Owning the Proletarian Uniform
The "modest," pragmatic all-black outfits required by many service jobs need not be miserable to wear.
Hello! Since my last post, I’ve started my day job, which though it’s far from the most intensive or draining service job I’ve ever worked, has been leaving me with little life force left with which to write anything at all. Hopefully, this will change as I get into the swing of things. One of the few fun AND frustrating parts of working a certain type of service job is trying to situate my personal style within the bounds of the brand’s dress code. Everything I wear to work must fit within these parameters:
All black
Somewhere on the spectrum from athletic wear to business casual (wild)
Relatively modest (I’ve gotten away with thick-strapped tank tops but couldn’t with, say, a camisole or miniskirt)
No HATS (ouch)
In addition, I have to be prepared for the fickleness of a window-filled, climate-controlled atrium that can vacillate between bone-chilling and skin-scorching within the span of ten minutes. Given these ground rules, I’ve been studying the art of the all-black uniform, trying to figure out how to inject life into a historically dour colorway.
I do wear all black quite frequently, but usually in the form of skin-tight mini dresses or chest-bearing bodysuits, so returning to the ancient texts of texture play has been invaluable to me. Below, a swath of inspiration for you, including reference images and some outfits I loosely formed on Depop. Unfortunately, I made them a few weeks ago, so they’re not quite so shoppable anymore as many items have sold out, but I’ve included some leads and am happy to help you source anything specific if you email me at emseely@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram. To everyone working a customer-facing job that doesn’t allow you to express the full bounds of your sense of style while on the clock: I salute you, I’m with you, and we will get through this together.
N.B. I’ve never been more happy to be covered in visible tattoos in my life. Though they may limit my opportunities (ridiculously), they are built-in accessories that always make me feel 200x better even just wearing black pants and a T-shirt.
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One of the easiest ways to make a black pants-and-jacket combo feel more compelling is to slap on a knee-length or shorter pleated skirt over the baggy or flared trousers (this will not give the same effect over tapered/skinny pants). I don’t think this can be construed as unprofessional, and certainly not immodest, but it adds a whole new layer to play with, movement, and a sense of levity to what otherwise could feel like a funerary fit. A buttoned-up jacket with a rounded collar is also a great pick for outerwear that doesn’t feel sloppy but isn’t as geeky as a blazer can skew—maybe they’ll even let you sneak on a brooch or a button!
Another example of the bottoms layering, this one with a shorter skirt and less high-fashion, more directly accessible-feeling. The scrunchy top is a staple in the all-black uniform, as I don’t think anything about it can garner legitimate criticism for “immodesty” or “unprofessionalism,” though there is a distinct air of subversive cheekiness to it, not to mention the amount of dynamism and shape it adds to an otherwise straightforward silhouette. These are SUPER easy to find for cheap on Depop, just search “shirred top,” bonus points for adding “vintage” to get more ‘90s and ‘00s options and less SHEIN slop.
A vision of the more masculine side of the aforementioned button-up jacket, this one openly worn over a T-shirt and with a more angular collar. Pragmatic but potent accessories are ESSENTIAL facets of a work fit, nothing that will get in the way or make performing tasks inconvenient but things that still pack a visual punch, so arm warmers are something to investigate for colder months—maybe you can get away with a neutral non-black color, as shown above.
This is my favorite androgynous all-black look of all time. It’s EXTREMELY advanced, from the triple-layered top hems to the pleated flares. I don’t have anything to say about it except that I’d wear the whole thing, as is, in a heartbeat, manager be damned. The outfit might even be navy blue, I can’t tell in this lighting, but all I know is that it would work in absolutely any monochromatic color scheme.
This style of deep, severe V-neck is one of the few ways I’ve thought to introduce just a pinch of sexiness into a virtually modest outfit, wearing a bra that pushes the chest outwards instead of inwards if needed/possible so no cleavage is visible—this Flore Flore tank is a mid-price option (and I have been told that the brand’s 100% cotton holds up for a good time AND a long time):
