business casual – PhD in Clothes

Easy, comfortable outfits for going back to the office

Fall 2021 might be a rude awakening for many of us, if enough people get vaccinated and we are suddenly summoned back from work from home to our offices. I already have a timeline for this–August 2021–and while I will miss some parts of my home office, I am a little excited to put on office outfits again. At the same time, my tolerance for structured pants (and bras with underwire!) is incredibly low at the moment, so I thought I would put together some easy, comfortable work outfits to ease the transition back to in-person work!

Comfortable women’s shoes for work and walking, aka shoes that will not betray you at conferences

Comfortable women’s dress shoes are so hard to find, especially if you need to be on your feet all day at a work, for travel, or at a conference. Seriously, why are office shoes so terrible?? I’ve run through boxes of bandaids trying to avoid blisters in the past and am now committed on 3-4 pairs of shoes that will never betray me at work. Here they are.

Style shifts for 2021: More Color

As I recently wrote, I’m trying to go into 2021 by more intentionally noticing what I like in my closet and, when I (hopefully infrequently!) shop, aligning my purchases with those trends. The second style shift I’ve noticed recently is that I am reaching for more colors and have started putting more colorful items together! My second style goal this year is to embrace more color, so here’s some style inspo I’ve pinned and what’s on my wishlist!

A month of realistic, comfy business casual outfits: Week 4

Welcome to the end of me documenting every outfit I wore to work! I’ve had fun challenging myself this month. The basics of what I’ve learned: if the shoe isn’t flat, I’m not wearing it, if I feel exposed, I’m not wearing it, and if the outfit doesn’t have SOME “cool factor,” I’m not wearing it. It’s been interesting to observe my own choices in business casual clothes this month. Enough rambling. Here’s what I wore!

A Month of Professor Work Outfits: Week 3

Welcome to another week of business casual professor outfits. This week we had a warm snap and I was able to go sans-tights for a few days, so I would call these spring work outfit ideas (even if it will soon be winter again!). And my neutral color choices finally got to me and I decided to consciously pick out my favorite jewel tones to wear to the office. Here are some easy women’s professor style outfits for the week!

A Month of Business Casual Work Outfits: Week 2

Welcome back to me attempting to document all my Monday-Friday outfits this month! Business casual outfits can feel so tricky. Add needing professor teaching outfits to the mix and I can’t even count the number of work outfits I’ve tried on, deemed too risky, and discarded. The problem with teaching is that it can feel pretty dang vulnerable, like your whole body is on display and you need good mobility. So this week, I decided to focus on my favorite outfits to teach in. Here we go!

A Month of Professor Work Outfits: Week 1

I really love seeing what people (actually) wear to work. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pinterest inspo, but towering stilettos and runway-ready outfits passed off as “business casual” start to grate on me–who is actually comfy enough to work a 9-5 in that?? So, this month, I’ve decided to document all of my professor work outfits. Here’s week 1 of what I wore and what I wore it for!

Work outfits lately plus some Friday links

Here’s what I’ve worn to work lately! Plus what I’ve been reading.

Cyber Monday: In search of work shirts

I got a request to post some good shirts that go under blazers–a topic that I think is always a problem for me (I’ve already ranted about it here). In the spirit of Cyber Monday, here are some nice work shirts at good prices!

Shawl color shell by Ann Taylor (which is 50% off everything through Monday, $30)

Shopping for business clothes using Black Friday sales

We’re all friends here, right? Can I just share that my shopping victory of the weekend was finding a suit I want and will actually wear, in a tall size, for $115?! I know that’s steep, but it’s hard to find anything cheaper when it comes to suiting unless you are lucky enough to find one second hand.

I accomplished this by using Black Friday sales to finally get some business clothes I’ve been eyeing. Yes, I know, the season of giving gifts to others, etc etc…but this is also a really good time to find business casual clothes at more affordable prices.

Here are some picks from the J. Crew sale, which is 50% off almost everything. That makes J. Crew almost affordable! Above, the suit I bought (jacket $75, pants $40). Below, some other good choices: