I started showing up to work in my casual clothes for purely logistical reasons. At the time, I lived in Alaska and, as a professional, I was finding it difficult to get to work in a rainstorm or a snowstorm wearing a pair of leather dress shoes and a wool suit. One day, I just started leaving everything at work. Now I live in Seattle, but I still do this. When I got into the office in the morning, I’m usually rocking New Balance throwback shoes, a pair of jeans, a flannel, and a hoodie. I keep an umbrella in my backpack. Peak comfort. I leave everything at work: shoes, socks, ties, suits, everything. That means I can show up at office without planning and throw on my stuff when I got there. It was a practical solution, but it has real mental benefits as well. I feel like when I change at the end of the day, I leave it all behind. Who you are in the workplace is a persona of sorts and personas take effort. When I’m still in my work clothes, I’m wearing that persona and the associated stresses that come along with it. If I’m wearing a suit, I bring all that home with me. Changing helps me not do that. It helps me keep it as separate as a possibly can; it’s not foolproof but it has helped me out. I’ve also found that people treat me differently when I’m in my regular clothes — more like I want to be treated. I’m a grown up punk rock kid and I think changing is my own little way of rebelling against some of the things I view as wrong. Americans are obsessed with work. We do it all day every day. And, not surprisingly, our self-worth and identity is tied up in it, dangerously intertwined in our careers. So, this is a small way I try to avoid that. We have class markers everywhere in our society, and a lot of them you can’t avoid, but to actively ignore the ones you can? It feels really good. Also, my street clothes improve my mood. I still leave the building with my phone in my pocket and my laptop, but it helps me remove myself to the degree I can. It’s good to have a life outside of work. And if you leave what you can at the office, you’ll end up happier. It takes some mental strength, I think, out of the gate, to be comfortable showing up in the office looking casual. But I just put faith in the fact that if I’m doing my job well people will respect me. It’s not fun walking past your boss wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, but it’s better than coming home dressed for a meeting.
