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Since we're all mostly hanging out in T-shirts these days, I thought it would be interesting to do a roundup of ways to elevate a simple T-shirt if you want to feel a little more polished while still having a very, very easy work-from-home wardrobe.
{related: what to wear to work from home}
Our Latest Favorite Simple T-Shirts for Women
Work-Appropriate T-Shirts to Wear Under Cardigans and Blazers
Looking for the best work-appropriate T-shirts? As of 2024, some of our favorite dressy T-shirts for work are from Amazon Essentials, Theory, Everlane, J.Crew, Banana Republic, Nic + Zoe, and Vince — also check our posts on opaque white tees and the best plus-size tees for work!
Our Latest Favorite Plus-Size Dressy T-Shirts for Women
Weekend T-Shirts for Women
As of 2024, some of the best weekend women's t-shirts include Caslon, Madewell, Amazon Essentials, Fishers Finery, New Day, Rag & Bone, Frame, Splendid, Michael Stars, Three Dots, James Perse, and Velvet.
My Favorite Ways to Elevate a Simple T-Shirt
1. Add a necklace. One of my favorite style tips from Pinterest has been this cheatsheet…
2. Add a cardigan, crisp button-front (worn open or half-buttoned), or blazer. Some of our favorite cardigans are below…
Some of our favorite classic cardigans for the office as of 2024 include those below — definitely check Talbots and J.Crew Factory if you're looking for plus sizes, and Quince is always a nice affordable option. Veronica Beard and Brooks Brothers both keep a bunch of options in stock.
3. Knot your tee to create a twisted look, a bit like this (below).
4. Add a scarf or use your office pashmina.
5. Use a brooch to create an asymmetrical neckline (for a T-shirt you don't mind possibly stretching). (Here are 7 ways to wear a brooch!)
Psst: stay tuned for some of our recent favorite brooches!
6. Layer multiple T-shirts underneath each other (particularly for very thin tees), or use a camisole to change the neckline. (Some of our favorites are below!)
Pictured above, our favorite camisoles for work: one / two / three / four (25+ different color combos in a 4 pack!)– don't forget about demi-camisoles too, such as this, this or this — or chemisettes!)
7. Tuck it in and add a belt.
Readers, what are your top tips to elevate a simple t-shirt?
Reality TV
Is anyone else watching?
In an attempt to salvage the series from the misogyny season, with Below Deck, this season’s all-female leadership has instead reinforced all stereotypes of women in leadership roles. SO frustrating to not even be able to watch reality tv without the worst of life being shown in ways that seems to highlight and celebrate the gaslighting and bullying rather than for it to be demonized as it deserves to be.
Then again, is it any easier than watching someone lovely be so badly bullied on Selling Sunset?
This is why I stick with 90 Day Fiance (and avoid anything with coltee and his mother wife- gaslighters!)… at least there, everyone is fairly equally awful.
What are you watching? Also, are there any reality shows that are interesting without them being just more of the stuff that’s wrong with the world?!
Anonymous
I embarrassingly love 90 day fiance.
Anonie
I recently enjoyed “Love on the Spectrum,” “Indian Matchmaker,” and, on the goofier end, “Love is Blind.” There are some problematic aspects in all of them, but (with the first two in particular) I found some substance compared to similar shows. My fiance is big into sports, so I’ve also watched “Last Chance U” with him and was surprised by how much depth and interest it offers for my decidedly-not-into-sports self. The recent season has a lot of talk about gentrification.
Before quarantine, I didn’t watch much reality TV at all. My one guilty pleasure for years has been The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but of course it doesn’t offer a very empowered or classy take on the ladies’ lives ha. My sister recently introduced me to Selling Sunset but I’m only 3 episodes in. I can definitely see the cast being a petri dish for bullying though!
Anonymous
I work with a Bugsy. I don’t want to see one on my TV.
