How to Wear Comfy Clothes at the Office

Posted By Alison Maney

BreakingModern — Office jobs can be tough. You sit for eight long hours every day wearing stiff clothing, your stomach pressing against your belt and your toes squeezed into tight shoes. Why can’t you just wear what you’d wear while lounging on your couch?

Well, why not? Here are some tips on how to wear your favorite comfy clothes while you work — and still look professional.

One tip, though: some offices can be very strict about company dress codes. Hold off on sporting these cozy clothing options until you’re absolutely sure your boss won’t freak out when you turn up for work in your chucks.

Leggings

Believe it or not, the oft-mocked sorority girl staple can be worn at work … that is, if you follow a few rules.

For starters, make sure you buy leggings that are a little thicker than normal (see-through is definitely not work-appropriate). Whatever you wear on top should also cover your butt — think tunics, dresses or even long cardigans. Go for high-quality fabrics. And since your bottoms will be form fitting, keep your top flow-y and not too revealing. Finish the outfit off with a polished heel or stylish flats, and you’ve got a business look that’s as comfy as your yoga outfit.

Sneakers

Sneakers are great. If only you could wear them all the time. You’d never have to worry about tripping in your heels or squeezing your toes into stiff loafers.

Well, maybe you can. If you keep them clean. Seriously — when opting for casual footwear at the office, the most important thing is to keep your sneaker of choice as fresh and neat as possible. And be aware that your fashionable tennis shoes will be a statement piece, so plan your outfit around your footwear. If you look put together, no one will question your trainers. When in doubt, opt for the most tried-and-true sneaker-friendly outfit — the suit.

Sweat Pants

Ok, this one is a bit of a gamble, but if you’re a high risk, high reward kind of person, you can wear dress sweatpants to work.

But, of course, you can’t just slap on your regular grey sweats and pop over to your business meeting. No, you’ll need to buy a pair that kind of looks like suit pants or khakis — you know, if you squint at them from far away. The trick is to make people think, “Are those sweat pants? Nah, no way. They look too nice.”

Just make sure you don’t go too casual with the rest of your outfit — sneakers and T-shirts could make people take a second, more exacting look at your chic lounge pants. So if you can pull off a pair of these with a suit jacket and some swanky shoes, you might just be able to have that sitting-on-the-sofa feeling all workday long.

Jeans

Jeans have become increasingly common in the workplace, but it’s easy to misinterpret “you can wear jeans to work” as “you can wear ANY jeans to work.”

Opt for dark colors and slim fits — leave your distressed denim, light wash jeans and ill-fitting or baggy pants at home. Pop on a blazer for an instant upgrade (blazers — helping us hide our laziness since 1825) and you’re ready for the office.

T-shirts

Three words: keep it simple.

Pick a solid color, a classic style, and a clean cut. If you must sport a logo, keep it small and tasteful. Avoid ruffles, pictures, busy patterns, album covers, quirky sayings, sequins, etc. Let the other aspects of your wardrobe shine, and save your “I Hate Mornings” Garfield tee for the weekend.

For BMod, I’m Alison Maney.

All Screenshots: Alison Maney