As day-to-day life changed dramatically for most of us towards the end of March 2020, in addition to having to adapt to new ways of working, shopping, exercising and interacting (or not interacting) with other people, we’ve also had to address another dilemma - what do you wear during a global pandemic? There have been lots of interesting articles and discussions about “zoom dressing”, and whether the switch to working from home will have a lasting impact on office dress codes if and when people start to go back to their traditional offices. But what if you’ve been furloughed, and you are alone, navigating endless and unwanted time off, trying to find a new purpose in life, worried for the future of your industry and wondering if you’ll ever work again? What do you wear for that? I’ve written you a not-so-serious guide, featuring some top looks from my wardrobe (all clothes are swapped or thrifted).
The Day Pyjamas
You decide, in the first week of lockdown, that you have to maintain the pretence that the days have structure and meaning. The best way to do this is by changing out of your pyjamas at a nonsensically early Getting Up Time, and changing into other clothes with elasticated waistbands, a good deal of stretch, and the minimum of restrictive underwear. In other words, Day Pyjamas. You convince yourself that this is radically different from wearing actual pyjamas by wearing something a bit fancy, even though you’re just sprawled on your sofa scrolling through endless horrible news about infection rates and daily death tolls.
The Walking Outfit
You are allowed an hour of exercise outside your house every day, and you have decided to really make it count. You put on your Walking Outfit - ideally it has deep pockets for your phone and house keys (there’s no point in taking anything else with you, no shops are open and there is no way you’re getting on public transport). Your legs are fully covered in case you need to jump into a ditch or bramble patch when you see another pedestrian or cyclist on a narrow bit of path. The Walking Outfit must be removed as soon as you re-enter the house (but after washing your hands) to avoid contamination, as though you had been liberally sprayed by alien spores in a sci-fi film. You pair your Walking Outfit with…
The Exercise Shoe
You bought these shoes years ago for the longish walk you take every month or so, or for the exercise regime you were going to take up once the weather got a bit nicer. Your smart sneakers, boots and shoes sit in the hallway as the Exercise Shoe suddenly becomes the only shoe you wear. They turn out to be surprisingly comfortable, but you become resentful of their continuous presence in your life as they are neither ethically or sustainably made, nor aesthetically pleasing. You wish you could buy morally superior walking trainers in fashion colours. After a couple of days of rain and muddy paths, you make your peace with your adequate Exercise Shoe again.
The Incongruous Bag
As the weather warms up, if you wear female-coded clothing you might notice decent-sized pockets disappearing from your wardrobe. Unless you are a fitness fanatic with zippy pockets in all your leggings, out comes The Incongruous Bag. You still only need to carry your phone and keys, so wearing a rucksack seems ridiculous, so you hunt through your cupboards for a small bag. It’s unlikely to be what you would normally choose to compliment your Walking Outfit, but it will do for now.
Too-Hot-Inside-The-House Clothes
On top of everything else there’s a heatwave, and unless you’re lucky enough to have outside space you’re stuck inside your house. You are now wearing a micro version of the Daytime Pyjamas. As loose as possible, as little fabric as possible. You promise yourself that you will change if you need to pop outside, but it’s too hot to bother. All your neighbours have now seen you in these clothes.
The Saturday Night Zoom Glad Rags
It’s Saturday Night! It’s someone’s birthday! It’s quiz time! In an attempt to once again differentiate times of day or different activities through dress, as though you were a Victorian aristocrat, you put on something fancy. You’re not really sure why; your friends all know you live in Day Pyjamas and you wouldn’t put in as much effort if you were just going to the pub, but you feel like it’s important.
The Park Life Posing Outfit
You can spend longer in parks and possibly meet a friend at a respectable distance, so you don your best summer holiday clothes and sashay to the park, almost overwhelmed with excitement at the prospect of seeing another human. Strutting your stuff down tree-lined paths, you could almost imagine you were promenading during the heyday of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, rather than walking through your local park and ignoring the crows fighting over the remains of an abandoned picnic.
The Outdoors Bag
Now that you’re allowed out for longer (as long as you can go without needing a wee, at least), your outdoor requirements are now more similar to the kitlist for a festival than a stroll in your local neighbourhood. Picnic blanket, water bottle (not too much water!), snacks, hand sanitizer, tissues, sunscreen, sunglasses, pac-a-mac… Summer 2020 is all the frustrating elements of a festival without the fun bits like seeing all your friends and watching loads of live music.
Masks Masks Masks
At the beginning of lockdown, you might have acquired a couple of masks in case you had to make a trip to a shop in an emergency. As the country slowly begins to open up and masks are made compulsory in shops and on public transport, you realise they are like underwear - you need to put on a clean mask every time! You begin acquiring more masks, trying out different styles, organising cloth bags to store and wash them in. You silently judge people who are wearing their mask incorrectly.
The Great Wardrobe Reckoning
You realise that there are clothes in your wardrobe that just aren’t going to get worn this year. Special occasion-wear and ordinary work-wear suddenly feel strangely irrelevant to your life. You also realise that you are needing to repurpose or re-categorise clothes - you probably never thought to shop for a situation where you’d have to take a 10km hike to socialise with friends. You start to wonder about the identities imposed on clothes, either by ourselves, or by society in general. What makes you “overdressed” or “not smart enough” except the perceptions of others? You realise there isn’t really anyone around to judge you, and suddenly you’re free, in a small but important way. You’re not free from the uncertainty of your situation, your concern for your friends and family or your anxiety about a pandemic-stricken world. But you are free to be creative with your clothing in whatever way you choose, whether that’s staying comfy in your Daytime Pyjamas or taking your daily walk in your finest attire. You don’t need to buy a new Pandemic Wardrobe, just wear what you love.