I was so bothered last night by Below Deck that I think I need to stop watching. That’s someone’s actual life that they are bringing down by painting them as a drug user that way. I’m shocked Hannah was willing to do WWHL a few weeks ago (or maybe she was hoping for a better edit?). To see those two snakes on WWHL where they talked about “narcotics” and all the smirking and laughing was so upsetting to me. Not cool to treat someone’s mental health like a joke like that. Poor Hannah is always going to have that in the universe now, whether with future employers or her kids’ school or wherever. That can’t be taken back. It made me feel gross to have watched.
pugsnbourbon
I am wholly obsessed with Selling Sunset. Why is their office like that? What the hell does Christine’s fiance actually do? How does one reach adulthood with such a total lack of boundaries? And then every so often there’s a break to look at a pretty house. And then we’re back at it with gossip and backstabbing!
I don’t know how much of it is real. But I’m entertained.
Cat
+1!! I haven’t watched Season 3 yet but got sucked into Seasons 1 & 2 (husband included and this is NOT his thing… he will pipe up saying things like “Davina is the worst” or “why is Arugula [his name for Romain] marrying Mary, all they are shown doing is bickering” lol
Amber
I loved Indian Matchmaking! I wasn’t going to watch it but after reading a few posts on here about it, I tried it out and was hooked! Also liked the Circle and Love is Blind.
I cannot watch Season 3 of Selling Sunset because I cannot bear to watch Chrishell be bullied or go through her divorce drama!
Bachelor Nation
I’m waiting to see Tayshia as the Bachelorette. Many problems with that show, for sure, but there is nothing like watching other people’s love journey to make me chill out about the lack of love life on my side of the TV screen.
tshirts
short, hourglass shape, and carrying my fluff in my lower stomach. always looking for tshirts that are fitting enough to show the curve of the sides but that don’t sit tight on the stomach. However, the only options I’ve found look oddly billowing in front so they look like pregnancy clothes. Does such a thing exist or do I have to choose fitted everywhere or not fitted anywhere?
Anne
Try the madwell whisper tees.
BeenThatGuy
I have 5 of these and love them. They do not cling and skim my body in a flattering way.
I do replace the white ones every year but they fit well, wash well and hold up fairly well for the $19 price.
Anon
Get the LL Bean pima cotton tees. They were recommended here by NY CPA and I bought some and love them! It’s the perfect amount of fitted but not clingy and the fabric quality feels SO much better than the one Madewell tee I have.
NY CPA
Yay! Glad you love them too. I came here to say my fluffy stomach loves the LL Bean pima cotton tees!
Cat
The JCrew painter tees are good basics. The light colors def require a nude-for-you bra. I’m a 34C, size 29 jeans, the M skims nicely.
Anon
Have you tried to look into a good quality one that you can get tailored?
moving to date?
With WFH becoming more common and maybe forever for some of us, moving to a place I want to be (rather than where work makes me live) is becoming an option. I am single and late 30s, childfree, liberal. Wondering if moving to a large city or one of a few cities would be wise specifically to put myself closer to men who are interested in that type of person and for me to find men who are also childfree and liberal. Is that a weird idea, to move for a possibility of a relationship rather than for a relationship I’m actually in?
Has anyone done this or known anyone who has?
Anon
I don’t think moving to a place where you know the dating pool is going to be bigger is a bad idea at all. And I know at least a couple of women who have moved from my very small city in no small part because of the lack of relationship prospects. It’s definitely not weird. If you want and value a long term relationship and the size of your available dating pool makes that hard to find, moving is one good option.
Anonymous
I think the idea of moving to the big city for opportunity- of any kind- is as old as the hills. What’s changed is the pandemic. There’s been a lot of good advice here about being cautious about making a big move – really only doing ones that you probably would have made anyway.thats just something to think about.
But I would very much welcome you to NYC : )
Anon
Not at all, moving to have the life you want, which is a partner who shares your values, is brave, and admirable.
