Let's Get Lunch
the final meal write up is served with office dressing on the side
I’m counting down the seconds on the desktop clock when you call. You’ve got an hour between meetings if I’m free right now? I only get half an hour but anything to get away from this desk for a bit. We’ll have to stop to pick up your boss’ dry cleaning on the way back, you tell me. With an assistant title comes immense glamour. I sense an eye roll through the phone. I’ll meet you outside your office in five. So I cram myself into a lift1 packed with people thinking only of lunch and how to get it in thirty minutes.
Walk and talk coffees, salads in the park or bagels at that place that looks like an upmarket canteen in hues of brown? It might be a deli now that I think of it. I’m happy to go wherever and it’s your turn to pick so we end up at the bagel spot surrounded by tables of fellow quick-lunch goers. This must be the local pit stop for every assistant in the city, refuelling in twenty minute shifts before pacing it back to office chairs and shades of greige. We know the turnover in this place is fast so we choose orders en route. At least this way we’ll never repeat that one lunch where our indecisiveness caused a queue pile up behind us that spilled onto the pavement.
I’m set on cream cheese with tomato on a sesame bagel. It’s yet to steer me wrong. A triple-shot iced coffee is needed as the idea of sitting back at my desk for another half of what feels like the longest day almost sends me into a rapunzel-esque slumber. You’re unsure until we reach the door, as if the sight of the counter tells you what you need from a bagel on a day like this. The server hands you your drink and we sit and wait for our order number to be called. You run me through the list of errands you have to complete before 5pm. I update you on the scandalous situation between the building receptionist and one of the execs that was supposed to be a secret. But we’ve been friends for almost ten years so any secret of mine is a secret of yours. And realistically who are you going to tell if I already know? Exactly.
We collect our bagels, leaving drinks and something random but not valuable on the table so everyone knows it’s ours. The bagel place was a good call. A silence covers the whole deli as workers eat in unison. I take a moment to consider how lucky it is that our offices are barely a hop, skip and a jump from each other. Like clockwork you declare that it’s about time we start bringing lunches from home to save money. I remind you that the best part of our work day is coordinating our lunch breaks to live out the city lives we used to dream about on the floor of the living room in your mum’s house. You remember with an agreeing nod and decide to balance your budget by drinking one less cocktail at the weekend. A fair trade, though we both know it won’t stick once Saturday night rolls around.
The ice has almost completely melted into the remnants of my coffee flavoured milk, leaving a watery ring beneath it on the table as we clear up what had been our lunch. I leave you at the dry cleaners to speed walk back to my desk, hoping that no one notices when I arrive a few minutes over my allotted time. As I type my password into the computer, a text pops up on my phone. The dry cleaner ruined your boss’ dress for her gala tonight. Followed up with an excess of flagrant language and exclamation marks. You’ll tell me all about it at lunch tomorrow.
“forget casual Fridays, how’s your work wardrobe coming along?”
I wanted to give options for a certain type of outfit under a dress code. It does depend on the office and what it says in your contract about the appropriate limits for expressing personal style between the hours of nine and five. But as you’ll see, I’ve noted where some aspects are maybe better left in the house. And it’s also just common sense. Take inspiration where you see fit. Regardless of the industry, we’re in the office so the air is corporate and probably a little stale but that doesn’t mean your outfits have to be. This may be a bit more autumn-season-skewed in terms of layering because I personally have yet to crack office dressing for summer heat. Not sure I ever will.
Starting pretty obviously, suiting is a classic option. Proportions, textures, colours and shapes can vary depending on what you like, so a suit or even pieces of it don’t have to resemble something you’d wear to present national news or appear in court. A jacket with interesting buttons or wide leg trousers that pool over a thin heeled boot with a pointed toe can add a touch of your own style without questioning a sense of “uniform”. In fact, the concept of uniform and utility is often influential in fashion. Look at any Prada runway show. Miuccia gets it. She understands both fashion and function and her designs live where they intersect. This is probably why Andy Anderson (main character of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) dresses in a lot of Prada when she’s in the office. And if, like me, Prada is not yet your regular stop for clothes shopping, look for the trickle down pieces2. There will be something that has made its way to the high street, seen by a buyer at the Prada show thus inspiring an item or two in your local mall. An even better idea would be to visit your favourite vintage stores and see if they have anything from the time period that inspired the runway.
A sure fire way to guarantee the dream work wardrobe is to decide on a colour palette. Don’t overcomplicate by picking things based on exciting colours. If it’s not something you want to reach for when half asleep each morning, it’s not the one. In the following examples the “colours” are pretty much void of anything bright because I like a reliable neutral. Any brighter blues are found in denim and reds in accessories. Textures are worth considering as they can add something extra to a neutral wardrobe. The shine of a leather jacket or the pleat on a navy trouser might provide intrigue to an outfit that you may have previously searched for in loud colours.
Maybe after all that you’re not so bothered about what you wear to the office which is fair enough and I appreciate if you’re still reading despite the fact. But I notice the days spent at my desk in an outfit I adore turn out a lot better than those where I dress simply to be clothed. In a way, this inspiration is more collected for myself as autumn comes around. I’d like to find the beauty in working a little more, and I think dressing the part will help. Shirts, tailored trousers and coats pending.
If you’re still reading this, thank you!
I intend to write a deep dive piece on “the work bag” as I’ve been struggling to find my own perfect version, so look out for that coming to an inbox near you.
Hope to see you soon, if you’re free for lunch maybe.
See: Elevator
See: The Devil Wears Prada Speech
I adore this essay! it’s so well-written and evocative, and perfectly captures the easiness of meeting up with old friends. reading this was definitely the highlight of my day :)