The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Americans to work remotely, wearing sweats and yoga pants for two years. As offices reopen, employees reconsider their clothes to strike a mix between comfort and professionalism, ditching the formal suits, zip-front pants, and pencil skirts in favor of new designs.
Americans were already wearing more casually at work before the pandemic. The change from "business casual" to "business comfort" was hastened by the time spent in sweatpants, per ABC News report.
Kay Martin-Pence used to go to work at a pharmaceutical company in Indiana in dress pants and blazers before the outbreak. In April, she reported back to work in stylish jeans and flowing tops, following two years of working remotely in leggings and slippers.
"Why feel buttoned up and stiff when I don't have to?" she said, and argued that 'being comfortable is more important than being super structured,"
Martin-Spence said she will never wear dress pants again to her workplace.
The clothes for returning to the workplace situation is still a social experiment, according to Adam Galinsky, a social psychologist at Columbia Business School who invented the phrase "enclothed cognition," or how what people wear influences the way they think.
Galinsky believes that people are going to be "consciously thinking" about if what they wearing is the appropriate outfit for "being in the office."
"They're going to be thinking about what they're doing, the context they're in, and the social comparisons of what others will be doing," Galinsky said.
Office Attire Evolution
Steve Smith, CEO of outdoor sportswear brand L.L. Bean, said people are stepping out of their "typical uniform" to whatever form as long as they are comfortable to wear, due to more flexible working hours and being able to work in a hybrid scheme.
"Some of the office uniforms, office wardrobes, are shifting and changing. There's no reason why it can't be permanent," he said, according to a report from The Independent.
The shifting tendencies are reflected in data from market research firm NPD Group and retailers.
According to NPD, wire-free bras now account for more than half of the overall non-sports bra market in the United States, reversing a long-term trend. Dressy footwear sales have been recovering since 2021, but they're still 34 % below 2019 levels, as per NPD, and are likely being driven by the resumption of social functions rather than the office. Instead, casual sneakers have become the most preferred work footwear.
Brooks Brothers, a 200-year-old haberdashery, faced a greater challenge: unlike its competitors, it never followed the casual workplace attire trend a few years ago. In a post-bankruptcy makeover, the brand has found success in producing relaxed designs under new owner and CEO Ken Ohashi.
Casual sportswear like sweaters and polo shirts now account for 45% of its collection. That figure was 25% before the outbreak, according to Ohashi.
Dress shirts, he noted, are making a comeback while workers return to work. But Brooks Brothers is adding a twist: a polo-style stretch version of their cotton-knit shirts. It also sells brightly colored jackets.
An Indication Of Significant Change In Society
War, disease, depression, and revolution impacted what people wear throughout history.
"The periods of greatest shifts in fashion are in line with great shifts in society," said Jennifer Dasher, assistant professor of costume design at the University of Florida, as per an NBC News' Think article.
Some of these moments are easier to pinpoint: the glamor of the Roaring '20s following World War I and the Spanish flu; women's jeans following World War II factory styles.
Long pants and shoelaces replaced aristocratic trends like breeches and buckled shoes, which were declared politically incorrect during the French Revolution.
