013 - (in defense of) getting dressed

Unless you've been living under a rock since March [if so, please teach me your secrets] you may have noticed that life as we know it has pretty much gone down the toilet. With one fell swoop of a bat's wing - along with the subsequent bungling of public health policy by governments around the world - those first two joyous weeks of "work-from-home" have stretched into a seven-month purgatory of Zoom calls, dirty sweatpants, and bi-weekly nervous breakdowns.

The concepts of "weekends" or "leisure time" have been rendered moot as daily life has morphed into an endless cycle of work, worry, and worrying about work. At best, it's been a challenging adjustment, and for many among us, it's been a complete loss of livelihood and a forced re-evaluation of career path and purpose.

While there are several things I certainly don't miss about the office (commuting, meetings that should have been emails, forced small-talk with Cathy in accounting), the one thing I do find myself craving is structure. Having somewhere to be. People to see. And when you have somewhere to be and people to see, that means you have to get dressed. So, in an effort to assuage my most recent existential crisis, that's what I did. And you know what? It worked.

At its most fundamental level, fashion has much more to do with how you view yourself than how other people view you. When you look put-together, you feel put-together, and this feeling resonates throughout your entire day like a rigorous morning workout. What you decide to put on in the morning is also a reflection of time itself - it denotes the season, your agenda, and expresses how you're feeling in that particular moment. Getting dressed gives each day a unique significance, and maintaining little daily rituals is paramount to keeping one's mental health above water.

So this morning, on the first chilly day of fall, I got up and dressed with intention. I dug into the depths of my closet for a pair of patent leather Tod's Gommino driving shoes, faded black IRO jeans, and a mid-weight high collar crewneck sweater from NN07 that I picked up on my trip to Stockholm this past January (my last international trip and purchase in the "before time") and my most prized possession, my Royal Oak 15400. I also opted for a pair of my favorite no-show socks from Tabio to retain a vestige of warmer times - my little way of telling the universe that, while I may have finally broken out my fall sweater collection, I'm still not totally okay with it.

So, give it a shot - dress like you're going to work, even if your office is just your couch. Put on that pair of wingtips (and a mask!) on your next run to the grocery store. I'm not suggesting that you toss your basketball shorts in the garbage - just that you wait until 5 PM to put them on. Life's better this way.

Tod's - $285

IRO - $199

NN07 - $169

Audemars Piguet

Dior - $190