We’ve all heard the phrase that you are what you eat. However, I think you are what you wear. There has been a lot of discussion about what people are wearing in the office since the pandemic. Some people are sticking to professional business attire. Some opt for smart casual. Meanwhile others have gone full casual. What about you? Or more importantly, does what you wear affect who you are and how you work?
This is where ‘you are what you wear’ comes in.
Tuesday is the perfect example of this for me. I get up early for a 7am Jazzercise class. I wear my leggings and a baggy t-shirt and complete a sweaty 1hr workout. This early boost of energy through exercise sets me up. As soon as the class is over, I start work, in my sweaty clothes. I start writing blogs, replying to emails and creating social media posts.
Then, at 12noon I join my 1Networking meeting on Zoom. So, I will work until 11am and then have a shower. I return back to my desk in my smart-casual business attire and I’m in a completely different mindset.
It’s different now the office is at home. Previously I was in an office block. I was more aware of and more conscious of what I was wearing. Sometimes I would walk to the office. I would wear work clothes and trainers. Once at work, I would change my trainers to office shoes. This changed the way I stood and focused me into work too.
If I have zoom meetings, I will always go for business attire or smart casual to show people I am serious about business and them as a client or potential client.
However, today, for example, I have no meetings. Tonight, I am going to netball training, so I am wearing my workout clothes. This is where the idea of my ‘you are what you eat’ blog post idea came from. I have definitely been more active. My watch buzzes at 10 minutes to every hour to remind to do 250 steps an hour. This is often ignored.
But, in my gym clothes I’m dancing about and smashing the 250 steps an hour. I also did a Jazzercise class at lunchtime. Normally I would be in work attire so this wouldn’t be an option – but I was in my workout clothes already. This means that the 45-minute class was easy to get involved in.
So, if you are what you wear – what do you think you should wear for work? I have only worked in PJs once in over 8 years of running my own business. It was a day when I felt really ill and was just doing the minimum so I could go back to bed. I was really slow that day and not being appropriately dressed just made my mindset all wrong.
How about you? Do you find that you are what you wear?
