Old work clothes

Yazmina

Have you got rid of the clothes you used to wear to the office?

Like many I'm approaching the fourth anniversary of WFH.  I've still got all the clothes I used to wear when I used to commute every day.  Now, when I occasionally go into my office I'll wear something semi casual, and not the blazers and neat dresses that take up space in my wardrobe.  I've still got enough room for clothes that I do wear.  It's not a space issue, it's more should I get rid of what I'm not using, or keep it just in case?

  

Eldi_Dos

There are charities who provide suitable clothes to people going to job interviews, look and see if there are any in your local area.

Cherryfudge

I think everywhere is more casual now, but I'm not an office worker. My husband used to wear smart clothes for the office but now it's smart casual or even clean jeans!

Of course I can't speak for all office situations.

There are a few things to consider:

• What do your colleagues think? Are they saving things for 'best'?
• If you were required to go back in smart clothes, would you use the ones you've got? Has anything gone out of date or doesn't fit well or you never really liked it anyway?
• What are you happy in?
• Could you save a couple of things and put the rest on Vinted?
• If your office clothes have been put away for a while, people will probably have forgotten them - are there any you'd like to repurpose for everyday or for some different smart occasion?

Another option (if it works for you and colleagues) is to have a swap. Organise for people to bring in things that are still good but that they don't want, and take home something else! There's lots on the Internet, for instance under 'swishing'. If people don't like to do a straightforward swap, it could involve a charity donation.

FWIW, I think my husband ended up donating a lot of his office wear, and enjoyed the freedom!

Cairnpapple

I had an easy decision as nothing from pre-2020 fits any more so the smartest and best condition items went to an interview clothes charity as mentioned above (Smart Works Scotland) and the rest went on marketplace or to a local charity shop. 

@Cherryfudge has a thorough set of questions there. One thing I've seen suggested is to do a 'wardrobe pull' - which things would you pull out if you needed to do a job interview tomorrow or go to court tomorrow or go to a funeral tomorrow (whatever scenarios are relevant to you). Those are the ones you really need to keep! Then maybe keep just things that really make you smile and weed some of the more routine clothes. 

chrisw

Dug out my old white work shirts to go to a funeral this week and found they'd all turned yellow in the wardrobe! 

Cherryfudge

Cairnpapple said:

One thing I've seen suggested is to do a 'wardrobe pull' - which things would you pull out if you needed to do a job interview tomorrow or go to court tomorrow or go to a funeral tomorrow (whatever scenarios are relevant to you). Those are the ones you really need to keep! Then maybe keep just things that really make you smile and weed some of the more routine clothes. 

That one's new to me, and a very sensible idea. I have some 'smart casual' tops that I keep because they fitted my lifestyle nicely, pre-pandemic, but I wear them only occasionally now. So perhaps it's something to do for casual as well as work clothes.

You've reminded me of another way of sorting clothing (as well as the famous Kon Marie method): turn all the hangers 'backwards', i.e. so the point of the hook faces the door of the wardrobe. When you use an item, you will probably automatically put it back with the hook facing inwards. After a few months, you are probably fairly safe to dispose of things that are still facing the wrong direction.

chrisw said:

Dug out my old white work shirts to go to a funeral this week and found they'd all turned yellow in the wardrobe! 

Eek! Perhaps you could start a trend?  

SadieO

I'd been thinking this since it became apparent that working from home was here to stay for my employer. We go in once week-ish now so at most I need 1/5 of what I used to need. However we have dropped a level of smartness since the pandemic too - before, it wasn't quite suits, but many people wore proper trousers not jeans, buttoned shirts etc. Now, jeans and casual jumpers etc are totally accepted. So really I don't actually need separate "work clothes" any more. The smarter end of my "normal" clothes is fine, and OH and I still have "proper" smartwear for interviews, funerals etc, that could be worn if work ever called for something extra smart!

So when we moved house a year ago I took the opportunity to declutter a lot of my old work clothes. My local university collects clothes for students who are going on interviews, work placements etc and don't really have "grown up"  clothes so OH and I gave a load of stuff to them. It's nice to have more space in my wardrobe!

I'm not bothered about keeping anything "just in case". In the unlikely event that my workplace ever started to require us to go back to going in more often, or went back to a slightly more formal dress code (or I got a new job where that applied) then to be honest, I'd want to be getting a few new things anyway. While the clothes I had were in perfectly good condition (I wouldn't had donated them if there wasn't still plenty of wear in them) I'd had them all for years and so I was probably about due a refresh anyway! 

moneysaver1978

If they fit and you don't need them for work right now, I would put them in a vacuum bag - I understand it is not a space issue, but more for keeping them clean and making sure moths don't eat them!

What if you decide to leave your job and your next job requires you to go to the office 3 days a week?

Yazmina

I've had a try on and, er.. I think I'll be donating some items to charity!  If I do go back to the office more often, I'll treat myself to some new things.  After all,  I've saved loads in the last four years from not buying new work clothes/shoes.

badger09

Strange thread for this Board😏

TowandaUK

This post made me think. I retired almost 3 years ago and still have quite a lot of work clothes in my wardrobe that I haven’t worn since retiring. I think the time has come to have a good sort out. My local charity shop will benefit from this. Thanks for the wake up call.