This post is probably more appropriately titled "Career Leggings: What to Wear When You've Given Up but Still Need to Look Put Together", but Katie 1 is actually wearing career leggings to work today and isn't ready to admit that she's given up yet. Also, she feels very conflicted about her current state of leggings at work wearing because until last Wednesday she considered this particular item of clothing to be weekend-only attire (or worn to work the day after Thanksgiving when she's the only one there). So... what changed her mind? It all started last Wednesday when she tried out the November Project for the first time. By the time she arrived home she was cold, sore, and running terribly late. Literally everything but leggings seemed like way to much effort to wear. Knowing that her office recently changed it's previously business professional dress code (which no one on her floor actually observed) to "dress for your day" she decided to take the plunge with a pair of ponte leggings with faux pockets on the front and the back (similar to these although her's are pull on and from Costco about 5 years ago). She paired them with booties, a longer blouse, and a long cardigan. To her surprise, no one noticed she was wearing leggings and she was super comfortable all day.
Considering the popularity of this J. Crew ponte pant as well as the increasingly casual work environment, it's not surprising that we've seen "career leggings" pop up in some of our favorite stores recently. In fact, Katie 1's beloved Costco actually has a pair of pants called Career Leggings. Katie 1 is wearing them today as evidenced by the picture below.
In reality, these leggings feel more like pants than leggings. They are made out of a heavy ponte fabric with seaming in the back and faux pockets. They also have a zipper and button closure so...pants. When she was at Costco on Friday night (her life is so exciting) she also picked up these Hilary Radley pull-on ponte pants in burgundy. She will probably wear them to work in the colder months with a longer grey turtleneck sweater and booties.
Besides Costco and J.Crew, Loft also has an entire section of its website dedicated to leggings and also appear to jumped on the career leggings train. There happens to be a Loft on the first floor of our building so Elizabeth has picked up these and these in both black and navy. Upon Elizabeth's recommendation, Katie 2 bought them in black and has pretty much worn them for an entire weekend out of town.
While this post may seem to say that leggings are now appropriate for work, that is absolutely not what we are trying to say. What we are saying is that we've found leggings at various retailers that can be appropriately styled for a business casual environment provided that the wearer has absolutely no meetings with anyone who determines their salary or the reason for their employment (i.e. do not wear these for meetings with management or clients). Obviously, these are also in no way appropriate for court or interviews. However, for a day of desk work, they can be styled in a business appropriate fashion.
When discussing styling, let's start by noting that the leggings that we've recommended above are different than a standard legging. First, they are made of substantial ponte fabric (which reads more like a pant) so there's no risk of being indecent. Second, they have additional details that, again, make them look more like pants. For example, the Loft leggings have seaming across the back. The Costco leggings have seaming and faux pockets. All are made from EXTREMELY THICK material so again, nothing see through here. Also, styling is important. As noted in the picture above, Katie 1 has paired her leggings with a longer red bell sleeve sweater from Target's A New Day Line and the Land's End booties she recommended here (they're 40% off right now by the way and Katie 1 gives them a glowing recommendation). Admittedly, this is a little more casual than she would normally go; however, she's got dinner plans after work, didn't want to bother with commuting shoes, and it's Monday so whatever. For a dressier pairing, she'd likely pair them with a blouse, blazer, and pumps. Or just substitute the booties for pumps and add a necklace. You get the point - to be appropriate for work, everything you pair with the leggings must be dressier.
Not ready to go full on leggings? We all have these ponte pants from Land's End and absolutely love them. The ponte is cozy and they fit more like pants so win win.
So there you have it, a story of our journey to the dark side (a/k/a wearing leggings to work).
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