What to wear working at home in winter

Freelancer fashion: The winter edition

As the Starks say, winter is coming and with it comes a change in work attire for those of us who work from home. You see, when you work from your home office, there’s usually no lovely office air conditioning keeping things a nice stable 18-22 degrees – and definitely not if you’re experiencing a bit of a cash flow shortage or a bit of a lull between projects.

But, us freelancers working from home offices like to make the most of the cooler seasons. A topic of hot discussion in The Clever Copywriting School Facebook group (best online group on the interwebs, just sayin’ and a bargain to boot) was one of the top perks of working at home in winter – tracky daks and ugg boots.

working at home in winter

Ugg boots are essential winter footwear for freelancers

Yep, when you work from home you can ditch those uncomfortable suits, shirts and proper footwear and embrace your inner slob! Ignore so-called productivity experts who claim that wearing “proper” work clothes helps getting you in the mental zone. I call BS. Personally, I see no increase in my output based on what I’m wearing.

Loungewear is the way forward

Of course, there’s some clothes that a very firmly in the “inside the house” territory – like your flannelette PJ bottoms. For freelancers who don’t have to leave the home before starting work, that’s no problem. But if like me you need to do the school and day care run first, you probably want to change out of your pyjamas (or maybe not?).

This is where my mate Tori has the answer – loungewear. Basically, it’s sleepwear that you can leave the house in. As a mum to a toddler who works from home, Tori’s loungewear collection has grown over the past few years. She’s a bit of an organisational dynamo with labelled drawers for her clothes in her wardrobe (something a more “shove it where it fits” type like me can’t quite understand!). Her husband recently commented, “I think you’re going to need another drawer for the loungewear soon.”

For my loungewear attire, my favourite shopping destinations are Aussie-icon Bonds (OMG, I just learnt they do free shipping, watch out credit card!) and local Northern Beaches business Deshabille.

Warm up those typing fingers

One of the biggest challenges I faced last winter was freezing fingers. My toes were cosy with my trusty ugg boots, but cold hands were a distraction. Several hours were spent looking at fingerless gloves on Etsy, but this winter my money makers will be operating at top speed thanks to my USB Yeti handwarmers!

freelance winter fashion

Yeti handwarmers are the essential accessory to keep your typing fingers limber

Tapping at my keyboard in my active wear

The other popular choice among the work-from-home set, along with PJ’s – be they glorified or otherwise – is active wear. Yes, for some people, nothing gets the creative juices flowing quite like a bit of spandex. Personally, I fall a bit into the “leggings are not pants” category and try to change out of my workout gear before getting stuck into work, but I can see the attraction of lycra-based work wear. This can be especially practical if you are using the Pomodoro method of time management and using your 5 minute break time for some quick squats or star jumps to get the blood flowing again.

My personal uniform

When it comes down to it though, my go-to work wear is pretty much the same every day through the cooler months. Jeans. Bonds t-shirt. Cardigan. Ugg boots. And for colder days, scarf, puffer vest and of course, my hand warmers.

This outfit strikes the right balance for me when it comes to working from home in winter. It is warm, cosy and comfortable. It’s reasonably acceptable to leave the house in for doing the school and day care run. I look presentable enough to do Skype calls with clients and not suddenly realise that if I stand up to get a document off the printer they’ll see my crazy Peter Alexander PJ pants. That’s a winner as far as I’m concerned.

Over to you

Are you a believer in dressing up for work or do you think comfort is more important than presentation? What are your go-to choices for working at home during winter? Let me know in the comments!