Let’s be real here, we all want to wear joggers to work, aren’t we?
Somehow, I just don’t feel the most comfortable when I am wearing a tight pencil skirt and a pair of dress pants with my bloated belly after lunch.
While joggers can be too causal to work, they can look polished, chic, and put together as well with some proper styling!
So ladies, here are the 6 tips when it comes to what to wear with joggers to work! Time to dress your pants up!
1. Pick a structured shape for your joggers
If you want to dress up your jogger pants, let’s start with picking a more structured shape.
First thing first, always wear a fitted pair and size up or down when necessary.
As a pear shape girl, I always have to size up my pants to fit my thigh, however, that will makes my pants look way too long that it hides my ankle.
In this case, that’s a big No-no.
One of the highlights of jogger pants is all about showing ankles to make your leg appear to be longer and thus achieve a more refined look.
Always be patient to find the fitted joggers, after all, there are so many designs and I’m sure you can find the right one!
If not, always go to the tailor and make your pants flatter your curves! Trust me, it’s worth those pennies!
Second, avoid the baggy designs and the one with too many pockets.
Find the one that is comfy for the hips area and tighter in the calf area so as to flatter the curves of our legs.
Also, avoid the ones with too many pockets, while they are functional, they are just too bagger and casual for the workplace.
Let’s imagine you walk into the office with hip-hop-style jogger pants on a Monday morning, you really can’t blame your colleagues if they stare at your pants.
2. Choose the formal and thick fabric like twill and silk
Closely linked with the first tip, fabric matters the vibes of the joggers and also affects the shape.
Here are some of the fabric suggestions that you should avoid and embrace.
Fabric to avoid:
A. Terrycloth
Yes I know they are comfy but they are just too soft to maintain a structured shape for your pants.
Plus, this fabric itself is too casual to wear at work.
B. Thin/ low quality cotton
Thick cotton is fine but if that’s a thin or low-quality cotton, it will again make the pants look too sloppy.
Especially when you wear light color jogger pants like white or creamy, I am pretty sure that will be a little bit see-through as well.
With cotton joggers, always take a look at the materials and look for at least 20% Polyester and nylon.
The heavier material can balance things out and dress up the look.
Fabric to embrace:
A. Silk
Can we talk about how fashionable yet classy silk joggers is?
Silk by nature is soft thin cotton that looks elegant and it just makes the jogger pants look less baggy.
Added to this, silk fabric is lustrous and that makes your pants look more dressed up without too much styling.
With a black V neck top and beige silk jogger pants, that is a truly smart casual outfit!
Silk jogger pants are my all-time favorite, it just makes me stand out from the crowd wearing cotton pants.
Not to mention it keeps me cool during those hot summer days!
B.Twill
If silk is for summer then twill is for winter days!
For the cotton jogger pants, the shape will completely go after washing it a couple of times.
But with a thick fabric like twill, it keeps the pants structured and durable. Twill is always a decent choice for jogger pants.
C. Chino
Compare to the fabric like Khakis, chino is a bit dressier and this can make jogger pants looks more dressed up with a sophisticated vibe!
3. Avoid drawstring waist jogger pants and style it with a belt instead
While the above two tips are always enough for you to look way more professional in your joggers, you can always look more refined by avoiding the drawstring waist design.
Opt for jogger pants without the elastic waist and style it with a thin belt, you just can’t go wrong with that!
4. Avoid big prints and high saturation color for your joggers
While big prints like leopards and flowers look truly unique and chic, it may not be a proper choice if you want to dress your joggers to work.
This is just too attractive, or in other words, distracting.
Added to this, instead of picking the high saturation colors like neon green, red and bright pink, always choose the earth tone colors like beige, ivory, and lime green to make your joggers blend more easily in the workplace.
5. Wear a blazer to dress up your joggers to work
Not only does this look chic and fashionable to combine two different styles of outfit as one, but this is also probably the easiest way for us to dress up our joggers.
The shape lining of our blazers can seamlessly balance the looseness of our legs and makes the outfit looks more like a smart casual.
You can always go monochrome and style your black pants with a black blazer!
Not only it is high fashion, but it also makes your legs appear longer.
As a petite girl, monochrome is the ultimate no-fail styling tip for me!
6. Wear pointed flats and heels to complete your smart casual look
Last but not least, change your sporty sneakers to a pointed flat to achieve your office look!
Instead of the round toe ballet flats, I do think pointed flats are a better choice as the V shape can lengthen your legs visually.
By picking the same color as your pants, the elongating effect can be even stronger.
I’ve tried styling my jogger jeans with round flats but that’s just not as flattering as pointed flats, it makes my legs look shorter!
Of course, if you want to look more of a girl boss, heels are your best friends!
Any kind of heels can work except the thick ankle strap heels.
The thick straps will cut out your ankles and make your legs looks slightly thicker!
FINAL THOUGHTSa:
So here are the 6 tips on what to wear with joggers to work! Let’s have a quick recap first:
- Pick a structured shape for your joggers
- Choose the formal and thick fabric like twill and silk
- Avoid drawstring waist jogger pants and style it with a belt instead
- Avoid big prints and high saturation color for your joggers
- Wear a blazer to dress up your joggers to work
- Wear pointed flats and heels to complete your smart casual look
Considering how many hours we go to work every day, we should always dress in comfort.
While it has been a stereotype that joggers are too casual for workwear, this is actually not the case at all!
With different styling and different fabrics, jogging pants can look dressy and polished as well.
As Vera WANG once said, “A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes”, so ladies, time to get sexy in our comfy joggers!
By the way, if you are interested in classy styling, you may also interested in the following reads, see you there ladies!
These are awesome tips. I like this advice.
Do you have more photos of the type of joggers you think would be classy? I’ve had to wear my waterproof pants lately for my bookmobile routes, but on days when it’s not raining, casual but classy joggers would be just the thing. Thanks for the ideas!