Work Outfits: Seeking Opinions/Suggestions
Context: In-Office, casual
Weather: Expecting anything between snow and 70F/20C outside, and thus inside might be on the colder side and none of this matters because it will all be under a hoodie.
I know the photos aren't great - skill, space, etc.
Which 2-3 of these are best?
Any tips for leveling them up or different pairings?
All terrible and start from scratch?
A: Blue/Red+beige
B: Floral+beige
C: Pink/Blue+black
D: Red/yellow/orange+black
E: Tye/orange+green
F: Purple+green
G: Blue+grey
H: Pink/Purple+blue
I: Purple/tye+blue
Can wear long sleeves under the tshirt and button shirt if it is extra cold.
32 Replies
I think E, G and H look best! they look the most balanced
To me, these feel much much too casual for an office space but that entirely depends on what others there wear
I'd go for plainer tshirts underneath and that could fix it
The one without a collared shirt? I'm kinda surprised. I expected that one and B/loud print ones to be the worst ranked.
Is the balance due to the t-shirts being single-color, even the blue is all blue just with a texture.
Any ideas on how to level them up? Someone sent me the 7 points thing a while back and from outfits I like there tends to be a threshold of more that makes the look appear pulled together and intentional, but it seems like a mystical on-off switch I can't wrap my head around.
It is pretty casual, as there is a construction/manual labor section of the company and my group is remote.
Are you suggesting switching to solid color shirts like the H: pink/purple (though that one is heather) to get a half step better?
I have a red heather tshirt, grey, and some other colors - unfortunately the blues always get some bleach-like fade spot and have to be retired to less visible uses.
I’d steer away from the tye died shirts
The collared shirts seem okay? If I go for simpler/darker shirts, are there other ways to add color?
Or 'which collared shirts look best and with which pants' so I can try again.
what is your goal, ultimately?
or alternatively what issues do you have with these?
"leveling up" your office wear could mean either more formal, more professional, more true to yourself, more expressive etc
Goal for work outfits is probably functional-first (pockets? incorporating a worn bag might be a future project), a non-femme outline (aka the pants/collared shirt/color undershirt attempt, not female officewear blouses (plus too complicated to do re-pairing for 1-bag trips)), and not being grey / adding whimsy/color.
So I think the personal/"true to self"/expression is colors, and leveling up is "what can I do in 2 weeks without a lot of in-person stores" to wear it differently that looks more "pulled together"/intentional. Does that make sense?
This is about it for what pants I have, and the boots are easy (safety toe with zippers) if boring, but I can pull out some jackets, scarves, belts, or 'shop my closet' for some wholesale different outlines. I could look for a few additions but shopping doesn't go great... kinda rural and work from home.
You can get the non-femme outline with a more relaxed silhouette - for example, wider pants and a cozy sweatshirt or hoodie. I posted an example - you could swap out the shirt and sweater for colors you like.
I've had a lot of trouble having baggier clothes without looking sloppy, and until/without bleach and re-dying pants can't wear the colors I like and get the put together look through having the bold only-two-colors combos.
Well even above, the tiedye shirts are closer to the colors I prefer than the collared shirts I've found that fit half decent.
I'm okay with not being flat, but ... hmm but not female office wear? I don't like the v necks and cuts - I like male cut clothes and stylings and then the femme is from colors if that makes sense?
I've noticed that regardless of how bold outfits from inspo pics are, there is some magic "put-together-ness" that makes the ones that go out of the norm on colors or styles seem intentional/good. I just can't wrap my head around what that is nor how to achieve it.
Maybe go with wider leg pants (not this work trip but in the future)? Are the bulkier cargos in fashion? They didn't go over well in the early 00s but I guess I've seen them more lately. I started having issues with my old ones falling down if anything was in the pockets or my phone in a pocket hitting my leg when walking and got rid of those a few years ago.
it's going to sound esoteric but it's vibes. what specific vibes will differ from person to person and outfit to outfit but the "best" fits imo tend to be the ones more suited to their wearers
Yeah, that makes sense.
I read something that paired recommendations with personality. It was a sus source - one that tried to sell a custom styling service without actually being custom - but I did read their free stuff and they had a concept of choosing fabric/item weights by personality. People who are bubbly and move a lot might prefer light fabrics and flowy cuts, for example. It got into colors too.
I probably move like the bubbly type, but I need stuff that can survive me and be functional/durable. Baggy on stiffer/heavier pants makes sense there until it gets in the way. Plus "if you think you look good, you have more confidence, and confidence makes it look good"
Vibes makes sense, just ... annoying because that is part of what makes this so hard.
don't i know it :xdcrying:
So for these outfits and the work thing in March - go for solid color shirts, maybe the long/short layering, with hoodies.
