Author Topic: Optional Work Uniform  (Read 2002 times)

OrangeSnapDragon

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Optional Work Uniform
« on: October 27, 2018, 04:55:53 PM »
Hello!

I am a female who works an office job and is 100% not into business casual attire.  My favorite outfit is jeans and a t-shirt. 

A year and a half ago I was sick of always trying to find the 'right' thing to wear in the morning so I switched to a work uniform.  I bought a total of 10 shirts.  A set of 5 exactly the same that matched my favorite orange necklace and a set of 5 exactly the same that matched my favorite blue earrings.  I rotated the shirts on a weekly basis which was nice to get a little variety over the months.

I was able to get them all on sale and they are all still going strong after 18 months.  The one set should last me another 6 months, it was a thinner material.  The other set I think I can get a total of 3 years out of. 

This saves me a solid 5 minutes every AM and makes work laundry an absolute breeze. I also thinks it saves me a decent of money because I'm not on the look out for any new work clothes... ever.

I did talk to my boss before doing this as I work in a very small office and she was 100% good with the idea.

Anyone else have work attire savings ideas?

Thanks!

Freedomin5

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2018, 05:13:27 PM »
I find that I can usually get find business casual tops at the thrift store, but can rarely find nice fitting pants. So I now have three pairs of very good quality pants - navy, dark grey, black - and about ten tops that I rotate through. Haven’t had to buy work clothing for the past three years.

sparkytheop

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2018, 10:54:00 PM »
I get to wear long sleeved t-shirts and jeans to work, but since they are technically safety equipment (arc flash rated), work has to pay for them.  As the only female, they don't bother to hire a laundry service that carries true women's clothing (the shirts are for petite women-- If I lift up my arms, you can see my bra, and they call the jeans "unisex" to get around having to carry women's jeans).  So, I have to order my own and launder them myself, but I make work pay for the detergent, and use the work washer and dryer. 

I realize that doesn't really help though...

What may help: If you normally wear the same shoes every day, get a second pair and alternate days.  My job can involve a lot of wear and tear on shoes/boots, but having two pairs gives them time to "air out" and I find that the insides wear out much more slowly.  One pair of shoes will start falling apart around 9 months.  Two pair I can keep going for over 2 years.  I've had boots that lasted longer, but at this point, I go for comfort, and the ones I wear now are much more comfortable.  (Work also pays for a pair once a year, so I'm not trying to get years out of a pair of boots at this point).

katscratch

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2018, 11:56:08 AM »
I wear hospital-laundered scrubs at work, but wear literally the same thing to and from work all winter long (six months on average), and wear that exact outfit for any social outing. Merino leggings, wool skirt, long sleeve top. Nobody notices unless they happen to realize all their social media posts of me are the same over the past few years :)

fuzzy math

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2018, 09:04:17 PM »
I wear hospital-laundered scrubs at work, but wear literally the same thing to and from work all winter long (six months on average), and wear that exact outfit for any social outing. Merino leggings, wool skirt, long sleeve top. Nobody notices unless they happen to realize all their social media posts of me are the same over the past few years :)

Hospital issued scrubs have allowed me to remain a disorganized cheap slob for my entire adult life. I only wear my few professional pieces to continuing education conferences or hospital meetings and I have pieces that have lasted 10+ years at this point. They're worn so infrequently (2-3x a year) it seems they'll never wear out.

Bateaux

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2018, 07:08:29 AM »
I'm blue-collar.   Fresh uniform delivery weekly provided by the company.

JanetJackson

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2018, 07:33:14 AM »
This is 100% what I do.
I have two identical office work outfits (pants and dress shirt) and three slightly different work blazers (Grey, Black, Black with a slight crop style to it). 
Same shoes every day, 5 pair of the same dress socks.

I hang the whole thing up on a little J-Hook on the inside of my closet door so it's easy to just grab and just throw it on to my body every morning.

I too LOATHE dressing up for an office setting.  This makes it a little less painful.

DS

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2018, 08:49:50 AM »
2 pairs of jeans. Check
5 polo shirts (different colors). Check

Dumb comments from coworkers about never wearing long sleeves as if we are working outside. Check

MicroRN

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2018, 09:37:23 AM »
Scrubs here.   I have 5 identical sets so I don't have to match them.  Just hang them up out of the dryer and I'm good to go.

When I had to do office dress,  I had several pairs of identical khaki pants,  a couple long khaki skirts, and 3 types of shirt,  each in a couple colors.  No fuss,  just grab a top and a bottom.

Dr.Jeckyl

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2018, 12:51:53 PM »
Technically my work uniform is business casual but seeing that I like to go into the field and visit technicians I just come to work daily in a work uniform. Makes my decision making in the AM easy. I only have to worry about business casual when I have to go out of town for meetings.

calimom

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Re: Optional Work Uniform
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2018, 08:27:16 PM »
I own a small business so 90% of the time I wear the company polo with jeans/khaki shorts and comfortable shoes - good for working in the warehouse or performing installs or maintenance work. For prospective client visits I ratchet it up a notch, rotating 3 white shirts, newish jeans (as they show wear I cycle them into work/work mode). Usually a chunky necklace or some sort of design-y element. Sandals or ankle boots depending on the season.

And last year I found a Prada (!) blazer and pants in a celery color in exactly my size at a thrift shop for $24. I'll trot that out as needed. It needs to be dry cleaned and I'm not messing with that so I'm super judicious when I wear it. For messy desing work in my warehouse I use short kimonos passed down from my MIL to hopefully avoid dirt and other issues.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!