How to crack the new workwear code

Britt Lintner is on the move. She’s riding a bike into the City where her asset management team are back five days a week, then leaving to collect her kids from school — more bikes. She’ll be back online from home for video calls later, and she needs an outfit to cope with that.

“My style has completely changed,” says Lintner. “I used to love dresses, but you couldn’t get me to put on a dress today for love or money.” Today her outfits are built to accommodate both the office and cycling. That generally means a Brooks Brothers shirt, a loose or cropped trouser (“I think I have every Stella McCartney pant”), and a smart tailored jacket (Maje and Gabriela Hearst are favourites). “I got rid of 80 per cent of shoes and handbags,” she adds, opting for “pockets everywhere”.

Our lifestyles have changed over the past two years, but our wardrobes are still catching up. Professional women are showing up to the office in tailored separates, but the styling is more relaxed: trousers with high but forgiving waistbands, crisp shirts tucked under a jacket or untucked underneath a smart knit, androgynous flats or boots.

“It’s all in the fabric and cut, which should feel elevated with luxe touches,” says London-based personal stylist Anne-Marie Curtis. “Capsule pieces with extra design details that make each piece feel special. You want a cut that feels polished, but also nods to ‘fashion’.”

A designer nailing this new look is Leah Chapman, the daughter of MatchesFashion founders Ruth and Tom Chapman and the brains behind Issue Twelve. The label, which launched in 2021, offers relaxed separates inspired by Leah’s Californian upbringing, and with the quality of fabrication that elevates them from the everyday. “Our customers want maximum value from their wardrobe — items need to work harder but feel easier to wear,” she says. “Gone are the days when we saved special items for ‘going out’. Each piece needs to be comfortable and work for the home office, the head office and socially. There’s a sense of liberation to dressing like this, an ease that helps give women the same freedoms men have when dressing.”

Her flat-fronted Chia trousers (£290, issuetwelve.com); high-waisted, wide-legged Ruth trousers (£375); oversized shirts (£245) and lightweight knits (£420) are strategic buys. The patch-pocket Lenny trousers in brushed cotton (£275) are smart enough for work, but can be easily dressed down for the weekend.

Net-a-Porter market director Libby Page says the new work wardrobe is about “relaxed tailoring” with loafers, and “matching separates that are multifunctional”. She recommends the stretch-wool tapered pants or waistcoats from Giuliva Heritage (The Gastone wool trousers, £730, Lucia checked wool vest, £660, netaporter.com), and chunky loafers from Gucci and Bottega Veneta. For more accessible versions, look to Reformation (Agathea loafer, £300, thereformation.com) or Russell & Bromley (from £275, russellandbromley.co.uk).

Trousers are the trickiest parts to get right, as not every trouser suits every type of body. Workwear brand Dai has a handy online Fit Finder tool that will match your body shape and measurements with a whole spectrum of styles. It was set up by investment banker Joanna Dai soon after she found herself on a plane back from a 16-hour day in Stockholm, wishing she was in her gym kit.

“I felt so uncomfortable,” she recalls. “My waistband was digging in, my jacket was tight, and the aircon on the plane was freezing. I thought, why can’t I be in my yogawear?” Raised in Orange County, California, Dai had always known a relaxed aesthetic, but had grown to love the smart tailoring of the New York and London trading floors. She set out to marry the two, sourcing four-way stretch, machine-washable, wrinkle-resistant fabrics using pre-consumer recycled fibre.

The brand launched with a Power Move Pant — “basically a legging in disguise” — which has a tailored skinny ankle, a flatteringly deep waistband and a gusset designed with flat, smooth panelling around the crotch (£220, daiwear.com). The success of the style laid the foundation for what is now the Dai Trouser Bar, which offers straight-leg, kick-flare, and wide-legged crop cuts in her signature performance fabric.

“Shirting is my biggest workwear investment,” says Liane Wiggins, head of womenswear at MatchesFashion. “I’m always channelling the style of eternally classic women like Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Striped cotton styles from Palmer Harding (£400, matchesfashion.com), Ashlyn’s puff-sleeved shirt (£289 on sale, matchesfashion.com), and The Row’s Lulu shirt (£455 in the sale, matchesfashion.com) are some of the best.” Wiggins notes a shift in customers building up a wardrobe of workwear staples that are versatile to style and season, and “more transitional than ever before”. This is your forever wardrobe in action.

Since the pandemic, London stylist Cathy Kasterine has gutted “anything superfluous or trend-based” from her wardrobe, opting instead for simple, modular pieces. “A certain level of quality is key,” she counsels. She recommends a high-waisted trouser, then “a very light Raey cashmere top or Raey oversized white shirt. I change the shoe and jacket depending on the environment: a Frankie Shop jacket has the right sort of slouch, and I’ll trade up the trainers for a pair of beautiful Legres boots.” Legres specialises in classic, quality footwear priced a bit more affordably than comparables offered by big luxury brands: consider its Chelsea boot (£409 on sale, mytheresa.com).

As the temperature drops, you could add a boxy knit — Dai has a lovely recycled cashmere version at a reasonable £275 while Raey has good options too — or The Row, if you don’t mind the price tag. Kasterine also scours second-hand sites for Phoebe Philo-era Céline pieces: “the knits have the proportions just right, a bit shorter than your shirt, so it hangs out the bottom. Those sort of details are worth thinking about.” Then, she suggests, “add a trouser suit from Wardrobe NYC and a chunky heeled boot so you can stomp down to the Tube. You’re looking for that grounded feeling.

“It’s like going back to ’90s dressing for me,” she continues. “Minimalist, clean, well thought-out proportions. Really, you don’t need too much, and don’t wear it outside of work — keeping it precious will make it last.”

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