Then for the future look into pants modding and maybe see if I can find thrifted baggier cargos with a 28 waist (or 30 I can fix) or belt+bags and non-cargos (maybe denims)?
to answer your question through the lens of "how do i survive in the next two weeks", i would consider pairing more "like" colored items together (A and H are both decent in that respect, and the long shirt in I could also work well with the t-shirt in H with any of the pants chosen)
those are both reasonable imo; looking at shirts/outer layers of varying color would be also be an option
i think a super long term thing (which you can start now if chosen) is figuring out what this looks like to you
Some of the shirts fit less decent closed, but would that help with or without the busier tshirts?
both in the sense of what functional clothes could work for this visual idea, and what types of clothes could work within your specific life and work
depends on the shirt imo - buttoned up shirt would look more "put together" but one that is too tight may register as uncomfortable after a while. the "discomfort" imo is the opposite of what you're trying to find
I'm still bad at noticing when looking to buy, but I can say of the collar shirts, A is super flexy/soft.; it moves with me, almost too well compared to undershirts seeming stiff in comparison. While I, the purple one, is stiff and doesn't drape, seems to get stuck if I lift my arms or something. B: I know is too extreme and a cheap thin plastic fabric. I think I like H for the colors but the fit might be off. F and G are darker than I'd have if I found stuff I liked better. This selection is the post-purge after I removed the poorest fitting ones, greys and blacks. I might have those still in a to-donate pile though.
Would a grey or black with the brighter shirts be more measured? Perhaps if closed? Not an endgoal intention but for a level up for "put togetherness" compared to this spread?
I'll try another photoround tonight with suggestions from here, btw. Since yeah, these seem like a lot of options and big changes. I can add some of them closed too - my lighting and camera settings might still suck but is there a best pose for showing if the cut while closed fits enough?
pictures mean less than how it feels on you
Yeah. Still need help with the look though. I drift hard toward unicorn vomit as an aesthetic and looking intentional enough in fit and colors for office/work is something I struggle with a lot.
Any accessories to toss in? March isn't too late for scarves. Tucked shirts aren't something I have ever managed to make look okay - either my shirts are too loose or I move too much I think - so I suppose belts won't matter.
i think there's two, possibly three separate racks to take here
the super easy formulaic way i dress is usually light shirt + darker outer layer + usually darker pants + shoes + cap. if you needed to improve how you dressed tomorrow i would do this and also browse #inspiration or #waywt-highlights for fits you really like and/or could copy
still related to the previous post but it's worth paying attention to how the clothes make you feel. i liked the button ups in H and I but if it's going to suck for you to wear for 8, 10 hours my opinion does not matter. similarly if F and G fit well but aren't your personal tastes it's not worth keeping them as forever shirts. feel free to take pictures of them buttoned if you want a second opinion on any of them 👍
youve got a lot of great advice so far, so ill add in some general bits & pieces.
youre using a lot of dress shirts & casual button ups as if they were overshirts, and i think thats letting you down. An overshirt is heavier, drapes better, and feels/looks more substantial. the open shirts youre using now feel dont work as well in capturing the vibes of an overshirt.
i think straight fit pants would be helpful for you in the future. most/all of the pictured pants youre using here are pretty tapered which imo is doing the opposite of what you want to achieve re: a more masc silhouette
id also rec searching for knitwear as another option to add visual interest & color to your fits. it's a bit easier to dress up/down a sweater than a tee IMO
An overshirt is like C or the pink with the thin blue underneath?
Or is that a thick/warm shirt still?
heres some inspo from my own stocks to help illustrate what im sayin
It was a recent gift that is a size bigger than I'd normally get, so I'm super new (even worse than with the other stuff) on figuring out how to style it. It will be an adventure.
I think it being a lil oversized helps push it firmly into overshirt territory fwiw - would look a bit off any smaller imo
This kind of stuff helps a lot. I'm trying to figure out how to use what I have (or modding) until I learn enough to know how to shop and get rid of enough that doesn't work. (I also dislike shopping and am glad for the excuse to put it off.)
a lot of carrion's examples benefit from a singular loud piece and relatively muted pieces otherwise; that can scale to the stuff you have as well and can make an outfit read more intentional
For reference, here are my 'put away' collar shirts. Mostly relegated for color, but the light green might have been a tight fit (that may no longer be) and the whites/offs for not knowing how to wear them. Bonus pic of scarves.
I'll play with some outfits including bright undershirts on the darker collar shirts tonight and post results.
honestly a lot of my best fits have come from a mix of having a mental image of what i wanted to look like and then also staring at my closet for a while
some of those pictured might be good standalone shirts when buttoned, and some of the scarves might work well with the overshirt; it's worth trying things out to see
beyond that I'd glance at #inspiration or #waywt too and see what all is out there - you've already recognized you want to change and have some idea of what you need and like, which is a great start all things considered
one last thing I'll add - when you're looking at unicorn vomit inspo, think about if you also like the silhouette in the inspo or just the colors. Silhouette is a big part of the vibes y'all were talking about earlier.
Yeah! The black one and the muted colors I posted to #inspiration were the clothes/fit that I liked, separate from lack of color.
Edit: I was mistaken. It is 1am and I didn't get the updated pics. Will try super hard for Saturday night upload.