I believe it’s part of a larger macrotrend, which I’m calling ‘Regressive Nostalgia.’** It’s basically “make america great again” translated into an aesthetic context: a rose-colored glasses view of the ‘good old times,’ which encompasses the romanticization of both the 50s/60s (tradwifery & domestic life) and the 80s (office power dressing & extravagant parties, suits and martinis). The goal is: be the office siren to land the man and then be the tradwife. Of course, it was only good times for rich white men. The rosy memories seem to forget the realities of housewives imprisoned in thankless marriages and the crack epidemic ravaging underprivileged communities. This was always a common perspective among white Boomer men, but I theorize this has been able to gain momentum recently because Gen Z has no recollection or references. Gen X and older millennials had Boomer grandmothers or mothers to tell the true stories of what life was actually like. Gen Z and some younger millennials don't. They just see the movies and magazines from those times and think it looked pretty cute. It’s the exact same thing with smoking, they didn’t see their grandparents or parents deal with lung cancer, they grew up in a world where none of those issues existed. They saw other issues instead - overworked mothers trying to do it all, the commercialization of wellness. So, a perfect storm for us to recreate all these wonderful things. Basically, I think the office siren aesthetics are tied to much bigger cultural shifts.
**Currently working on a post about this, open to other ideas for the name.
Totally agree with this. I had a child during the pandemic and luckily work from home full-time. It's been such a gamechanger for how I'm able to "do it all" (though obviously I'm still not able to do it all, ha). Going into the office 5x days a week feels so blatantly old-school and male-centric – I'd like to see how these aspiring office sirens feel about corporate life once they want a family.
Sadly I don’t think they’ll understand until it’s too late. Being in office 5x a week obviously only benefits one type of person, and that is the white male. Who needs a family when you have money!? The romanticization of office life is problematic from both a feminist and racial equity lens, and it’s wild how aggressively pop culture is playing along with these ideas. The Vogue instagram rn is crazy.
the tension of my life is that I don’t want to have to go through the bullshit of getting dressed for work every morning but working from home and never having a real reason to put myself together very clearly negatively affects my mood and sense of self
I have started loading my calendar up with more extracurriculars during the week for this reason. Just started a Tuesday night pottery class like a sweet lil old lady. It’s healing me for real
Relatable - I ebb and flow working from home and feeling like I lose my style. I get a wind of planning outfits and such then trail off a bit. I've started to plan more during the week (even if it's stuff I could do on the weekend) to push myself to polish myself up more knowing I've got stuff on the calendar that day. Pottery sounds awesome....and therapeutic. I'm looking for a knitting class...just tried two book clubs that didn't quite hit me right but want to keep trying. I also want/need to push myself for that social aspect outside my neighborhood and work people.
I found classes through my local county recreation programming, and they're super affordable. Maybe check that out in your area :) So Google "[Your county] adult education/recreation classes"
Nobody at my office is dressing office siren sexy, although that would be fun... but they are dressing chic, which feels powerful, which feels sexy. Especially the younger crowd, it's obvious we want to impress.
I work in advertising, so it's much more casual. But some men are still showing up in t-shirts or hoodies and those lulu 'work pant but stretchy' pants. To be honest it's uninspiring to see your boss in a hoodie. Surprise me!
I came to the same conclusion when I was standing behind a guy in those pants when I was going up an esclatclator and I couldn't help but notice he had boxer brief panty lines.
Few and far between these days. Did break out a pantsuit for an Albertson’s grocery buyer meeting when I was pitching my brand not just co. for their pasta sauce set.
I'm starting a new job in a few weeks. It's in-office 5 days (with some flexibility), business formal, and I CAN'T WAIT to dress up again. I love putting on a uniform every day. It helps me get into character and protects me from bad vibes.
I also think it's essential to actually be there, with the people who you work with. I get that WFH is good for some people, but I think those folks are missing out. Believe me, I think the best thing to come out of the pandemic is a lot more flexibility, plus no longer expecting people to come in when they're sick, but my office now is small already, and it's practically nonexistent when half of us are WFM.
An anecdote - I met a 22 year old at a networking event recently and we were talking about the wsj article, and I asked him if he thought he was in business casual or formal and he said formal because he had dress pants on. No irony. He was wearing sneakers, slacks, a polo, and a light down jacket.
