8 Quarantine Style Rules For Every Man Anywhere

There’s really only one quarantine style rule you need to know, and that is that you have to wear something. Anything. Even if all you plan to do is sit on the couch and eat your bodyweight in garlicky clams, know that doing so in the nude is neither acceptable nor sanitary.

Luke Todd
February 11, 2021

Understandably, there will also be days when you need to look vaguely presentable to the outside world, like when working from home. The good news is you don’t need to spend hours getting dressed, nor sacrifice comfort, for a great outfit. At a minimum, you should get up, shower and change into something you didn’t sleep in. From there, just follow these eight WFH wardrobe hacks to ensure you always look good in lockdown.

Dress For What You Want To Achieve

Dressing for an actual office may have gone the way of the dodo, but that’s no reason to let your sartorial standards slip. In 2012, researchers at the Kellogg School of Management found that medical students performed better on tests when they wore a doctor’s coat, in a phenomenon known as ‘enclothed cognition.’ While that ‘fit may not fly in the world of finance, swapping sweatpants for a suit when rehearsing a presentation, or dressing playfully when you need the creative juices to flow, is a foolproof quarantine style rule that helps tell your brain you mean (virtual) business.

Level Up Your Loungewear

It’s hardly surprising that, until recently, what we wear at home hasn’t gotten as much attention as our sneakers or our coats. After all, it makes sense to prioritize the parts of our wardrobe that people are most likely to see. Fast-forward to the present day and, thanks to this mole people existence we’re living, there’s a bigger case for luxury loungewear than ever before. Ditch the pizza-stained basketball shorts in favor of a loopback cotton tracksuit or silk pajamas, and you’ll have all the motivation you need to work towards clocking off time.

Ditch the pizza-stained basketball shorts in favor of a loopback cotton tracksuit or silk pajamas, and you'll have all the motivation you need to work towards clocking off time.

Maintain Your Grooming Routine

When your face has been hidden behind a mask for what seems like an eternity, it’s easy to let rituals like good grooming fall to the wayside. Now, we get it: a global pandemic doesn’t care how moisturized your face is. However, keeping up a routine can help maintain a semblance of normalcy in otherwise batshit times. In addition to the skincare basics, if months spent indoors have left your face feeling dried out, try an overnight mask, or experiment with your hair by switching from a matte to a shiny styling product.

Strike A Style-Comfort Balance

Unless you’ve been able to turn your man cave into a swish office space, working from home usually means being seated on garden furniture, hunched over whatever flat surface you have available. For this reason, it’s important to find comfort where you can. Make one of your quarantine style rules to choose a WFH uniform made up of fabrics and styles that are as flexible as the “hour” in “lunch-hour.” Think seriously soft jersey shirts and wool cardigans, both of which will withstand poor mid-afternoon posture without looking, or feeling, overly slouchy.

Kick Off The Slippers

No matter how comfortable your daily uniform may be, it won’t count for much if you’re shuffling around barefoot on a hardwood floor. Letting your hooves hang out not only makes it weirdly tough to concentrate on work (don’t ask us, it’s science), but the lack of support can also wreak havoc on your feet and joints. The answer? Rather than wear your soggy sneakers indoors, invest in a proper pair of house shoes. Slippers are the coziest option, but mules, sandals, or even a new pair of sneakers can all be upgraded to outside shoes once we’re able to venture out.

Get Dressed, Fully

There’s a lot to love about the new nine-to-five – the 30-second commute, a kitchen full of snacks, we could go on – but skipping pants should not be one of them. Chances are no one is going to see your lower half. However, in case you need to grab something off the shelf mid-Zoom (and because HR policies still apply remotely), wearing them is one non-negotiable quarantine style rule. To keep things easy breezy south of the desk, opt for a smart pair fitted with a drawstring waist, which basically makes them sweatpants in disguise.

Aim For Effortless

No one likes a try-hard, but then no one likes someone who doesn’t try hard enough, either. Whether you’re getting dressed for a virtual work appraisal or a date – same thing, really – you should aim for effortless with your outfit. Instead of suiting up in a pinstripe three-piece, dress shirt and tie, go for an unstructured jacket with a softer shirt, polo shirt, or even a T-shirt underneath. If you still feel the need to wear a tie with your shirt, make it knitted as this is far less formal than one made of silk.

Match Your Colors To Your Mood

Whether physically or mentally, most of us need a hand to get up and get moving in the morning. Necking double espressos faster than your organs can handle seems like the obvious choice, but there could be a simpler solution hanging in your wardrobe. Various studies have found the color of our clothes to have a profound impact on our mood and our productivity. To use this to your advantage, wear warm tones like orange, red, and yellow when you need to get your adrenaline pumping, then spin the color wheel to cooler shades like blue and green when it’s time to wind down.

Luke Todd

Luke is a freelance writer and editor, best known for his ability to filter through the latest in men’s style, grooming, lifestyle and design to deliver an indispensable edit of the world’s most stylish stuff. Currently based in London, he’s a regular contributor to titles such as GQ, Mr Porter and Time Out, as well as consulting and creating content for brands including L’Oreal, Richard James and Bulldog Skincare. Follow him on Instagram @LukeToddUK.

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