What’s Your “Zoom Shirt”?
Today, let's discuss: What is the “Zoom shirt” for women? There was an interesting article the other day about a guy who has worn the same shirt for every Zoom call he's been on since March. He started doing it just to be funny, and see who noticed, but then:
He has worn it for video calls on 70 consecutive days. This was not his plan. “My ego thought someone would notice,” said Mr. Farrell, the executive vice president of the comedy empire Funny or Die.
No one did. Not one of the half-dozen co-workers he sees every day via screen said anything. Neither did the 50-odd entertainment industry executives he Zooms with week after week. This is a man who once owned 210 shirts because, as the host of a design show on TLC, he couldn’t have viewers see him repeat.
Finally, the terrible secret of this single garment became too much for Mr. Farrell to bear. He began confiding in colleagues about his Zoom Shirt.
“Every time I’ve outed myself, they say, ‘Oh, yeah,’ and they pull up two shirts hanging on the back of their chair,” he said.
My husband is definitely guilty of this — he'll put on a collared shirt or a polo shirt in place of, say, his latest geek Dad shirt.
A friend was wondering: What is the Zoom Shirt for women?
I have a few ideas, but I'd love to hear yours… Do you have things that you keep at the ready in case you are going to have a Zoom call? Do you rotate among a few items or do you literally just wear the one thing?
{Update: we went on a hunt for cute Zoom tops!}
(Psst: Do check out our recent roundup of the best tips for video conference calls!)
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For my Zoom calls, everyone has been pretty laid back, but I will admit I realized early on that a particular pair of glasses look best on Zoom (a light blue Warby Parker pair from a few years ago), and a pretty pink lip gloss also helps me look awake and alive. I would also argue that a necklace with a substantial pendant (not super teensy, like my beloved initial necklace) is great to frame your face.
As for earrings, I say that depends on your Zoom style — if you're wearing a large headset they won't be visible at all, for example!
A friend of mine just shared that, after trying a few highlighters, Becca is her hands down favorite for Zoom calls — now I'm going to have to do my own contest of different highlighters to see which I prefer. Hmmn.
My top vote for “Zoom shirt,” though, is a sweater jacket with a collar — it adds structure and polish without taking away comfort or seeming out of place, since everyone knows you're working from home. (You do you, but I'd probably save a more tailored blazer look for an interview, court “appearance,” or some other Very Formal Zoom Call.)
Here are a few suggestions from some of our long-running reader favorite sweater jackets for the office…
Sweater Blazer (regular & petite — most colors 58% off!)
J.Crew Factory Sweater Blazer (reader favorite!)
Sophie open-front sweater-blazer (at J.Crew and, sometimes, Nordstrom)
Readers, how about you — do you find yourself reaching for something special to wear for Zoom calls? What is “the Zoom shirt” for women, in your opinion?
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / VadymPastukh.
Mine is this BR silky tee in “shimmer green,” which I’m pretty sure I bought because I saw it here: https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=551661&color=Hula%20Green#pdp-page-content
I wear it with a largeish fire opal pendant necklace and I get a ton of compliments. Fortunately I’m not in any meetings where I need to wear a jacket.
Oops it’s the shimmer tee in Hula Green.
Am I the only Millennial who hates Zoom? I will Discord with you all day, but I don’t need to see your face. No offense: you have a beautiful face. I just find Zoom unnecessary and annoying. I will admit the sound quality, number of dropped calls/meetings is much better than Skype.
When I was a kid in the 60s all the sci-fi movies and TV shows had (in addition the flying cars, for which I am still impatiently waiting) video phones. And then when the video phone technology finally became available, it turned out to be a bust because — right — nobody wanted to see or be seen. Not quite sure why we all feel like we have to Zoom at the moment, other than that it makes us feel like we’re really in meetings and not just hanging out at home?
Anyway I’m with you and I turn my camera off if I can possibly get away with it.
This made me think of Mannix! I remember his giant car phone with great fondness.
I’m with you generally, I haaaaaate personal calls on Facetime with the camera on 95% of the time. But I do feel like in a virtual meeting with multiple parties, the cameras make it a bit easier to see who wants to chime in and makes it clear who’s talking. As much as Zoom leads to the inevitable, “oh, you go”, “no, you!”, it would be even worse to do it over the phone. And I feel like online chats and email can be good for items where you need specific details documented, they’re often too slow when you need things quickly hashed out in a small group. So I think video conferencing has its role, but it’s a very specific one.
Nope, I also loathe zoom. I’m also a lawyer and did 90% of meetings via conference call before this so I’m very used to conference calls. They were perfectly fine then and are perfectly fine now.
I think it’s the Snapchat/Vine/Tik Tok generation that actually likes Zoom.
Millennial here. Also hating Zoom. May be resentful to the program for destroying my work life balance, but that’s another story…
I don’t mind Zoom. It’s actually nice to see my colleagues occasionally! If we’re in a big meeting (like our provost’s afternoon faculty meeting), we’ll text each other to say hi or send private messages. It’s somehow comforting. In our training, I turned off my video and left my avatar up because the video was so distracting. I like Zoom for my student appointments. It allows us to interact a little better and we trade off sharing screens so I can see what they’re doing or I can demonstrate something that they’re not getting.
