Open thread: What are you wearing right now?
One of the things that’s great about being your own boss is that you really have no one to answer to but yourself. I’m an individual who likes to be outdoors; some of my favorite clothes have rips in them. At any given time and for no good reason I might grow a beard. All of which is to say that, left to my my own devices, I dress casually. I’m more creative and generally happier when dressed in casual attire, despite having spent years in suits and being totally comfortable in them.
Here’s the ironic thing: I worked from home for about 7 years and I found myself happier and more productive the more I dressed up. If I had a big call, or I was fighting through a cold, I put on my finest duds and it helped me feel alert on those days.
In another ironic twist, I feel the opposite way now that FreshBooks has an office. I love being dressed casually, and since I bike to work eight months of the year, it’s awfully practical.
So, what do you wear at work, where is it (home, office, other) and how does it impact the way you feel?
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10:34 am
I work from home for now. We are getting ready to acquire a new partner with a fancy building and such so I will be working from an office soon. I have always been casual in the work environment, whether it was home or in an office. But I do admit that gym shorts and a baggy tee is my preferred attire when not meeting clients. Meeting clients is usually jeans and a polo.
10:48 am
I’m in my pajamas, working in between packing for a trip to Boston from Providence.
I mostly roll out of bed and get started and shower when I get a break later in the morning.
One of the coolest things about working from home is that I colored my hair pink for a while (and am considering doing so again). There aren’t a lot of companies in the world that would love that, but I kinda have this feeling Freshbooks is cool that way.
11:09 am
Currently wearing a rocking Adidas t- shirt, green cargo Gap Khaki’s, and some flip flops…in the office. I love start ups in California. Cheers.
11:20 am
Wether at home or work my standard uniform consists of jeans and a one of the many american apparel tennis shirts that I own. If I’m interviewing someone or we have a visitor I’ll step it up a notch and wear a button down.
The relaxed dress code is part of our corporate culture in my office. Being the “Creative Director” I love the freedom of not having to wear khakis and a tie to work. It makes me more comfortable. If I’m more comfortable I’m able to get a lot more done.
To your point about facial hair… I’m the exact same way. Last November I decided to grow a beard and since then haven’t cut it off… http://bit.ly/4lX340
The fact that I’m lucky enough to work at a company that allows me to express myself by actually being myself is not lost on me.
11:23 am
I work from home. Right now, I’ve got no shoes on, my climbing shorts and an old gap t-shirt, with the sleeves cutoff. This is roughly my regular attire. Sometimes, I’ll wear a polo shirt, that’s dressing up for me.
Funny thing is, I have some really nice clothes, but since I don’t really see clients on a regular basis, I don’t wear them very often.
11:27 am
Is it just me, or does “what are you wearing right now?” sounds like the opening line of a bad instant message conversation?
Polo-like t-shirt, beige cargo shorts, and Birkenstock sandals. It’s freaking hot here right now – hit 38 or 39 (Celcius) yesterday, today is supposed to be a bit cooler.
12:16 pm
I kid you not, I am wearing the FreshBooks t-shirt I won in your forum poetry contest a few months ago. Funny that you ask that question today!
I work from home mostly, so I am also wearing shorts and am barefoot. It is almost noon and I have not combed my hair yet, but did manage to shave today. I feel great.
But if one of my clients is reading this, I am wearing a $2000 suit. “Yeah, like the guy in the $2000 suit is going to hold the elevator for you…” (GOB, Arrested Development)
1:26 pm
When I first started working from home I wore my pajamas all day, but I discovered that after a few months, the novelty of my situation faded away, and it became very important to get up first thing, take a shower, and put on clothes.
Now I’m wearing exactly what I would have worn in my first (and last) office job: tank top, blue jeans, and no shoes. It’s enough to put me in “work mode”. It was a very casual office.
At the (extremely rare) times I meet clients in person, I dress up quite a bit, but that’s much less about how I feel in the clothes and more about the image I’d like to project.
2:01 pm
Socks, Slacks, Led Zeppelin T-shirt, all of it being from yesterday because I stayed up until 4am working on projects, and got woken up at 8am by a potential client.
2:04 pm
Ironically, I am wearing the FreshBooks t-shirt I won a few months ago! And I’m barefoot and wearing shorts. Working from home is wonderful like that.
9:38 pm
Shoeless, jeans, cute top. I quickly discovered that working from home had some big pros and big cons. Con was rolling out of bed, working, and forgetting the usual “get ready” routine. When PJs have been on for more than 15 hours straight, there’s something wrong (not to mention 48 hours!). I find the the more I have a regular routine in the morning, the more productive and better I feel and communicate.
10:25 pm
I must admit I agree with Kirk that the title of this post sounds like a bad intro to an instant messenger conversation. I laughed when I saw you guys twitter it earlier today.
I work two places: from home and from my office. At home, I tend to do work in whatever I feel like, but it’s always really casual, and sometimes it’s just a tshirt and pajama pants. At home I’m not seeing clients, I’m just doing paperwork and other such things.
At my office I have no real co-workers, but I do see clients and therefore have to dress more professionally. That said, professionally in my case involves ’sports’ clothing like yoga pants, comfortable capris, and tshirts. Basically anything I can easily move in but still look put together.
I’m always curious to see what people who work in typical offices wear, since ‘back in the old days’ people would always have been wearing at least a nice shirt and pants. These days there are so many offices that are just plain old casual. I’m also curious if freelancers and others who work for themselves tend to dress up a bit if they have a client meeting of some sort, or if they don’t bother with that sort of thing.
2:56 am
Business casual, which is a debatable label. For my workplace, it means slacks and a buttoned-up collared shirt. Dress shoes. Dark socks. Although a tie is optional, it still sounds more than casual. All I can tell you is it’s uncomfortable day after day, and I spend a lot of time feeling stifled and fidgety.
6:12 am
I prefer to wear a suit and shirt (no tie).
I don’t want to sound like captain dull, but I really feel that it puts me in a certain mind-set: “this is work time”.
I get more done and I have more confidence behind what I say when speaking to my staff and clients (even when it is only over the phone).
The reverse it true too – when I go home and get changed into my civvies, the backberry gets switched off, th elaptop goes in a drawer and my family and friends get 100% of my attention – it’s no longer “work time”.
11:46 am
When I used to work at an interactive agency, the dress code was very casual. Shorts, t-shirt, flip flops… even if there were clients coming in.
Now that I work from home, I tend to get up in the morning, have a shower, get dressed, and oddly, most days I dress better than I did when I worked in an office.
12:00 pm
I work from home and I have a bad habit of wearing my PJs for at least the first half of the day. All this week it’s been PJs 24/7 because I’ve been sick. I can’t say I miss having to get dressed up on a daily basis for work, but I do enjoy the occasions when I’m meeting with clients and get to dress up.
12:44 pm
I used to work for a fairly well known tech company where we had, “casual fridays”. True story.
10:37 am
At Clearspring, we’re a pretty casual bunch. I’m typically in jeans and a t-shirt. Some of our execs or sales folk will dress up.
Heh… we tried to get dressy Fridays going. For a while, some of our engineers were rocking the three piece suits every Friday.
7:53 pm
Definitely khaki capris and a snorg tee of some sort…the tee usually reflects the way i’m feeling that day…lol
11:49 pm
I’m the type who wears running shorts and tank tops year round. I can go to work like that without any problems. Shorts and tanks is my attire for almost every occasion, even in winter