It will be interesting to see how return to office influences style choices.
anecdotally, more and more of my male friends are getting into tailoring (not just for the office too!) — cool fabrics, big lapels from Spier and Mackay, complex eBay searches to score deals on Drake’s ties, etc.
public sector / lobbying / nonprofit / academia — one of my friends closes new hires at his lobbying shop by taking the candidate to alton lane in NW DC, buying him 2 made to measure suits, and taking them to lunch at joe’s stone crab
In the Venn diagram of office attire, I don’t think there’s any overlap between “companies where CEO wants full time RTO” and where “office siren” would go over well.
My big change post-pandemic was that I stopped wearing ties. Too bad because I had so many awesome ties
My husband ditched his ties waaaayback when and it made him seem hip and cool. Now that no one wears a tie anymore he has brought them back for himself (thrifts them) and people love it and are commenting on how great he looks all the time! Also vests (actual tailored vests not a finance vest). And brooches or cool pins for the lapel and scarves. He broke out a double breasted jacket recently which also created a stir. LOL Bottom line is that the bar with men these days is low for the most part (athleisurewear/khakis/quarter zips) so a little effort goes a long way!
are those chicks also working at goldman or somewhere else in Brookfield?
Initially on zoom it felt too formal to wear a tie, now I feel that norms have shifted and ties have been relegated to more formal settings (or natty situations that are not my day-to-day)
As someone in a client-facing job, getting up and getting dressed in office attire (blazer and slacks) in the morning is a non-negotiable for me, it's part of shifting into my professional persona and presenting the way I want to come off. I feel like in this last six months more than any other post-pandemic time period clients are wanting to meet in person, either at their office or out in the world. I feel like the office attire sets the right tone for those interactions, not to mention helps me differentiate work life from my home/social life. I'm 28, so I had less than a year before the pandemic hit, but I've abandoned a lot of my pandemic-era practices, minus working from home on Fridays!
It would be my pleasure, and this is may be where I diverge from a traditional office look. I don't own a blow dryer or do anything to style my hair. I typically just brush it out and braid it at night, take out the braids in the morning and go. My makeup takes 5-7 minutes- boy brow, basic pink/beige shadow, brown mascara (my black mascara days are over), blush (I like the pocket blush from rhode I can't help it), and then gloss (topicals ever since I saw it in this newsletter) on the way out the door. More than that and it's too much to consistently do, I'd rather look EXTRA nice for a special occasion.
If you don’t mind a lil republican hair that RobeCurl thingy does the job. I air dry and then wear it to bed. Curls/body last for me a couple days before I need to repeat.
I’m certainly happy for neckties to continue being dead for at least a couple more years so I can build my collection out at basement prices.
It seems with every group of new hires we get more “gentle reminders” from senior people about what’s appropriate dress. There’s at least at my company a weird in-between where being able to show up casual is pushed as a perk but especially younger people seem unaware of where the line between casual and not office appropriate is, and the line feels like it shifts arbitrarily.
I mostly attribute this to a jarring lack of rule-setting and actual mentorship as people have returned to corporate offices. No more Draper/Olson, you could instead spend all that soft time generating revenue.
Not always all the way. I’ll wear one if I want to say “today is important” or if I’m embedded somewhere conservative where ties are still in the uniform (these places do still exist).
I observe people with newly minted authority/oversight - new directors, VP’s who just got another letter added to the front - snapping more formal right after they’re tapped. Then slowly dropping the peacocking.
I actually feel the opposite! I think men have more formulaic ways to dress for the office. This suit with this shirt, don’t wear [color] tie with [color] shirt, make sure your pants don’t hit like capris, have your dad teach you to tie a tie and remember forever. Corporate womenswear seems a very overwhelming thing to navigate with all its choice.
When I wore a tie working in LA, it was a dead giveaway that I was a New Yorker. Helped you make friends with other New Yorkers who ID you quickly though
Im glad you made some NYC friends. Hopefully the west coast freeze out hasn't been to bad. But yeah ties to work on the west coast when not explicitly required is very 🧐. I’m from Portland, but I have family who work in the entertainment industry in LA. It’s more formal there than in PDX; however, compared to NY, it feels like everyone is in their pajamas all day LA.
