You might recall a time when the idea of wearing a tracksuit at your place of work could have seemed… well, somewhat unprofessional. However, now that many of us are working from home, the old rulebook about corporate attire has probably been thrown out of the window.
If your exchanges with your work colleagues are now largely limited to emailing and messaging, then slipping into a tracksuit as you prepare for your workday seems genuinely plausible. No-one has to know exactly what you’re wearing, just that you are doing good work while you’re wearing it.
However, none of this strictly means that you shouldn’t be careful which tracksuit you choose. Here are some tips you can heed to make sure your chosen tracksuit is well-suited to your WFH life.
Remember: a tracksuit can still look professional
Admittedly, “professional” is very much a relative term here. Even back in 2017, well before the COVID crisis, VOGUE acknowledged that a tracksuit had become a palatable option for the workplace, even if adopting a tracksuit as work wear “goes against conventional wisdom”.
Therefore, rest assured that, even if you need to participate in the occasional Zoom meeting, your employer could still be okay with you wearing a tracksuit for it. Naturally, though, you would have to check your workplace’s policies – and you should make sure you wear your tracksuit in the right way.
Accessorizing your tracksuit with sleek and non-sporty selections from your wardrobe could help you to offset the more casual appearance of the tracksuit itself. If that suit looks a little too sporty, then the likes of velvet trousers and calf-hair sandals could help you to upgrade it.
Adjust your look for when you leave the house
Part of the appeal of wearing a tracksuit for work is how easily you could take this clothing with you from your home office straight to the local shop. This kind of versatility is easy to appreciate when you reach your lunch hour and realize you don’t need to get changed before heading out.
Still, you could consider shaking up your overall look before you do visit that shop for your lunchtime sandwich. Brittany Eccles, the Creative Director for fashion website The Kit, has enthused about a tracksuit she bought shortly before social distancing measures took effect.
She claims that wearing the tracksuit “makes me feel comfortable and confident”, adding: “I would totally wear this tracksuit out!” However, she notes that, for doing so, she may “accessorize a little differently though, something to make it a little less sporty, perhaps, more edgy.”
It all starts with the tracksuit itself
Of course, before you judge what accessories you ought to wear with your tracksuit, you should settle on the tracksuit itself. Fortunately, online, you could easily find and buy one just to your taste. Gym King is one online store where you can buy a women’s tracksuit regardless of whether a casual or more flattering look is called for. Here’s looking forward to an enjoyable WFH life.
