It’s a new year and a new season of clothing, and time to work out how to balance out your smart, workwear clothing, and the more casual side of your wardrobe. Streetwear usually lands within the latter of these two categories, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Streetwear, as it becomes a much more popular genre of clothing in its own regard, is naturally becoming more nuanced, with companies such as Blood Brother offering this hybrid of streetwear sensibility with high-end fashion.
This blurring of lines between smart and casual is of course nothing new, smart-casual is a concept that has been around for decades. But what we are seeing here today is part of a much larger trend, as offices in cities throughout the world are turning their back on the suit in favour of more casual clothes. As this occurs, other clothing markets are able to fill in the gap left by suits, offering high-end quality clothing that is associated more traditionally with casual wear.
Yet this often creates a fine line to tread. So here’s some ideas to keep your streetwear on the smart side of things. Firstly, the classic baggy look associated to streetwear can be combated by matching your baggy jumper with some well fitted jeans, this will make a nice contrast and not allow the bagginess to get out of hand.
Before you embark on this though, make sure to read the room. This trend of things becoming more casual is not completely universal. Make sure you are aware of the dress code if your workplace has one, and use your own common sense in working out what other people to seem to wear, it will be fairly easy to work out where the line is soon enough.
Make sure to not go overboard with brands. Try and limit your outfit to one obvious piece of streetwear. This will allow the rest of your outfit to neutralise the streetwear, while also allowing your streetwear to stand out and be the focal point of your outfit.
Stick to the mantra that less is more when it comes to adapting streetwear for the office. Maybe leave the brighter more out there pieces at home and go for some of your black, white and grey streetwear. Try and push the boat out slowly and see what feels like the right fit with your office. Over the days and weeks you can see what sets the right tone and what you feel comfortable in yourself. Remember that a lot of streetwear relies on understating, don’t lose this aspect when moving it to an office situation.