9 ways to dress cooler after Covid-19 – without spending any money

Ahh, non-loungewear clothing: remember it? 

In my seemingly permanent state of procrastination, I’ve ironically wasted lots of time reading guides that purport to offer tips and tricks to boost productivity when it comes to working from home. These listicles usually contain the exact same sensible guidelines. I have been ‘WFH’ — an acronym that now needs no explanation —  on and off for about three years, and let me tell you one thing: it doesn’t make a blind bit of effing difference if you are at your laptop in a full face of makeup and a ballgown.

If I’m confined to my apartment, I’m simply **not bovvered** to dress to impress anyone. Yoga pants and some form of hoodie stolen from someone will do the trick if the only soul I’m going to see is the guy in the bodega across the street when I run over to get my $1.75 coffee (perhaps the only place in New York where you can get a cuppa joe for less than $5?)  Ditto makeup. There isn’t a hope that I am going to apply even a pinch of a powder. Not for a Zoom call; not for nobody. Truth is, I pay enough of a mortgage to Sephora as it is to keep up with my penchant for Charlotte Tilbury products, without wasting them on my own four walls.

But that’s all well and good when I can plan an outfit for that weekend, or apply makeup for an evening event and rediscover, “So this is what I can look like with eyelashes and cheekbones.”

Here’s the thing: I’ve always had an insatiable desire to online shop whenever I get bored or restless. Surprisingly, that seems to have fallen by the wayside during this seemingly years-long stretch of social distancing.

Do you know what I’m so excited about instead? My own clothes! The belt rack hanging over the closet door now represents infinite versatility for styling outfits; the fun and frivolous shoes will not  be saved “only for special occasions” — and the yards of dresses-upon-dresses will certainly be paraded up and down every block of my neighbourhood when this is all over. You know what, I might even spring for a $5 coffee to celebrate getting to wear one of my frocks out in the open again.

With this newfound appreciation for my Aladdin’s Cave of clothing, I’ve been daydreaming of ways to give a new lease of life to the pieces I’ve perhaps relegated to the back of the wardrobe or forgotten about entirely.

The temptation to ‘shop my own wardrobe’ has never been so compelling (I’m sorry I ever doubted you!) When these clouds of uncertainty start to pass and the time comes to show up anywhere that’s not my living room, here’s what I’m referencing for inspiration:

Styling fuchsia pink with diamantés

Wearing one dress, three ways

Adding a linen corset to a boardroom-ready outfit

A high-waisted bikini (or, Bridget Jones-worthy knickers) under a sheer dress

A feminine blouse under a pinstripe suit

Rope belts with anything and everything

Pendants with backless dresses

Adding fluffy trims to a cardi

….And when all else fails, just keep it blessedly simple