I don’t Zoom much, but when I have, I have worn one of two looks. For social, a black and white print shirt with a v-neck and a ruffled collar. It is flattering, fun, relaxed, but looks like I got dressed to go out. For work, it’s a less-than-formal, collarless and slightly stretchy blazer in a bright color with a polka-dotted, collared shirt in essentially the same color. It says “business” but doesn’t say “formal” and it is both distinct from and complimentary to the colors in my background (i.e., my living room and couch and visible surrounding decor). It also allows me to take off a layer or roll up my sleeves for effect in, say, a 9-hour mediation.
Mine is a Madewell popover shirt in mustard yellow. With bright Zoom lipstick and no earrings because I don’t want to draw attention to my two-tone hair.
I’m with you. A jacket seems unnecessary. I just try to wear a decent shirt & a statement necklace. One of the shirts I’ve worn is this: https://www.loft.com/puff-sleeve-tee/533657 in olive green, but it now appears to be out of stock. If i can be more casual, I’ve worn https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-no-iron-supima-cotton-sleeveless-shirt/id_308903?attributes=18707,43307,43322,44256,44919,44967,45021 this no-iron Navy shirt from Lands end with a sweater as I can wear it on a call & go out in the heat with the dog and not melt.
By the way, Zoom calls seem to be the only times I wear make-up anymore.
Ironically, my Zoom topper is the J Crew Going Out Blazer. I have five of them and rotate. They will all be staying in for the foreseeable future.
Most of the time, my uniform is a plain or patterned T-shirt or casual blouse with a non-collared cardigan (I own a zillion cardigans anyway) because of A/C. To this combo, I will add shorts or joggers. Sometimes, I wear a jumpsuit or romper with the cardigan over as well. Occasionally, I swap out the cardigan for a jean jacket but nothing too structured. Jewelry is kept simple – maybe some studs, hoop earrings or a simple necklace. This is for everyday, team or 1:1 Zoom calls. If I had a client meeting, I would up it a notch with either a blazer or dressy cardigan with a nice blouse and perhaps add a scarf or statement necklace on top with my casual bottoms. So far, my client meetings have all been without video so that has been a nice plus.
I need a Zoom shirt because I totally did my performance review in a giant t-shirt. (I forget if it was the one from last year’s summer reading program or the one with a cereal mascot.)
I’ve discovered that my charcoal gray workout shirts look really nice with a statement necklace and knit blazer. I bought them from Amazon and they are very comfortable. If I really need to step up my game, I have a navy blue v-neck blouse I wear with a statement necklace. I have over-the-ear headphones, so only stud earrings for me. I like having a necklace to brighten things up and distract from the haircut I gave myself. Also, a swipe of Nars Palais Royal lip pencil makes me feel polished.
Share this t-shirt link please!
My zoom shirt is whatever shirt I’m wearing at the time. Usually a t shirt. Sometimes it has words on it if I’m not doing any meetings outside my team. If I need to “dress up” I wear something v neck and a necklace.
Because of the location of my camera (internal webcam died so it’s on top of the monitor), you can’t see much other than my face and I just don’t care. None of my meetings are particularly formal and we have old man faculty who are just plain clueless. I wear either a t-shirt or my go-to work from home attire of VS PINK onesie and a Barefoot Dreams cardigan in light gray.
I’m in-house counsel so most of my internal meetings are by video and external meetings remain by phone/audio only. Most days I wear a jewel tone v-neck sweater, mockneck, or crewneck sweater every day. They don’t wash me out and look professional enough for my purposes (but my video camera is not set for a closeup). I have several in blue, green, purple, red. When I need to look more authoritative, I wear a crisp white blouse underneath the sweater or add a sweater blazer. On Fridays or when I have a light zoom meeting day, I might wear a Uniqlo 1*1 ribbed long-sleeve tshirt with a statement necklace; I feel like the necklace distracts from the fact that I’m wearing a tshirt. Always joggers or yoga pants on bottom :)
I am also in the sweater and leggings camp! Easy to dress each morning, and I find I get cold working at home because I’m not moving as much.
I’m on Zoom calls most of the day (ugh), so I usually throw on a J Jill Wearever top with ballet or three quarter sleeves. Most of them have boatneck or v-neck lines, so they are simple and clean. When I have a call with a Board member I’ll throw on a cardigan. I’ve found the Perricone No Makeup Lipstick in Rose to work really well for me. I love that they added more colors to their lipstick line.
I greatly appreciate the luxury of WFH — whether I have to FT, Meet, Webex, Zoom or not. It’s employment, which is better than the alternative.
My go-to look is one of my sleeveless, work-shirts, from Target and a cardi. https://www.target.com/p/women-s-animal-print-tank-top-who-what-wear-black/-/A-79407834?preselect=79366140#lnk=sametab
These sleeveless blouses are incredibly comfortable, they hide the waistband of my sweat/yoga pants (in the event I have to get up), and even allow me to go braless from time to time. I rotate my shirts to prevent boredom and depression. If I need “the blazer,” I just grab one that coordinates with my blouse of choice. Rarely, I will add a statement necklace. My earrings are always the same studs.
I’ve been kinda obsessed with curating funny zoom related topics, memes and e-odds and ends, one of these being funny zoom shirts. I like the semi-casual look of some of the designs here but I think there should also be room for funny zoom tshirts like the ones shown at https://ng44.com/funny-zoom-tshirts/ But if I were to chose only from the ones on this page, I think I kinda like the third look with the dark tones. I’m more of a conservative type and if given the opportunity I would rather not even have my video visible to other people in a zoom meeting. Unless of course its for work where I don’t have a choice LOL