and significant traumas such as sexual and other abuse. So they had a constant onslaught of horrible issues that they were expected to handle with some generic encouragement. That said, the impression I got is that Noom provides you with educational videos and coaching through chat … the coaching intended to be supportive comments but not deep therapy. So it depends on if you think this would be useful or not.
I have some friends who used it as a jumping off point for getting into eating healthier and thinking about the food they eat, and it worked well for them. However, I think it only works for people who aren’t used to thinking about what they eat in terms of health. If you spend a lot of time thinking about the healthiness of food or how much you are eating, this will not help you.
I work in a field that is very much under threat under current admin. I am a great writer (as that is part of my job) at a fairly high level position but do not directly work for the USG. I am thinking of starting a somewhat anonymized substack as I know these days no one reads new blogs and all of social media is a landmine right now. Thoughts/ advice? Would you be interested in reading someone’s inside perspective and other commentary/thoughts from a sociological lens if you didn’t get to associate them with a face/name/persona? No plans to monetize it but given the dire situation these days, over time if I build a readership I wont be averse to having people buying me coffee or something in exchange for hopefully insightful reading material.
I’d be interested in the concept, but I’m not sure how anonymized you could go and still feel trustworthy, or give enough details to be insightful without risking your anonymity?
Paying for a substack is a very very high bar for me – the one I pay for is essentially running a full newsroom, not a part time newsletter (don’t mean that to be discouraging, just to give you a real data point!). There’s more substacks I’d pay maybe $1/month for than $10/month; but substack doesn’t support that use case well
On that note: I am so frustrated with Substack. There are a lot of writers out there that I would like to support – but $7 per month is so, so steep. I have to really love a writer and get a LOT out of their material to justify that. I would love to be able to buy a self-curated Substack bundle of, say, 5 writers for $10 a month. Like – a magazine on substack. Does this exist? (And yes, I do subscribe to real magazines too.)
The FBI tracks literally everything that happens online and you will be putting youself in danger no matter how well you think you’re covering your tracks.
Would love to hear reactions to the following from people claiming the administration’s anti-DEI crusade has nothing to do with racism!
Darren Beattie has been appointed acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, a senior State Department official confirmed. Beattie, who will manage the department’s messaging and relationship with foreign populations, has a history of incendiary comments, including an October 2024 tweet in which he wrote: “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”
That tweet is precisely backwards, we coddle mediocre white men who aren’t capable of proper emotional regulation because they’re toddlers.
I don’t know what more there is to say. The tweet says the quiet part out loud.
I genuinely think that a lot of people (maybe the majority) would take offense at that, but because of how information and misinformation flows, they will not learn about this tweet, and instead they have been convinced by a years long campaign that DEI discriminates and leads to the hiring of less effective people.
Disagree. The majority of people agree with it, but don’t say it publicly. If a majority agreed, we would have President Harris and the country wouldn’t be in chaos right now.
My current thinking is that there are a lot of people in this country who are getting a thrill out of watching Trump metaphorically punch people in the face. It’s a rush. And the recoil hasn’t yet hit to force people to reckon with the fact that they are also getting punched in the face.
The best thing I ever read about the Trump administration is that “The cruelty is the point.” That is the unifying theory of MAGA, and there are a lot of people who are getting a kick out of watching the unfettered cruelty.
I would like to quit meta, but my main use is Facebook messenger for a big friend group chat. There are 10 of us, with a mix of Apple and Android phones, so I don’t think just a text chain will work. Originally, I was thinking we could switch to WhatsApp, but I learned that’s also owned by meta. Any recommendations for other text messaging platforms?
Signal
Apple has changed in the last year or so. Text chains between Apple & Android users are absolutely a possibility to consider now! I’m on one such with some relatives.
Group chats with Apple and Android are a lot better now than they were a year ago. Just do that.
group.me is reasonable and popular in my circles. Discord is also reasonable but high overhead if your people are not already on it. Signal is fine, but I see fewer people starting new groups in it now vs 5 years ago.
I really miss the conservative office environment I experienced in the 90’s. My current office environment is business casual, although we have no official dress code. Dressing in a suit is actually easier for me, and I hate being caught off guard by surprise client drop-ins. I’m tired of being mortified by what some millenials have worn in the office, so I’ve actually begun wearing suits again to lead by example. I’m obviously not expecting anyone else to show up in a suit, but maybe put a bit more effort into looking more polished and put together.
I’m not sure where to ask this random question: are light pink/purple suits acceptable for work? I recently bought this set to wear as a pastor but I am wondering if it’s too flashy: https://www.anntaylor.com/search?q=rosy+mauve