The slipper, a work shoe?

As many of us are now working from home, we’re all learning to be innovative and problem solve familiar challenges in entirely new ways.

Whether it’s communication with teams and colleagues, sharing files and data or accessing secure portals, businesses and their people are overcoming difficulties and learning how to do things differently.

This experience of long-term working from home will change the modern workplace, it’s going to accelerate a change that was already happening: flexibility.

One of the things that has perhaps been less spoken about so far is the suitability of working-from-home attire. What do you wear? Usual office stuff? Casual it up? Your dressing gown? Novelty themed pyjamas?

I’ve opted to go for my usual office-wear, which is pretty casual. Jeans, t shirt/jumper/shirt. I think it’s important to wear what you normally wear so you feel you are in work-mode. Mindset is really important when remote-working. And you can answer the door without shame in your attire when your Beer Hawk delivery arrives.

The only thing that’s changed for me is footwear. Shoes form a key part of your outfit of choice for the day – a great pair of shoes can give you the confidence to walk into any situation. However, as I don’t wear shoes around the home and would certainly feel a bit odd sitting at my dining room table wearing my Vans or smart shoes, I’ve been left feeling that my attire is incomplete.

This is where the slipper comes in. We’ve got wooden floors at home, so just wearing socks means cold feet. The slipper is versatile and practical. Your feet are kept warm. You have some grip on those slippery wooden floors. You can take the bin out. Your outfit feels complete. You also start wondering why you don’t own a pair of shoes with a fluffy lining, suede outer and some frankly, rather awesome tassels.

While you may not rock your slippers when you’re in the office, they are most certainly a work shoe of choice in the brave new workplace of the home.