Back in my SF tech office days (pre and post Covid), I tried to pitch formal dress up day once a month and was shot down repeatedly, by everyone. I’ve never worked anywhere with a smidge of a dress code so I thought I’d be fun on occasion but I was clearly the outlier. Needless to say, the only time I ever threw on a blazer was for the holiday party.
Long before now, I’ve idolized the New York 1980’s office hustle and bustle. Think working girl or planes trains and automobile opening scenes. I yearn for that time and don’t think it will ever come around again. For shopping these days I think buying vintage classic designer items like slacks for under 100 from TRR is the move. Also don’t sleep on the runway section of a TJMaxx
YES. I love the layers, textures, and polish of that time. It's also nostalgic.....I was in high school in the 80's watching those movies and reading Vogue. Miss this!
I believe it’s part of a larger macrotrend, which I’m calling ‘Regressive Nostalgia.’** It’s basically “make america great again” translated into an aesthetic context: a rose-colored glasses view of the ‘good old times,’ which encompasses the romanticization of both the 50s/60s (tradwifery & domestic life) and the 80s (office power dressing & extravagant parties, suits and martinis). The goal is: be the office siren to land the man and then be the tradwife. Of course, it was only good times for rich white men. The rosy memories seem to forget the realities of housewives imprisoned in thankless marriages and the crack epidemic ravaging underprivileged communities. This was always a common perspective among white Boomer men, but I theorize this has been able to gain momentum recently because Gen Z has no recollection or references. Gen X and older millennials had Boomer grandmothers or mothers to tell the true stories of what life was actually like. Gen Z and some younger millennials don't. They just see the movies and magazines from those times and think it looked pretty cute. It’s the exact same thing with smoking, they didn’t see their grandparents or parents deal with lung cancer, they grew up in a world where none of those issues existed. They saw other issues instead - overworked mothers trying to do it all, the commercialization of wellness. So, a perfect storm for us to recreate all these wonderful things. Basically, I think the office siren aesthetics are tied to much bigger cultural shifts.
**Currently working on a post about this, open to other ideas for the name.
YOU HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT THIS
I am rewatching madmen and this is spot on, there’s something sinister about it
Totally agree with this. I had a child during the pandemic and luckily work from home full-time. It's been such a gamechanger for how I'm able to "do it all" (though obviously I'm still not able to do it all, ha). Going into the office 5x days a week feels so blatantly old-school and male-centric – I'd like to see how these aspiring office sirens feel about corporate life once they want a family.
Sadly I don’t think they’ll understand until it’s too late. Being in office 5x a week obviously only benefits one type of person, and that is the white male. Who needs a family when you have money!? The romanticization of office life is problematic from both a feminist and racial equity lens, and it’s wild how aggressively pop culture is playing along with these ideas. The Vogue instagram rn is crazy.
Can't wait to read your post on this!
post is up! https://substack.com/home/post/p-155468982
I’d also add — it seems like a time where hallmarks of growing up: house, kids, etc felt attainable.
the tension of my life is that I don’t want to have to go through the bullshit of getting dressed for work every morning but working from home and never having a real reason to put myself together very clearly negatively affects my mood and sense of self
I lose something within myself creatively when I stay home all day
I have started loading my calendar up with more extracurriculars during the week for this reason. Just started a Tuesday night pottery class like a sweet lil old lady. It’s healing me for real
I want to take a pottery class
Relatable - I ebb and flow working from home and feeling like I lose my style. I get a wind of planning outfits and such then trail off a bit. I've started to plan more during the week (even if it's stuff I could do on the weekend) to push myself to polish myself up more knowing I've got stuff on the calendar that day. Pottery sounds awesome....and therapeutic. I'm looking for a knitting class...just tried two book clubs that didn't quite hit me right but want to keep trying. I also want/need to push myself for that social aspect outside my neighborhood and work people.
I found classes through my local county recreation programming, and they're super affordable. Maybe check that out in your area :) So Google "[Your county] adult education/recreation classes"
The Drawing Room is awesome! They have knitting classes, a knitting circle once a month, and also clay classes/kiln.
https://www.instagram.com/nycdrawingroom?igsh=Nm5rd2FpcTV3MGxi
Nice - wish I was in nyc!
Nobody at my office is dressing office siren sexy, although that would be fun... but they are dressing chic, which feels powerful, which feels sexy. Especially the younger crowd, it's obvious we want to impress.
