WFH Fashion

As I write this, I am sitting on our recently acquired chaise lounge, and looking at the collection of designer dresses, shoes, and bags I’ve been privileged enough to amass over the past 3-4 years.  Meanwhile, I am wearing an oversized gray T shirt borrowed from my husband and cuddled up under a fuzzy blanket that we affectionately call, the “horse blanket.”  For fashionista me, this can only mean one thing….I’m sick.

No, not Covid, thankfully!  However, this forced hiatus has caused me to reflect on my own personal trajectory during these “unprecedented times.”  I can only presume that most of us are still processing the fallout of these dark times, with repercussions on the micro and macro level still widely unknown.  For me, in classic PTSD style, many memories from the past 2 years appear as the distant haze of a nearly forgotten memory.

Of course, this is a blog about fashion….so let’s allow Fashion to tell the story.

Ironically, at the onset of the Pandemic I was trying my wings at a new career, soaring high on the hopes and dreams that one day I’d be working in an atelier in Paris alongside – or at least in proximity to – the designers I so admire, working for one of les Grandes Maisons.  Over the previous 2-3 years I’d become addicted to Fashion, feeding my habit with a subscription to Rent the Runway (those tantalizing discounts that allow you to purchase what you’ve rented – poison!). Disgruntled with my hard-earned position as a Director of Sales, I set my sights on something grander, more glamorous, that would allow me to unleash my tethered creativity.  I quit my 9-5 and accepted a position as a part-time seller at Kate Spade.

Then….the world shut down.

In hindsight, the Michael Kors’ 2020 F/W show was oddly prescient, with musician Orville Peck wearing a fringed mask that obscured his face, and Western-inspired runway looks espousing comfort: oversized parkas, capes, and turtlenecks in soothing tones of pumpkin-orange or taupe.  Runway shows for the rest of the 2020-2021 seasons would come to feature oversized tailoring in everything from dresses (the “prairie” look made a brief comeback), to suits, to “Mom” jeans….“loungewear” and “athleisure” flew off the shelves.  By summer of 2020 I was working at a Michael Kors Lifestyle store in Georgetown DC, and found it curious how many people came in to shop, claiming they didn’t need anything.  No longer going to work IRL or doing much of anything, with strict mandates still in place, women scorned themselves for the desire to dress without having any place to go.  How we dress is how we see ourselves in the mirror every day – regardless of who else is looking!  Then, with the rising popularity of TikTok and Instagram (I spent plenty of time on my page during lockdown!), there is always an audience at your fingertips.  Personally, I gained reassurance from the simple act of getting up and getting dressed in “real” clothes, doing my makeup, and taking a selfie or two to post on IG – before the daily grind undid all my work!

Now, as we emerge from the pandemic and “things” are relatively “back to normal,” runways and magazines are filled with bodycon looks, celebrating our post-pandemic bodies.  A recent trend I’ve noticed is body-suits with the shoulders, sides, chest, or all of the above cut out in geometric patterns.  It’s even a thing to wear a t shirt or sweatshirt with the bottom cut off just above the bottom of the breasts.  Now I’m no prude, but personally, I don’t have the confidence to try that in public!  (Gen Z….you go on ahead.)

Now, just as everyone else is going back to working IRL, and finding more occasions to dress, I find myself going against the grain once again – and working from home.   After 2 years, during the height of the pandemic, working in retail, I have come back around full circle.  I’m now back in the hospitality business, booking meetings and events for the prestigious JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura, FL.  It’s truly a dream come true!  Not exactly the Parisian Atelier I’d envisioned, but it’s luxury of a different kind, and the balance of WFH while still networking from time to time – it’s the perfect fit for me right now. 

I hope all of you have found a happy “ending” to your story – but of course there’s never really an “end,” is there?