If you are indefinitely WFH, with occasional office time…

[rubytue]

What are you doing with your wardrobe?

Long version:
 We recently had our WFH policy extended for the foreseeable future, but it’s still dangling out there it could change. We are currently one day a week. I find myself defaulting to virtually the same outfit every week. And I stare at my closet with a “WHY?!” frequently. The whole “not wearing it for a year” thing I have been ignoring, because so much is office clothes and I was keeping because I could need it again. Basically, talk me into getting rid of 75% of my stuff. If this is every finalized (which I doubt, I think they won’t make a decision) I could see myself needing at most enough to cover 5 days of travel meetings. In a couple seasons. 

[janegold]

I'm in the same boat as you - currently 1 day/week in the office and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I haven't done anything yet but I am planning on a big closet purge as I'm finding myself defaulting to the same couple of pairs of pants and same few sweaters/jackets most weeks.


Plus, a lot of the office wear I have is feeling dated since it goes back not just before COVID, but I was also pregnant when COVID hit, and in a weird postpartum phase for a couple years before that where I wasn't buying much, and then pregnant further back - so a lot of my wardrobe is from before my first pregnancy in 2016.

[Bernadine]

I’m in the exact same position as you- maybe we work for the same place? Lol.

Just last weekend, I did a huge closet purge. I only keep my favorite dresses, some black dress pants, and some blouses.

I don’t think I’ll ever be in the office full time again. I have enough to cover 1-2 days/week in the office.

[womet]

I'm in the same boat. We just had our policy changed, and I'll be at home for at least the next year. So I won't need much of my office attire anytime soon... and thanks to the additional lbs I'm carrying since this all started 3 years ago, much of it doesn't fit. I really need to empty my closet and only keep things that I'll reasonably wear this year.

[TR]

Just wear the same outfit every week to confuse people.

[RoxMonster]

I am in the same position pretty much. Only 1 day in office for the foreseeable future but even then, I think the most we’d go to is 2 days.

I taught before this and have been really downsizing my “dressy wardrobe.” Honestly I wore jeans a lot teaching and we can wear jeans in my office now which I do 90% of the time. In the summer, however, jeans are too hot and I preferred wearing dresses. I am basically keeping the dresses I like and then prioritizing nice tops and sweaters I can wear with jeans for office days.

[noodleoo]

I lost a lot of weight in 2021 (after gaining in 2020) which forced me to clean out my closet and get rid of clothes that didn't fit anymore. It was one of the best things I've ever done! I never would have gotten rid of it if I wasn't forced to because I literally couldn't wear them anymore. I love how much free space I have in my closet. I'm slowly buying new stuff, but I only have a few outfits that are work formal. My office dress code has also moved to significantly more casual, which is awesome. I can wear jeans and sneakers and a nicer top. It is really nice to have a smaller wardrobe altogether.

So my advice is to go for it. Keep only the stuff you *really* love and get rid of all the extra.

[wildrice]

I am apparently now going to be going in once a week, so with a couple of others days added for other reasons I'll be in the office about 6x a month. I did go back to the office in my old job for about 6 months, so I bought a bunch of clothes then that have mostly just been sitting in my closet since.

I struggle with this too. Even with going in 6 days a month, I have way too many outfits. And my work is very casual - I work a skirt and blouse yesterday when I was there, and I was definitely more dressed up than pretty much anyone else. Lots of people wear t-shirts and jeans. I just can't see when I'm ever going to wear my more "formal" dresses again but I don't know that I'm ready to get rid of them...

I do really need to STOP buying clothing entirely, though. And eventually probably get rid of more stuff. I have pared down some of the stuff I wore less frequently before, and I got rid of all the three or so jackets that I owned, but it's hard otherwise. I don't see myself switching jobs at any point in the next several years, but who knows?

[cjcouple]

I lost some weight so I bought 2 pairs of work pants and a few tops that I can wear to work. I basically wear the same few outfits to work.

I will toss in summer dress I the warm weather. I have a few tops for all seasons.


ETA: I go in on Tuesdays

[rubytue]

I guess it helps to know I’m not the only one struggling with this. *sigh*

At the same time, there are still things from the past that I sometimes miss. Like those shoes. Or that blue and brown shirt. And, you never know when you’ll need a cocktail dress at the last moment, so you might as well keep the one you’ve had for 15 years. 🥴

[lust2hart]

I am in the office 3 days a week. I have 5 work tops and 2 pairs of pants that I rotate through. I truly don't care if people have noticed I wear the same stuff every week / every other week; I really like all of my tops, I think they're flattering, and I know they're clean each time I wear them, so... /shrug.

