Dressing the way that we want brings us closer to community because we feel confident to navigate public life: we can ask that person out on a date, or we feel ready to attend that social event alone. In the workplace what we wear helps us to land our dream job, to connect with our colleagues, or to move comfortably in an environment that is emotionally and physically demanding. However, wearing what we want to work is not a liberty that many of us have. Finding a sweet spot between adhering to a dress code (often formal or smart casual attire), while feeling comfortable in those clothes can be a tedious task. 

For the LGBTQ+ community, dressing for work brings added complexities. Sometimes the dress codes expected of us don’t fit into ones’ chosen gender expression. Oftentimes, our comfort clothes or accessories can’t be worn in a work environment (due to practical reasons or protocol), and so, there’s a sense of unease as we contain our expression for the sake of professionalism.

When we face restrictions to our self expression, choosing to customise our clothes can be a tool that helps us embody our professional attire. It’s a major confidence booster that prepares us to tackle our daily tasks, to take on a customer facing role, or to lead a team meeting. Clothes are tools to facilitate connection, and they are a canvas we can add our personality to.

To tailor your clothes in a way that suits your self-expression can look like a myriad of things. For example, adding hidden signifiers onto your garments may help to affirm your identity, while adding new aesthetic elements cements a sense of individuality. Overall, turning to DIY and craft to (re)fashion your workwear is an accessible, creative and sustainable method for working your way (pun intended) around dress codes. We can be in our work clothes for five out of seven days of the week, so try DIY, and find a way to make your clothes feel unique to you!

If you are new to customising your clothes, start with something small. For example, customise a tie clip or a hair accessory. Using hot glue, you can tack on gems, fabric, ribbon or anything else you can think of onto an accessory. Charity shops or craft stores are your friend for finding miniature embellishments.

Hand crafting graphics or words onto your garments can make you feel more connected to them. If we reflect on starchy work shirts or plain trousers as an example, we can sometimes feel alienated from such a standardised uniform. For plain style garments, using embroidery can be a good way to add some imagery to them: your initials, a small flower, maybe a little star. Other ideas can include creating your own hand crafted brooch from scrap fabric, adding lace detailing to a collar, or to the hemline of a skirt. This way your clothes feel dynamic and fun to wear. 

When there is minimal flexibility in the work place, explore covert hidden visuals to add to your clothes. Sometimes dressing for ourselves can look like just needing to feel good as opposed to being perceived as looking good. In this instance, think about hand painting your clothes tags with an affirming word, an image, or your name or pronouns as a way to affirm yourself. Experiment with adding colourful ribbons to your socks, or use ribbons as shoelaces. If you want to take it one step further, create shoe charms to add onto your laces! A strict dress code can sometimes inspire us to re-direct where we add aesthetic accents to our outfits.

If you have more flexibility in the workplace, then you may want to focus on visual signifiers for people to see. This can be a way to find community at work. Such as finding people to connect with on your special interests or your affiliation to a specific social group or club. For DIY and craft ideas, how about customising the collars of your shirt with dangly charms (DND dice anyone?) or adding a hand painted fabric patch to a blazer? Hand stitch colourful fabric to the cuff of your trousers or paint words, emblems or logos onto a tie. 

Whether you have the opportunity to stand out from the crowd at work, or have to get creative due to restrictions with formal wear, DIY and craft are always tools you can turn to as a way to transform your work wear in a way that makes you feel confident to tackle your work day.

Customise your way to self-confidence!

Written by Santi S - a multidisciplinary artist and Founder of G(end)er Swap –- the UK's first LGBTQ+ style outreach organisation. Their work (workshops, writing, performance) focuses on DIY style, craft and aesthetics as a medium for (trans) identity exploration and experimentation. They create and curate queer style workshops, pop ups and digital resources across the UK, and create safer spaces for trans+ people to experiment with and find freedom in self-expression.