Anonie
It could make a lot of sense to move, definitely. One word of caution is that commitment can be hard to find in the dating scenes in bigger cities because (for straight men in particular) there are just SO many options. I’ve lived in a mid-sized city (very big for my state) all of my adult life and really struggled with the dating scene until I met my now- fiance. Ironically, he actually moved to this city for me and lived in another part of our state when we first met. Most of my female friends really struggled with dating here for years and we all experienced ghosting etc, but many have found “their people” in the past year or two…it eventually happens for just about everyone. Whatever you decide, wishing you lots of luck! There are good men out there, though it may take some digging to find them.
Anon
“but many have found “their people” in the past year or two”
I wonder if this has to do with their age and the age of the people they’re dating. Maybe the men finally got to a point where they wanted to settle down?
Anonie
It certainly could be the case! The age range that myself and much of my social circle falls into is between late twenties and early 30s. I have noticed that several of my friends in the same age range in other cities/states have also met their person in the past 2 years, so it definitely may be an age thing rather than a location thing.
Anonymous
I think it’s a combination of age and location. In the big cities, people don’t seem to get serious about looking for a marital partner until their 30s. I married at 25 in a big city in the Northeast and felt like a very young wife. Shortly thereafter we moved to a mid-sized city in the SEUS, where I felt old buying my first home at 27 and having my first child at 30. Most of my friends here started dating their spouses in college and married soon after graduation.
City chick
This makes sense. Maybe think about whether there are some cities like this were you have some friends already so you aren’t starting from scratch? I know someone that moved from NYC to a mid-size city (where some family lived) when she was single because the dating/ general being a single woman scene wasn’t something she liked there. I have a partner but have single women friends in DC in their 30s, 40s, 50s and think it’s a wonderful place to live as a single woman (lots of women interested in their work, open to making new friends, lots of cultural activities). I can’t speak to whether the dating scene is worse than where you are now.
SSJD
I just bought my first two Equipment shirts. One is polyester (but silky) and the other is silk. If you own shirts from this label, can you please comment on these questions:
1) Any luck laundering Equipment polyester blouses or silk blouses? Both say “Dry Clean” (the silk says “Dry Clean Only”) but I always wash silks in a lingerie bag. Has anyone tried this?
2) How do you store your Equipment blouses? I assume on a hanger. Do you button all the buttons, all the way up to the neck?
3) Is sizing pretty consistent in this brand? Was thinking of buying more used tops online. The one I have in size Small is REALLY long, but the sleeves fit me well. Will an XS have much shorter sleeves?
Anon
I hand wash my silk equipment blouse and air dry it flat on top of a towel. I get it dry cleaned very very rarely. Like maybe twice in the 4 years I’ve owned it. I believe they have special detergent for silk but I just use a mild soap bar specifically made for laundry (I got mine at H-Mart/Asian grocery store) and am very very careful. I hang mine without buttoning and it’s been ok.
YES the small is so long and slightly wider in the shoulders than I’m used to for other brands. I am 5’1 and 125 lbs for reference. I only own one equipment shirt, but the others I’ve tried on at stores in a small were also similarly sized.
Elegant Giraffe
I also wash my Equipment silk blouse in a lingerie bag on the delicate cycle and lay flat to dry. I do use a special silk detergent but just whatever the first option on amazon was.
Anonymous
How big of a problem is this?
If your boss (small law firm) said that there are time-keeping “boondoggles” during the day and provided examples of billing attorney time for time spent by a paralegal on a declaration (separate and apart from attorney review time) and a legal research project that was accomplished much faster than the client would expect so billing additional time.
How big of a yellow/red flag would this raise for you? Would you immediately start looking for a new job?
Cat
You’re being encouraged to pad hours by (1) billing time you didn’t spend but a paralegal did, and (2) billing time you didn’t spend working on a project?
I’d start looking immediately.
Diana Barry
So they are padding time and/or writing paralegal time down as attorney time? This is a problem and could drag you down with it if discovered by someone else. I would call the ethics line and also look for another job.
Anonymous
OP here – what would you say to prospective employers about why you’re job hunting after a short period of time?
Anonymous
Yikes. I would start looking.