I love this video about decluttering clothes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrYFP63cNeA

[7costanza]

I’ve kept all my tops but got rid of the pants. I was JUST returning from maternity leave when COVID hit and only had one pair of poorly fitting work pants at that time and haven’t replaced them. I mostly stick to dresses when I’m in the office and blouses and leggings or sweats when WFH. I’m mostly remote (with regular video calls) but expect to go in at least 1x per month for the foreseeable future.

[ECB]

Yup. Same here. There are SO MANY clothes I could (and should) get rid of, but I keep thinking "what if".

I think even if I had to start going in on a regular basis, it would only be 2 (MAYBE 3) days. I dont' need all the clothes I have for that!

And TR, to what you said, I saw an article somewhere/sometime about a woman who pretty much wears the same thing every day. She has multiples of the items, but it's the same look every day in the office. Sometimes I think "that would make life easier!". But then I also think "good God, I'd get bored!". But one day a week? Maybe that is the way to go...

[arielroux]

I permanently WFH, but do have occasional in-person customer and vendor meetings. I am also struggling with what to do because most days I’m in gym clothes. I work in tech, so I don’t need to get “dressed” even for video meetings. I have sooooooo many things I don’t wear anymore, and for some reason I keep buying more stuff!

I think I’m going to start listing things on Poshmark. I don’t even LIKE most of my old clothes anymore. Yet for some reason, the idea of purging makes me nervous. Like the second I get rid of stuff I’ll suddenly need it again. I’d like to just pay someone to do it for me. There are things in my closet that I legitimately have not touched since pre-covid

[simpsongal]

Same boat here - I wear my nice stuff for church, but it's just not getting a lot of use. I'm going to start "cutting" the things that were low on my wear list.

Like can I break up permanently with button down shirts? I never wear them.... I barely wear skirts, they're just harder than dresses or pants.

Offshoot issue- I need to work on my closet storage. I’m tempted to have even less hanging space. I want lots of deep drawers for all my casual clothes and some more shelves. I store fancy shoes under my bed bc I know where they are when I need them on rare occasions

[sequins]

I just got rid of a lot of stuff. I wear the same few things for the few days that I'm going in. I think the situation will change for me in the next year or two but I will just buy new clothes for whatever size I am then.

[ssmjlm]

I'm in the office 2-3 days a week (may got to less this month, waiting on a policy update) and I pared down a lot.

Between weight gain and only keeping what I love, I either donated or consigned stuff. I sold a few things on mercari/poshmark.

My lilly I was able to sell on FB BST, but that's very designer specific.

[ECB]

A neighbor who LOVES heels - she actually got rid of most of them. Between never wearing them - they now just HURT - and then also not having a reason to wear them, she finally said "good bye!"

[waverly]

I actually work full time in person. But with the pandemic, I think many people myself included said we are wearing whatever we want because you are lucky we are even showing up. So basically what that means is that my work wardrobe and my weekend casual weekend are the same. Now, I do not usually wear anything like athletic wear, so if you are that far casual this might not work for you. But nice shirts (don't have to be button down or formal), sweatshirts, sweaters, t-shirts even graphic tees, jeans, leggings, dresses even casual dresses are all fine to wear now. Even ripped jeans are fine in the office. So unless you have a formal office still, I think you can get rid of those things that are more on the formal side. Keep a few emergency pieces and step down the formality when you do go into the office (unless it would be a huge problem in your company/ industry).

[k3am]

Feel free to send me all your work attire that you don't need.. I WFH one day a week, which is already pushing the envelope since we're supposed to be back full time...

[litskispeciality]

I work FT in the office 5 days a week and find myself repeating outfits once a week to every other week. I find that I wear a lot of the same outfits the same day of the week, probably based on this is what I'll wear to get out of the house (my kingdom for 2 WFH days a week). It's weird because I have a lot of (although not that new) clothes, but feel I have maybe 10 days worth of outfits with no repeating if I really tried. I'm sure people judge me, but whatevs dude. I hate shopping, and y'all don't pay me all that much in relation to how much clothes cost.

Anyway when I could WFH I only watched what someone was wearing so I'd see the benchmark if we wearing PJ pants, or a sundress, maybe a hoodie was appropriate. I really hope your colleagues aren't paying attention unless they're asking where you bought that particular garment.

