Radical Style De-Compartmentalization

If you like your clothes only 1/7 days a week, this may be what you need.

I’m starting to realize that there’s a certain kind of person that requires a certain kind of uniform. And that’s a person who might work out at any time.

I am this person a couple times a week, and if you count walking as a workout, I am this person daily. I’m typing this by speaking it into my phone as I walk back-and-forth on my catwalk, trying to get steps because my husband’s with his PT. I’ll do it all day long. Try to get some steps in.

On the days I have a real, sweaty workout (2 x a week), I always want to work first in a cafe. Then I race home for the workout. Then I don’t always have time for much more than dry shampoo before my first Zoom. And then I’ll still want to reach my steps goal if I can.

I’ve now talked to multiple people who experience this predicament. They want to work out at any given moment. So they hang out in workout clothes all day. And then never feel like their best self until Saturday, when they put on real clothes.

But if you’re saving all your best stuff to go out on a Saturday night, then you’re only feeling great one out of seven nights a week. Which at our age is intolerable. (As much as I may have acne, I’m not still in puberty, thank G.)

One of the people I mentioned became both a client and a friend. And what I figured out as I thought about her life and all the parts of it and how I want her to get to feel is that she has to make a complete mentality shift. She has to practice radical non-compartmentalization.

If you watch the Tibi Style videos you may have heard the founder, Amy, talk about the perils of “a bifurcated wardrobe.” She suggests shifts like wearing your riding boots and a blazer with your leggings to barre class. What I’m talking about goes one step further: Dress to feel like your best self at every given point in your real day. Which may mean never actually “getting dressed for work” at all, and definitely means upleveling and reconsidering your workout pieces, not as a means to an end (seeing you through a class) but as a valued part of the outfits that make up your day.

It’s a big mental change, but if you can manage it, you will feel 10000% better.

Let me walk you through it.

1. When you wake up in the morning, you’re going to put on “house clothes” that include a workout legging. House clothes aren’t random, ill fitting, stained, or weird or demoted items. House clothes are a low key form of outfit that makes sense at home. The general components of house clothes on a workout day are:

   1. nice, solid tee

   2. sports bra

   3. well-fitting legging

   4. sweater or sweatshirt around you or on you as needed

   5. cute shoe you can easily slip in/out of

   6. jewelry you’d work out in that makes you feel like you

(Here I am in house clothes, comfy and feeling like me.)

2. When you go out, you’re going to “uplevel” this a little more. You’ll add items that make it feel even more “outfitty” and make you feel even more you. Importantly, you’re not wearing the shorts or leggings as a workout item. Until you start working out they are an “outfit item.” It’s an important mental shift. So for example, I went to work in a cafe in a nice neighborhood, adding a sheer skirt and a sweater for the A/C and a tote. The workout shorts are an intentional part of the outfit with the see through skirt. Here’s that look in action + below.

   

3. You’re going to have your first sweaty workout by just removing the extras and adding a cute sneaker.

4. After that, you may not have a chance to shower. You can change into other workout clothes if you feel like a walking swamp. Or you can air out, wash your face, pull your hair back etc. And onward. (p.s. I have tried a hundred dry shampoos and the only one I think does anything is Moroccan Oil’s.)

5. If you have a Zoom, throw on a blazer. Now I know that we all work in casual offices and a blazer isn’t necessary but you’re adding a blazer because it’s going to make you feel like you’re in a meeting. You’re also thinking about the part of you that shows on Zoom. That doesn’t mean disregarding what’s on the bottom (it needs to all work together as a look for you to feel good) but it means you might have to make some adjustments so that what shows in the screen looks right (so you might move the sweater or toss on some beads to get color around your face, for example). Also your shoes are back on. First of all because it’s about how you feel, and second of all because when you get up in the middle of the meeting and go to plug in your dying laptop, this whole thing is going to look intentional. You’re not trying to hide your bottom half. It’s an outfit with a blazer, an outfit that looks cool. The leggings give friction to the blazer.

   

6. If you have to do a school pickup at this point, or you’re watching a kid in a game, and you’re still staying unshowered, you can add a cute cap, a refined one. Put a sweater around your waist, to the side. And keep your house shoe on. You can add another something too to make it feel like you, in my case it would be my vintage men’s watch and a crossbody bag.

7. If you’re squeezing in another walk, just throw your sneakers back on.

8. Whenever you do shower, put on a “one and done.” A one and done is a single piece (dress, romper, jumpsuit) that you’ve already tried on, that you know will work, that’s cute enough to get pizza in, that’s super comfy, and that you can wear with walking shoes. Comfy, because you’re in it up until bed time! (Because why would we wear random sh*t at home when that’s where we spend most of our time! And where people we love are!) And comfy-shoe-ready because you might still want to walk some more. Now if you showered before school pickup/soccer/Zoom, this is what you’re wearing as a base instead of the house clothes. With/without a blazer.

(Another one and done example. This Tibi dress. Or maybe something like this is more your style. That goes back to the whole style DNA thing which underpins everything.)

This all sounds weird but starts to feel very natural and very good. And the idea in all of it just makes sense, to upgrade how you feel during the bulk of your days rather than just waiting for an occasion to feel good. It means that when you pass by in the mirror you’ll know who you see and won’t feel lousy. It also means the things that you’re buying to work out have to be a lot more considered because they’re part of your outfit and your life. Not some means to an end. So …

A few of the things I really rely on with this approach:

• Jil Sander small, open crossbody. It’s easy to grab and go and to reach for my keys in a rush. Sometimes I wear it around the house to count steps. It makes the workout stuff feel more intentional.

• Alo high rise capri leggings: My go-to All Access seems to have changed so I moved to these. Feel soft and hit in the spot I like. I’m in a medium.

• Good solid tees. I like the length and high neck of these from Skims. Many swear by Uniqlo unisex. Check out my friend Nicole here.

• A nylon baseball cap (see above but also you know I love the Prada - priced ridiculously) that has kind of refined, street-y look.

• Sneakers that are one color, a bright one (above) and a neutral one.

• Shoes that slide on and are refined, a foil to the legging.

• A necklace that easily adds color and can be thrown over your head. I have lots of these Evie Marques ones!

Try this shift and report back. I’m working out more and feeling like sh*t less. The ultimate win/win.