{"id":41496,"date":"2020-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newrcblog.wpengine.com\/wfh-fashion\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T04:18:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T11:18:28","slug":"wfh-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/us\/en\/blog\/wfh-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"WFH is giving business-casual a whole new meaning\u2014here\u2019s how"},"content":{"rendered":"

Working from home has become the new normal for many businesses, but just because you\u2019ve adopted a \u201cwork from home\u201d lifestyle doesn\u2019t mean you have to turn your sweatpants into your new uniform.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So where do we draw the line between formal and casual while working from home?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Are video meetings automatically more casual than in-person meetings? If you ask us, it depends. There are both advantages and disadvantages to dressing up <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> to dressing down for doing business over video from your home office.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019ll dig into:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Whether or not to wear a full suit when working from home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  2. The role your office wardrobe plays on work psychology<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. How to read the room to find a balance between formal and casual<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/a><\/p>\n

    To suit, or not to suit?<\/h2>\n

    Here are two contrasting ways to look at the question of formal or casual wear for video meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n

    First, you\u2019re at home. The people you\u2019re video conferencing<\/a> with probably expect you to leave your suit in the closet and pick out something more comfortable. If you aren\u2019t planning on video conferencing, you can probably skip the suit.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But at the same time, even though you\u2019re working from home, you\u2019re still at work. So how far should you go to look the part? Even if you\u2019ve already decided not to wear your most expensive heels or tie, you might want to put together something more in the business casual category, besides, who wouldn\u2019t want to look sharp when your video meeting platform has HD video?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Our humble opinion? It\u2019s hard to go wrong with a patterned button-down:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    For platforms that have HD video quality, like RingCentral Video, you\u2019ll want to make sure that it picks up just how put-together your look is!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Don\u2019t go for gym clothes, but don\u2019t don full boardroom regalia either.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In the end, it\u2019s all about balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    \n    <\/a><\/p>\n

    The psychology of your office outfit<\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s important to remember that what you wear to work sends subtle psychological messages to your brain, informing your perception of your role in the workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s what a team of professional social scientists wrote in their study, \u201cThe impact of workplace attire on employee self-perceptions,\u201d published in the <\/span>Human Resource Development Quarterly<\/span><\/i><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cRespondents felt most authoritative, trustworthy, and competent when wearing formal business attire but friendliest when wearing casual or business casual attire. Significant two-way interactions were found between dress preference and mode of dress worn on self-perceptions of productivity, trustworthiness, creativity, and friendliness.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    And the psychological triggers that come from either casual or formal attire are just as important when you\u2019re planning to spend your day working from home over video meetings as when you\u2019re dressing for a workday in the office.<\/span><\/p>\n

    With that in mind, it\u2019s a good idea to seek out a balance between traits like authoritative and friendly, competent and comfortable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Because in addition to how your work-from-home attire makes you feel, it also communicates an unspoken message to the person on the other end of your video call<\/a>.
    \n    <\/a><\/p>\n

    Read the room to find your balance<\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s also worth pointing out that business in general has become more casual in recent years and that the shift towards casual has increased people\u2019s <\/span>confidence, comfort, and focus<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    But this doesn\u2019t mean that your business interactions\u2014regardless of whether they happen in-person or online\u2014should abandon all the formalities of office life.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In addition to the importance of balance, this is also a question of perception. Even if you\u2019re working from home, you\u2019ll still have to answer questions like:<\/span><\/p>\n