美国国家公共电台 NPR--The pandemic has changed workplace fashion. What does that mean for you?

The pandemic has changed workplace fashion. What does that mean for you?

Transcript¹

Back in 1999, luxury clothing designer Tom Ford² made a prediction about how technology might influence the way people dress in the not-so-near future.

"Life is changing. And we're working more and more at home, more and more from our computer screen, which in the future — I mean, there are several ways this could go," he said in an interview with Charlie Rose. "A lot of people think fashion might just die because we're just at home. You can be working in your underwear and a T-shirt. Who cares? Who's going to see you?"

Did his prediction become your reality during the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, you're not alone.

As many people worked from home during the pandemic lockdown, companies' formal dress codes dissolved and office employees no longer needed to dress up. Slacks were replaced by sweats. People ditched heels. And T-shirts started to dominate.

Now that many of those workers are returning to the office, we seem to be entering a new era of work wear. This has sparked the question: What should I wear to work?

As part of NPR's Work Life series, NPR's Morning Edition spoke³ with people who are navigating⁴ that question. They include 27-year-old Jeremy Gonzalez, who started working on Capitol Hill last November.

"When I first started coming in, even on recess⁵ days, I would be wearing a suit and a tie or even my three-piece suit," he said. But after waves of pandemic variants⁶ and a fluctuating hybrid⁷ schedule, he's now more inclined to wear jeans and a button-down or a polo shirt.

Some others in politics are noticeably dressing⁸ down, too.

When the leaders of the Group of Seven nations took their group photo in Germany last month, something peculiar⁹ happened: They all ditched their ties. It was believed to have been the first time in 40 years that a G-7 portrait was taken without ties and could be seen as yet another signal that formal dress codes are becoming more relaxed.

Looser dress codes have found their way into another notoriously formal work culture — Wall Street — where for men, suits have traditionally been the only option.

Now, "the operative word is confusion," says Ken¹⁰ Giddon, whose family runs Rothman's, a men's store in Manhattan. "People really don't know what to do."

With offices opening back up, he has noticed folks are less certain about what to wear.

"Do you wear dress slacks to work? Do you wear khakis? Can you wear jeans?" he said. "Nobody really has drawn¹¹ the line, and nobody really knows what the right answer is."

His advice is to start with a dress trouser and blazer, assess the vibe of the office and go from there.

Washington Post senior critic-at-large Robin¹² Givhan agrees — err¹³ on the dressier side.

"What I've noticed is that there's really a return to sort of fashion with a capital F," she said. "I think people who loved it before, continue to love it. And there's something about creating boundaries again. You have the clothes that you wear out into the world and then you have the clothes that are your playtime clothes, your downtime clothes."

Still, Givhan sees one area where comfort will continue to be a priority.

"I am not seeing a return to the serious dressy heels or constricting¹⁴ footwear," Givhan said. "I'm seeing a lot more flats both in offices and on runways."

Of course, not everyone likes dressing up in formal clothes. And, as Givhan puts it, not everyone wants the same sort of breakdown¹⁵ between their personal and professional selves.

"I think for some people it is really invigorating to be able to bring the entirety of their personality with them wherever they go," she said. "And I think there are other people who were frustrated¹⁶ by the fact that their workday never really seemed to end, that it just sort of blurred¹⁷ into one giant mush of constantly being online."

Just as Tom Ford predicted.

Jeevika Verma produced the radio version of this story and Rachel Treisman edited and produced the web version.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

5 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

6 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

7 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

8 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

9 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

10 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

11 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

13 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

14 constricting   

压缩，压紧，使收缩( constrict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To discuss the clinical characteristics and treatment of congenital constricting band syndrome(CCBS) and amputations. 目的探讨先天性束带症与先天性截肢的临床特点及治疗方法。

15 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

16 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》