WFH wardrobe is making me depressed

[Crazylifewithlabs]

Hello lovely fashionista's . I'm in dire need of help! I need a smart casual wardrobe!

3 years ago my husband left for another woman and spent a year making myself feel all fabulous. Then lock down hit.

I have been working from home for 2 years full time as a single parent and trying to just survive and I feel yuck as I’ve lived in my old gym clothes and gained weight.

I have a Labrador who covers everything in hairs. So my go to “outfit” of black dress and black tights and boots isn’t an option. I’m 5ft 2 and a curvy size 10/12 and totally hate jeans.

Due to an office refurb it will be 6 months before I can get back to the office 2 days (WFH the rest) and the dress policy at work has changed from business dress to smart causal.

So I want to simplify my clothes and have a smart causal wardrobe that I can wear working from home, still be warm and be happy to do the school run with. Does anyone have any suggestions?

What sort of budget?

No suggestion for clothes but during lockdown I got bored of my own face and started to glam up my makeup. I hadn't worn red lipstick since I was in my 20s (in my 40s now). It made me feel really happy and I'm still doing it now (not in lockdown but WFH).

@nanbread - looking to treat myself to a new wardrobe high street prices

@hapagirl - great suggestion I normally wear more natural makeup at home but red lipstick always makes me feel super glam 😃

@Crazylifewithlabs, shop your wardrobe. I wear lots of black but black isn't good on zoom.

I have some things that I bought because they looked good on a hanger but frumpy on but are brighter colours and they look great on zoom, so I'm glad to use them

I wear something cat-hair appropriate when not on zoom

Get some shirt dresses maybe in a chiffony fabric that dog hair won't stick to? M&S has loads in a lot of different prints. They will stick work with tights and boots. Then maybe get a chunky cardi to go with them.

Monki is also really good for shirt dresses

@nanbread - thank you fab idea! Actually excited to go clothes shopping for the first time in years

@KirstenBlest - Great point about black not being great on zoom! Need to look at more bright colours

I used to really enjoy getting dressed up for work and found the first few months of wfh really hard from that perspective - I missed (still do) that part of my life.

For warmer weather, I bought some shirt dresses from Hush - not my usual shop tbh however I like the fact that I feel reasonably put together while still being comfy. They also don’t need ironing. I also have some wrap dresses from Arket which again are comfy but smart-ish. For winter, I bought some cashmere jumpers (Boden, Arket, John Lewis, Jigsaw) and wear those on rotation with a couple of skirts (Toast and Baukjen). I still have different clothes to wear at weekends and evening (Toast and Whistles mainly) so it doesn’t feel like I’m wearing the same stuff all the time.

What do you mean by shopping your wardrobe @KirstenBlest ?

I have some sweater dresses. Only and Superdry ordered via Next. Wear them with black thermal tights and boots. Look good for home and office.

I used to have a lovely work wardrobe and also miss dressing up for work.

I've embraced nice loungewear though - can't be bothered to put tights on during the day, so have some really nice leggings or lounge trousers plus cashmere jumpers. (I also have to walk the dogs during the day so this fits in that part of the day).

It makes me feel better to have regular hair cuts, my nails done, eyebrows done too. I always put make up on.

Dog walking means I do have to get out. But I also exercise at the end of the day and go to a yoga class after school drop off from time to time. (for me it's not just clothes that make me feel better - yoga is proper me time which I just love)

I've started buying some pretty dresses and skirts from Nobody's Child, Mango, Zara or Me & Em and wearing them with long cashmere cardigans and jumpers, v comfy and warm, if it's super cold I wear a ribbed t shirt under the dresses or jumpers. Can wear with trainers or boots too.