My allocated budget for my business wardrobe this year is the same as previous years. What isn't the same, by a wide margin, is what I've actually purchased. Traveling for work has not afforded most of us the ability to live in comfy sweats, until... a behavior-shaping event like Covid happened. Nobody truly wanted to retire their stilettos for sneakers, but it happened. Although I've embraced, somewhat, the leisure-suit through 2020, I've maintained a standard of at least an excellent blouse!
Admittedly, I have craved the physiological impact of dressing up. It makes a gal feel good, equipped for the day and empowered...kind of like what a great lipstick can do for your face or making your bed each morning does for your daily outlook. Dress for Success or Clothes Maketh the Man are old adages, and dang if they don't actually ring true. Especially when we are living in a Zoom world. It's an above-the-waist year folks, and it may last longer than we originally expected.
Recent studies support that not dressing for success has little impact on productivity but has an enormous impact on mental health & stability. Not sold on that just yet. I'm an experimenter by nature, and have learned much about my levels of patience, tolerance, and how many days without a hair-wash are actually acceptable. Easy on the cringe-face, we've all been there. Is working in pj's or a sweatsuit a cause or consequence of poor mental health? It's certainly easy enough to individually measure.
Clothes are language. Some days are a grubby alma mater tee, whilst others require a camera-ready outfit. I love clothes and their subtle, transformative power, and have felt the effects of the "no-occasion-to-dress today" myself this year. I've read a fair amount about the mental tolls of Covid; working remote, 24/7 family time, lack of exercise, and you guessed it, how dressing can make or break your mood. Struggling to see a correlation? Do a 'lil experiment with yourself. Rise, shower, and dress every day for a week. Either catalogue or take mental note of how you felt, how others perceived you, how you projected and how productive you were. Not claiming it's magic, but you will most certainly notice a difference. I see an end to the pajama-rebellion, if for no other reason than our sanity.
It can be fun to be who you want to be, when nobody is looking. Since Covid, dressing a certain way, or not dressing at all, has offered up a unique gift. To toss the confines of a certain dress code or mandated style was a welcomed change, but what remains paramount is having a dress code of some sort. A personal standard for yourself. You can still be couch-bound answering emails, cuddling an animal on a non-client-facing call, but do be sure to rise, shine and get dressed! If you're really refined, craft an up-do and roll on some makeup. It will feel good, but not as necessary as once thought.
As we round the bend on a full year at home, it's a cause to celebrate! We have traveled 540 million miles together circling the sun. That is an accomplishment we had little to do with, and we did it in grubs, baseball hats and full beards. We ARE amazing! Point being, things will continue to work as required and roll along, whether we're in yoga pants or a gown. It's about how dressing, or not, makes you feel. Dress to lift and inspire or dress for comfort. Dress to create an illusion you need to be somewhere, even if you don't. There are times when that level of motivation is required. An outfit can transform you and your perspective. Cut yourself a break on the tougher days, but know you're worth dressing up for, at least from the waist up! Oh, and make your bed! It's also transformative.
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