From a green standpoint, it's better to wear the same clothes. Less washing saves water blah, blah, but our society says women shan't repeat outfits more than one time in a month or she's not professional! ::Shakes cane::

[konapoppy]

I am on camera almost all day every day. So I kept a lot of tops for variety and seasons, but got rid of a ton of pants, dresses and jackets that I wasn’t going to wear.

I feel like I could get rid of more shells and sweaters though. I don’t gravitate to them at home.

[icedcoffee]

I lost a lot of weight in 2020 so I got ride of a ton that year. It was replaced with much more casual stuff because I was WFH. Now that I’m back in the office twice a week I find myself just dressing much more casually. 🤷‍♀️

[litskispeciality]

Jan 11, 2023 16:35:26 GMT -5 ECB said:

A neighbor who LOVES heels - she actually got rid of most of them. Between never wearing them - they now just HURT - and then also not having a reason to wear them, she finally said "good bye!"

I wear flats in person all the time and have no regerts. I really hate that the woman "leaders" in my office still feel heels = professional and/or high ranking. I couldn't walk in those things in my 20's!

[goldengirlz]

I still like dressing up, if not for work, then for going out to dinner or to see a show or meeting up with friends. I also need decent tops for Zoom calls.

I have several cute dresses that I’ve invested in, because I can always wear them when we travel, and they can be dressed up or down. I donated most of my pre-2020 clothes, but I also went up a size over that time period …

[simpsongal]

Jan 11, 2023 17:17:47 GMT -5 litskispeciality said:

Jan 11, 2023 16:35:26 GMT -5 ECB said:

A neighbor who LOVES heels - she actually got rid of most of them. Between never wearing them - they now just HURT - and then also not having a reason to wear them, she finally said "good bye!"

I wear flats in person all the time and have no regerts. I really hate that the woman "leaders" in my office still feel heels = professional and/or high ranking. I couldn't walk in those things in my 20's!

I had a boss that told me heels did things for a woman’s body that made them effectively unprofessional for the workplace. 😬 this 60 yr old man said this to 25 yr old me. I swear he was Michael Scott before the office.

[midwestmama]

I have been wearing more tops in 2022-present that I would have worn to the office. Part of that is to wear more of the work clothes I have and less sweatshirts. (I'm a manager, so if I happen to get an impromptu request to meet with someone outside of my team, I want to look a little nicer.) Although I have bought some new tops and sweaters recently, to update my options a bit.

I typically go into the office around 1 day a week now, and that should stay the same for the foreseeable future, but I just have a feeling that we'll be required to go back 2-3 days a week at some point. (They are redoing our office space and it will be done in the next 1-2 years, so when that is done, I expect them to tell us we need to come back in a few days a week.)

I do have work clothes in my closet that I just need to get rid of because I haven't worn them in a long time and likely won't again.

[ECB]

Jan 11, 2023 17:17:47 GMT -5 litskispeciality said:

Jan 11, 2023 16:35:26 GMT -5 ECB said:

A neighbor who LOVES heels - she actually got rid of most of them. Between never wearing them - they now just HURT - and then also not having a reason to wear them, she finally said "good bye!"

I wear flats in person all the time and have no regerts. I really hate that the woman "leaders" in my office still feel heels = professional and/or high ranking. I couldn't walk in those things in my 20's!

im 6’0. I stopped wearing most versions of heels LONG ago. The idea that heels = professional is so ludicrous.

[meanie]

I currently have my work wardrobe folded in a plastic garbage bag in my closet. It was taking up a ton of space but I wasn't ready to let it go because I spent $$$ on it.

Someday I know I will donate it, just not yet. I have found that in the past I am most motivated to donate stuff when I find an organization I support. I would like to get this stuff in the hands of people who need it and can receive it for free. I know there are a lot of great organizations that do this for work clothing, I just need to bite the bullet and do it.

I also like to watch/listen to YouTube minimalist channels if I need some motivation.

[underwaterrhymes]

When I work from home I wear whatever I want.

I’m usually in the office 1 day a week. Right now it’s more often because I’m overseeing a big move.

We have a dress for your day policy, so my outfit varies depending on what I’m doing. Today I wore jeans and comfy shoes because I was running around packing stuff; tomorrow I have to go downtown and am wearing a dress and flats. (I don’t do heels.)

ETA - I also have too many outfits. My body shape changed after the mastectomy and I need to figure out what I want to keep. But I am trying to get fit again and so want to hang onto stuff to see how things go this year. Since I need more surgeries this year, I don’t know how much headway I’m going to make. So the clothes will linger in my closet indefinitely.