It's Been a Minute Trend Alert: The girls are making office fashion sexy again
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Apr 30, 2025 Margaret Cirino, NPR's Life Kit producer and fashion enthusiast, explores the resurgence of the 'office siren' aesthetic, blending allure with professionalism. She discusses how social media, especially TikTok, plays a role in redefining office wear and its connection to personal identity. The conversation also touches on the historical evolution of business fashion and its cultural implications, highlighting how trends shift from workplace to nightlife during economic challenges.
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Office Siren Reflects Workplace Changes
- Office Siren fashion is enduring partly because workplaces have changed drastically, causing emotional responses expressed in fashion.
- People use this style to create alien or outlandish versions of themselves connected to longing for pre-COVID office norms.
Origins of Office Wear as Costume
- Office wear started as costume with white detachable collars, allowing shirts to be reused and creating the "white collar" term.
- This demonstrates how office fashion has always been a constructed image rather than purely practical clothing.
80s Icons and Office Fashion
- Iconic 80s figures like David Byrne and Grace Jones used boxy suits to challenge norms and express absurdity and androgyny.
- This style plays with gender roles and reflects the era's cultural experimentation with office-inspired fashion.