I’ve been working from home or in a hybrid setting for about 6 years now, and I always thought one of the perks of being home was wearing anything I want. But the clothes I wanted to wear were my old, comfy ‘stay at home’ pieces. I didn’t think I would need a WFH outfit. 

After starting to work fully remote again, back in the fall of 2025, I changed everything – redecorated my office and bought new equipment, but my clothing choices remained the same. So I decided to do a little experiment for two weeks and get ready like I would when going to the office. Was it perfect? No. But I did notice a few interesting things. 

My wfh outfits Save

What I wanted to achieve with this experiment

I wondered if getting ready for my WFH job would affect the way I look at it. If it would change the way I feel when something frustrating happens. Would I feel more confident on calls, with my work? Most importantly, would I get better at drawing my boundaries and sticking up for myself?

What do you miss about your office job?

One of the things I miss about going to the office is my ‘getting ready to work’ routine. Or, better, a mindset. I’ll admit, I’m not the girliest of girls, and I don’t wear makeup often, but what I mean by this is the process of knowing that when you get up, you only have a certain amount of time before heading out of the house. So you try to make use of that time the best you can. I still have my morning routine, and that part hasn’t changed. That’s my time, before the world wakes up. 

But when you work from home, the line between life and work blurs, and often you don’t get ready for work, you just start working.

clothes in a closet Save

Preparing (mentally) for a new workday

For me, putting on makeup and picking out the outfit for work was part of getting mentally prepared for another workday. Separating life and work by simply putting on WFH clothes you wouldn’t normally wear around the house.

When I stopped going to the office, I would wear the same cozy clothes I wear when I wanted to calm down and chill after a stressful day at work. So, unintentionally, life and work did kinda merge into one.

Starting the night before

The biggest part of being ready in the morning is preparing the night before. Or, at least it is for me! This applies to working from home and going to the office. I can’t be bothered to pick out my cute WFH outfits in the morning, so I do it the night before. I hang them in my living room, because that’s where I usually spend my mornings. And also, to keep them away from my cats so I’m not covered in cat hair. 

Besides picking out my WFH outfit, I also tried to prepare my breakfast in advance, so I can be ‘in control’ of my morning time as much as possible.

wfh cute clothes Save

WFH outfit ideas

At first I thought it would be much harder to decide what to wear. I didn’t want to go overboard and wear something I wouldn’t wear for my office job. I also wanted to feel comfortable, but told myself that it can’t include sweatpants and a nice shirt. It had to be a full outfit. Well, minus the shoes. 

I would definitely recommend owning a couple of comfortable pants that can be considered work casual. Also, dresses, definitely. I’m not a girl who wears dresses that often, but since it’s summer and there was a heat wave when I decided to go on my little experiment, WFH dresses saved me. 

Here’s what I recommend:

  • Combine your outfit with a nice piece of jewelry
  • Find a nice, casual business dress
  • Always add a watch to your outfit, it makes you look more professional
  • Choose clothes you feel comfortable in
  • Choose natural fabrics like cotton, and avoid polyester when you can
  • Wear a perfume
  • Do something nice with your hair, instead of putting it up in a ponytail all the time
business casual outfit Save

What I noticed

I did the challenge for 2 weeks (10 working days), and I wrote notes every day. Not sure if anyone would call it a success, but I do, even though I got ready for 6 out of 10 days. Hey, that’s more than half, a win for me! 

The days when I got ready

I definitely felt more confident. The first day was tough, I had a lot of work and felt pressured in a few situations. But that also made it a perfect day for this challenge to start, because if everything is perfect, I wouldn’t feel any big change, in my opinion. Instead of letting the pressure get to me, I thought about the situation and what I could do. I reorganized my schedule and was proactive, and didn’t let anyone affect how I felt.

Sometimes we get overwhelmed by everything we ‘have to’ do, and the corporate urgency feels real, until we decide not to let it. Most of us are not working life altering jobs, we are preparing decks, organizing spreadsheets, and populating trackers. But corporate has a way of getting to you with their urgent requests and deadlines. So, when this happens, I like to go to my balcony to clear my head, or go out for even a 10 minute walk. And being already ready and dressed for work makes it easier to do so.

The benefits I noticed

  • Felt more confident in meetings and about my work
  • Ready to go out after work more easily, because I was already dressed and ready
  • It was easier to separate work and life
  • I was more focused
  • Felt motivated
  • Was more aware of my working hours and dedicated break time
getting ready for work with makeup Save

Why did I skip some days?

Life happens. The perfectionist in me wanted to make the challenge longer because I missed a few days. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to see how I felt and to understand why it would be good to continue with it, challenge or not.

Anyways, I’m also learning how to drive finally, amid everything else. This is my year for big changes. But I was waking up super early for that, and then starting work as soon as I got home. So it was hard to include a little get ready session in those days.

I did notice a change on days when I wasn’t ready. It was harder to keep my cool, to stay focused, and not think about life and everything I needed to get done that day.

Will I continue to do it?

I really want to! I want to continue feeling the benefits of it. I’m sure I will have days off when I don’t feel like getting ready, or I’ll be too tired, so I’ll only do the bare minimum. On those days, I can at least pick out my WFH outfit, makeup can stay off. 

But I will keep showing up for this version of myself, and I hope I encourage you to do it too!