So Long 2020: No Pants, No Bra, No Problem.

I have said it again and again, one of the silver-linings of 2020 was how infrequently I had to wear a bra!! I mean sure, you would think "Hey! It's the 21st century, you don't need to wear a bra if you don't want to." Not true! I have been personal witness to several work related conversations that discussed just how distracting it is when a woman doesn't wear a bra. I wish this weren't the case but hey, progress is slow and our societal mind is pretty hard-wired to obsess over the feminine body.

Now, I can get behind the new found freedom in the bra department and yeah it's pretty awesome to not have to wear pants everyday, but at a certain point, it went too far. As we head into 2021, I bid us say bye-bye to lounge-wear at work.

You know exactly what I’m talking about! I’m talking about those fuzzy bunny slippers that you wore at your last staff meeting, or the way too big sweater with the moth holes you wore on “casual Friday”. How about the white t-shirt with the yellow pit-stains you threw on because there were no Zoom calls that day? It’s been fun to morph into full blown slob mode but when it lasts for such a long period, it’s just not good for morale! Company or personal!

Why should we even care how we look anymore?

It's only natural human instinct to care about your appearance. To take care of yourself, your hygiene, your physique, your style. You know, in case any potential mates are roaming by. Without those chance encounters to strut our stuff, we have let ourselves go! Or at least I have. And most people I've talked to about this have as well.

At a certain point, around 250 days into #pandemiclife , I started to look at myself in the mirror and think, is this me now? Have the horrors of the world piled on too much in one year and now I physically represent the unsettled and unappealing nature of 2020?

It seemed as though my wardrobe consisted of a rotating catalogue of sweat pants and oversized shirts in variations of grey, black and creams. And I am so over it. If 2020 has encouraged me to try anything with fashion, it's too mix in some more gosh darn color! We all need some color in our lives right now, don't you think?

If you also find yourself stuck in the endless cycle of pajamas, over-sized swag t-shirts from event giveaways and your dad’s old sweaters, don’t be hard on yourself. It’s easy to start feeling bad about your appearance but I think we can all give ourselves a break this year. Researching the latest fashion trends might not have been on your list of priorities after following health guidelines, worrying about groceries (toilet paper!) and making sure your loved ones are safe. But maybe we need to start caring for our personal appearance again. It’s a small thing that we can have some control over. A way to bring some brightness to our lives!

Now, if you are obsessed with your new found comfort clothes lifestyle, I don’t blame you. But for 2021, consider stepping it up a notch with…

Luxury Lounge Wear

We asked and the fashion industry answered! Now we can kick back in our at home office in style (and comfort). This trend has been going for a while. Realistically when activewear got cool with Nike and Adidas in the 90’s, loungewear started making a name for itself. It wasn’t until recently that “Luxury Loungewear” was coined as a term and I’m sure you’ve seen it flooding your Instagram feed.

@dynamiteclothing and @linhniller on Instagram

Sweatpants but make them fashion! Now this new luxe lounge look, I can get behind that.

2021, Let's Bring Some Pride Back

"Take some pride in your personal appearance". Seems kinda like an old-fashioned saying doesn't it? Something your grandparents might have said when 12 year old you sat down at the table for dinner. Well, call me old-fashioned but maybe we should embrace this way of thinking moving forward. Things are tough, sitting inside by yourself gets pretty old and I think we can liven things up if we ditch the PJs and put on our fancy-pants!

Let's take a note from some of our favourite at-work fashionistas and bring some flair back into our lives.

Say it with me, “Goodbye sweat pants, hello fancy pants!”