I work in advertising, so it's much more casual. But some men are still showing up in t-shirts or hoodies and those lulu 'work pant but stretchy' pants. To be honest it's uninspiring to see your boss in a hoodie. Surprise me!
Those lulu pants have to be banned
I came to the same conclusion when I was standing behind a guy in those pants when I was going up an esclatclator and I couldn't help but notice he had boxer brief panty lines.
That’s so upsetting
I keep saying chic is goals.
I love going into the office and I love getting dressed for work. I think both are so important
Where are you shopping
Kallmeyer, Depop (thanks corpcore girlies), lots of vintage suiting, mom’s skirt suits from the 80s
Go mommy. My best suit is vintage Jil Sander from James veloria
Now that’s what I’m taking about
Very into stealing my mom’s 80s corporate wear when the occasion warrants it.
What’s the occasion
Few and far between these days. Did break out a pantsuit for an Albertson’s grocery buyer meeting when I was pitching my brand not just co. for their pasta sauce set.
I'm starting a new job in a few weeks. It's in-office 5 days (with some flexibility), business formal, and I CAN'T WAIT to dress up again. I love putting on a uniform every day. It helps me get into character and protects me from bad vibes.
I also think it's essential to actually be there, with the people who you work with. I get that WFH is good for some people, but I think those folks are missing out. Believe me, I think the best thing to come out of the pandemic is a lot more flexibility, plus no longer expecting people to come in when they're sick, but my office now is small already, and it's practically nonexistent when half of us are WFM.
Love the uniformity as “protection from bad vibes”
Mazel on the new job!!!
An anecdote - I met a 22 year old at a networking event recently and we were talking about the wsj article, and I asked him if he thought he was in business casual or formal and he said formal because he had dress pants on. No irony. He was wearing sneakers, slacks, a polo, and a light down jacket.
It will be interesting to see how return to office influences style choices.
There’s probably another line of convo here that gets into dress codes for weddings events etc
Definitely, though I would have thought formal was pretty straightforward
Same but… I wouldn’t thought skirt suit outfits were for women who worked in offices, not influencers
anecdotally, more and more of my male friends are getting into tailoring (not just for the office too!) — cool fabrics, big lapels from Spier and Mackay, complex eBay searches to score deals on Drake’s ties, etc.
This is sick. Where do you guys all work
public sector / lobbying / nonprofit / academia — one of my friends closes new hires at his lobbying shop by taking the candidate to alton lane in NW DC, buying him 2 made to measure suits, and taking them to lunch at joe’s stone crab
Damn that’s iconic
This would work on me but does he only hire men
I added a scarf 🧣 this week and feel like I’ve been missing out on this warmth and style for years.
men in scarves = hot.
In the Venn diagram of office attire, I don’t think there’s any overlap between “companies where CEO wants full time RTO” and where “office siren” would go over well.
My big change post-pandemic was that I stopped wearing ties. Too bad because I had so many awesome ties
And disagree, some of the chicks outside of Goldman are going for iiiiiit
My husband ditched his ties waaaayback when and it made him seem hip and cool. Now that no one wears a tie anymore he has brought them back for himself (thrifts them) and people love it and are commenting on how great he looks all the time! Also vests (actual tailored vests not a finance vest). And brooches or cool pins for the lapel and scarves. He broke out a double breasted jacket recently which also created a stir. LOL Bottom line is that the bar with men these days is low for the most part (athleisurewear/khakis/quarter zips) so a little effort goes a long way!
Why’d you stop?
are those chicks also working at goldman or somewhere else in Brookfield?
Initially on zoom it felt too formal to wear a tie, now I feel that norms have shifted and ties have been relegated to more formal settings (or natty situations that are not my day-to-day)
Perfectly timed newsletter considering the Hoka loafer came out today— https://www.gearpatrol.com/fitness/hoka-speed-loafer/?
a manifestation of the state of the office in 2025?
Men stay wearing shoes that look like aliens. Kinda fuck w the all black though
giving cole haan on steroids, double ugh
First reaction was nooooo but the longer I look…these might actually fill a weird niche for me?
