Do you feel like lockdown changed you & now you should dress differently?

[Beeth0ven]

Just that really.
I looked at all my old work clothes the other day and I really couldn’t connect with the person who bought & wore them. They seem so alien. I feel different and like those clothes are a thing of the past and a person I no longer am. Can anyone else empathise? Will I simply get over it or is it deeper?

I agree. I sort of think it will come back tho. Apart from the heels. They were ridiculous.

I'm with you op
Everywhere I liked pre covid has closed down (Oasis, Warehouse etc) and I'm a year older & one year off 50 so there's that too

I couldn't connect with many of my pre-pandemic clothes until very recently. I'm overseas, so following a different trajectory to you, but many of my clothes seemed to belong to a happier, more naïve person who I resolutely was not. I found myself wanting to dress only in neutrals. Fortunately had a personal crisis a few years ago and felt similar, so I already had a depression wardrobe to draw from, and now, I am starting to feel more open to some of the colours and patterns I was previously so fond of. I do look at some of my accessories and still wonder WTF though. I do feel older in some sense. I know we obviously are older, but boy do I feel it!

I think we'll need to have the pandemic fully behind us before we can really assess how much it's changed us forever. I wouldn't chuck anything out.

I'm a teacher so my work clothes haven't changed. I dress more for comfort now though. I like smarter style joggers for lounging in at home at the weekend. Not fussed on jeans anymore.

My attitude hasn't changed. I wear work clothes for working at home and the 2 days I'm in the office. There are very few people in the office and everyone, apart from me, is in casual clothes.

I prefer formal clothes- the idea of slobbing around in tracksuits/leggings/ jeans and the like depresses me , not that I actually own any of them anyway.

Like @MissBarbary there has been minimal change for me. I love my dresses and aside from the very cold snaps have continued to wear them. In the warm weather knickers became something of an optional extra though 🤭.

I think the biggest difference has been shoes, l bought 3 new pairs for work before lockdown. They are still in their boxes unworn.

Last year when I had DCs at home and was juggling work/school/childcare I definitely had a phase of dungarees/joggers/no make-up that went on for months but once school started again last September I got back into the habit of wearing smarter clothes some of the time (I don't have to be extremely smart for work but I do make an effort on days when I have more meetings/external calls) and I feel much better. All my shoes with heels have been unworn though. I can't imagine wearing some of them!

I can't fit into most of my old stuff. But there is a definite change. I feel more old and miserable. But I don't know why. That's sad isn't it?

I feel like I want a new wardrobe of party clothes - colourful dresses and shirts. I want clothes associated with celebration. I've also stopped wearing joggers and gone back to jeans. I wasn't happy with the slippery slope into elasticated waistbands.

There is a flip side to my OP too, which is that I also haven’t felt self conscious for a year.

I simply haven’t cared how I look and in some ways I think that has been liberating...

Though I have also stopped caring - I’m definitely fatter and my skin is worse. I haven’t worn anything but black jeans and black sweatshirts for a year.

I thought I'd come out of this fully embracing all the weird vintage stuff I buy on eBay and that normally sits in my wardrobe. And I have wafted about in a kimono and a party dress quite often. Bit now I'm craving, if notlt office smartness (never really did that) something a bit more structured. Maybe it's simple to face going back out into the world after WFH for so long...

Apologies for typo mess... Hopefully you get my drift!

I behaved in a really unexpected way during the pandemic. I overhauled my entire wardrobe. I've been working from home and don't have children so I'm one of the few who's been more rested as a result, and the outcome of that seems to have been to reconnect me with my teenage self's interest in clothes. I feel a little silly now with the approaching return to work, like I'm going in going to be effectively going "ta da!!!" like some worm to butterfly transition.

Ima bit like you dudville. I used to be super scruffy unless I was at work and now I have upped my game quite a lot. I used to just wear t shirts and jeans or trackies. I've ditched jeans now on the whole and got some trousers and dresses I am much more comfortable with - in all senses of the word. I think I am a little more stylish too as a result.

I have completely changed style in lockdown. Before I wore dresses 99% of the time, had a massive collection of different coloured tights and cardigans to match. Now I wear dungarees with tops of varied thickness underneath about 80% of the time. I haven't worn make-up in months. I wore a dress last week one day for the first time since Christmas, I think. It felt strange being in one again.

I never thought I would own a hoodie, I now have 3! I also now seem to believe that yoga trousers are fine to wear all day every day even though I have never done yoga. I am not sure I really know any more how to dress very well. I seem to need to wear something cosy most days, not sure how this will work when back in an office.......

I have changed the way I dress to primarily comfort-based but have also bought some beautiful items I can't wait to wear.
I am hoping to find a new sense of adventure with clothing, I've missed having an outlet for self expression in so many areas of life and clothes will be a significant one. I'm excited to see how my style evolves with a bit more consideration.

Nothing's really changed.
I've worked all the way throgh and wear casual clothes for work. I tend to wear pretty summer dresses when the weather is nice and did that last year.

I agree. I had a few figure skimming dresses and skirts I used to wear to work. After a year at home, they look and feel very alien to me.

I also agree with @Beeth0ven about the self conscious bit. We went back to the office briefly last Sep. I discovered I was more laid back about appearance and generally open and confident in other ways. I want to hold on to that laissez faire attitude.

I have put on quite a lot of weight. I think I've gone from a size 12 to a size 14/16. None of my jeans fit me anymore so haven't worn them for months. I managed to squeeze into a pair yesterday but it wasn't comfortable. Instead I've worn mainly dresses.

I need to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes that actually fit. Am planning on a massive shopping spree once everything opens.

Having spent a year in lounge wear, I will definitely want to aim for comfort from now on when I go back to the office . There is No going back forvme!

I've lost a lot of weight and not really shopped yet.

But I have sold/got rid of every pair of jeggings I owned (had a lot and to me they are now "fat clothes" in my head) and am wanting to make a lot more effort.

Looking forward to shops opening so I can get out and get a bit of a smarter capsule wardrobe happening.

I dot really know what clothes size I am so online shopping is tricky although I'm doubting I'll be able to try stuff on anyway.

I feel like I have aged a lot over the past year. I've stopped dressing for fashion and started wearing what suits me and is practical for my lifestyle. I used to try to keep up with what the teens were wearing but I've really stopped that and found my own sense of style. I'm late 20's but still very much felt like I was in my teens when it came to how I dressed, I've now embraced the fact that I can't really get away with it anymore and that I prefer dressing like a grown up I still want to be a stylish grown up though.

I never really did the whole "loungewear" thing during any of the lock downs, I just wore my normal clothes. Lots of jeans, skirts and dresses.

@Amrapaali - interesting. Someone at work (zoom not in person ) complimented me on being more confident the other day (this was my interpretation of their words btw not their actual words). I do feel somehow more and less comfortable in my own skin. Like, I feel a bit wobblier and less toned but I also think I feel less of an imposter. I feel like - whatever happens it will be ok. Like, we survived one of the worst years in living memory, so why would I give too many fucks if I say the “wrong thing” in a meeting. I hope this lasts so much

Weirdly I think I feel less positive on the whole but also less scared of stuff going wrong / me doing wrong....