As someone in a client-facing job, getting up and getting dressed in office attire (blazer and slacks) in the morning is a non-negotiable for me, it's part of shifting into my professional persona and presenting the way I want to come off. I feel like in this last six months more than any other post-pandemic time period clients are wanting to meet in person, either at their office or out in the world. I feel like the office attire sets the right tone for those interactions, not to mention helps me differentiate work life from my home/social life. I'm 28, so I had less than a year before the pandemic hit, but I've abandoned a lot of my pandemic-era practices, minus working from home on Fridays!
Can you talk us through the hair and makeup because that’s the biggest time suck for me
It would be my pleasure, and this is may be where I diverge from a traditional office look. I don't own a blow dryer or do anything to style my hair. I typically just brush it out and braid it at night, take out the braids in the morning and go. My makeup takes 5-7 minutes- boy brow, basic pink/beige shadow, brown mascara (my black mascara days are over), blush (I like the pocket blush from rhode I can't help it), and then gloss (topicals ever since I saw it in this newsletter) on the way out the door. More than that and it's too much to consistently do, I'd rather look EXTRA nice for a special occasion.
Can you say more about why your black mascara days are over? I’m a dummy re makeup so am curious if something about black doesn’t work
If you don’t mind a lil republican hair that RobeCurl thingy does the job. I air dry and then wear it to bed. Curls/body last for me a couple days before I need to repeat.
I’m certainly happy for neckties to continue being dead for at least a couple more years so I can build my collection out at basement prices.
It seems with every group of new hires we get more “gentle reminders” from senior people about what’s appropriate dress. There’s at least at my company a weird in-between where being able to show up casual is pushed as a perk but especially younger people seem unaware of where the line between casual and not office appropriate is, and the line feels like it shifts arbitrarily.
I mostly attribute this to a jarring lack of rule-setting and actual mentorship as people have returned to corporate offices. No more Draper/Olson, you could instead spend all that soft time generating revenue.
Is there anyone who is like THE GUY who always takes suit and tie all the way? Or is that you lol
Not always all the way. I’ll wear one if I want to say “today is important” or if I’m embedded somewhere conservative where ties are still in the uniform (these places do still exist).
I observe people with newly minted authority/oversight - new directors, VP’s who just got another letter added to the front - snapping more formal right after they’re tapped. Then slowly dropping the peacocking.
What’s your relationship w your tailor like
Intimate and slow-moving.
I feel for men - ties look like a PITA. Also having to shave yo face - that's alot of effort!
I actually feel the opposite! I think men have more formulaic ways to dress for the office. This suit with this shirt, don’t wear [color] tie with [color] shirt, make sure your pants don’t hit like capris, have your dad teach you to tie a tie and remember forever. Corporate womenswear seems a very overwhelming thing to navigate with all its choice.
Totally agree...my point was a tie feels like being choked to me...and razor burn yikes.
This feels like a very East Coast trend…I can’t see formal business attire catching on in PDX, SF or Seattle. Maybe LA.
When I wore a tie working in LA, it was a dead giveaway that I was a New Yorker. Helped you make friends with other New Yorkers who ID you quickly though
Im glad you made some NYC friends. Hopefully the west coast freeze out hasn't been to bad. But yeah ties to work on the west coast when not explicitly required is very 🧐. I’m from Portland, but I have family who work in the entertainment industry in LA. It’s more formal there than in PDX; however, compared to NY, it feels like everyone is in their pajamas all day LA.
I work in a private high school and oftentimes find myself shocked at some of my coworker's outfits. LOTS of leggings and t-shirts.
Damn I’d be mad if I was a parent
Back in my SF tech office days (pre and post Covid), I tried to pitch formal dress up day once a month and was shot down repeatedly, by everyone. I’ve never worked anywhere with a smidge of a dress code so I thought I’d be fun on occasion but I was clearly the outlier. Needless to say, the only time I ever threw on a blazer was for the holiday party.
Long before now, I’ve idolized the New York 1980’s office hustle and bustle. Think working girl or planes trains and automobile opening scenes. I yearn for that time and don’t think it will ever come around again. For shopping these days I think buying vintage classic designer items like slacks for under 100 from TRR is the move. Also don’t sleep on the runway section of a TJMaxx
YES. I love the layers, textures, and polish of that time. It's also nostalgic.....I was in high school in the 80's watching those movies and reading Vogue. Miss this!
Ugh born to be a maxxinista but the ones in New York suckkkkk
Fidi location is my plug