Reg fashion special: Top designer says 'video chat accessories' are in for spring!
- Reference: 1586245026
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/07/video_chat_fashion_guide/
- Source link:
As [1]spotted by CNN journo Sonia Moghe, Gap's posh workwear brand Banana Republic shows off the spring trend with a new "What to wear at home" category on its US website.
The Register thought that was worth a look and quickly found the retailer offers sub-categories and the first one for men is called [2]"Cozy & comfortable" and features lots of lovely soft, floppy and fuzzy garments.
But the first sub-category for women is called [3]"Video Chat Ready" and features crisp and nicely-tailored business casual outfits (some in dense patterns that just don't work on camera).
Next up for women: "Video Chat Accessories" such as bandanas, hair clips and bracelets. Women do get a "Cozy & comfortable" sub-category, but as a third-order priority.
Men also get a "Video Chat Ready" look book – and it suggests boxer shorts and socks as appropriate apparel.
No prizes for guessing that underwear was not suggested as video conference apparel for women.
[4]
Click to enlarge
Other fashion retailers are also – pardon the pun – cottoning on to this. One response to Moghe's tweet pointed out that the world's largest fashion retailer Zara has a new passion for loungewear, the sub-genre of clothing built just for slobbing around the house.
Please note the ‘new’ loungewear section 🤣 [5]@ZARA fyi I love [6]@Zara but this made me laugh [7]pic.twitter.com/KkyzRw9bYo — Siobhán Murray (@Twistingthejar) [8]April 6, 2020
Loungewear was also the highlighted category on the women's clothing page of UK retailer Marks & Spencer's at the time of writing. M&S men are told to buy a pair of polo shirts at reasonable prices. H&M's home page is replete with references to being cozy at home.
[9]
Click to enlarge
Now lest you think us unfair critics, we present some shots of Register staff in their working from home outfits.
Your humble hack thought it might be fun to showcase vendor socks that he was never game to wear into the real world, while possibly leaking some subconscious thoughts about where he'd rather be.
Working my way through a pile of vendor socks I've never worn before. Today thanks [10]@vmware for the [11]#beachops hosiery promoting [12]@WavefrontHQ (with glimpses from the temporary Vulture East aka the shed that is my home office. Also corduroy!) [13]pic.twitter.com/7vy568pA4p — Simon Sharwood (@ssharwood) [14]March 25, 2020
US news editor Iain Thomson has done rather better, making sure his colleagues at daily virtual news meetings have a new costume to consider.
Decided on something a little different for today's [15]@TheRegister news meeting. Got to keep people on their toes, and keep them smiling.
HT to [16]@urban75 for the tshirt that keeps on giving. [17]pic.twitter.com/M2YvFHSZZy — Iain Thomson (@iainthomson) [18]March 19, 2020
If you've adopted what has come to be known as "Zoom Chic" and are willing to share a shot that could appear in The Register , [19]drop me a line . ®
Sponsored: [20]Choosing A Low-Code Vendor
[1] https://twitter.com/soniamoghe/status/1247184019130920960
[2] https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=1155493&nav=meganav%3AMen%3Awhat%27s%20new%3AWhat%20to%20Wear%20at%20Home%20
[3] https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=1154813&nav=meganav%3AWomen%3Awhat%27s%20new%3AWhat%20to%20Wear%20at%20Home
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/04/07/mens_video_chatwear_banana_republic.jpg
[5] https://twitter.com/ZARA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/ZARA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://t.co/KkyzRw9bYo
[8] https://twitter.com/Twistingthejar/status/1247263165886484486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[9] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/04/07/m_and_s_home_of_loungewear.jpg
[10] https://twitter.com/VMware?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[11] https://twitter.com/hashtag/beachops?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[12] https://twitter.com/WavefrontHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[13] https://t.co/7vy568pA4p
[14] https://twitter.com/ssharwood/status/1242939098362335233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[15] https://twitter.com/TheRegister?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[16] https://twitter.com/urban75?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[17] https://t.co/M2YvFHSZZy
[18] https://twitter.com/iainthomson/status/1240686351042764801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[19] mailto:simon.sharwood@sitpub.com
[20] https://go.theregister.co.uk/tl/1936/-8579/choosing-a-low-code-vendor?td=wptl1936
A quick descent
"Business mullet" when I first heard it a dozen years ago was sports jacket with jeans. Ties might have been part of that.
What would we do without fashion?
Answers on a postcard can be posted in any receptacle affixed to a lampost.
It's nice that fashion designers should think of those working from home in these difficult times, obviously want them to look their best, the fashion companies will go all out to have those designs manufactured by children in sweatshops that are located in countries that have no lockdow in place.
Might I suggest a line of pre-pizza stained T shirts for those working from basements?
Re: What would we do without fashion?
Unfortunately we don't yet have a B-Ark...
Re: What would we do without fashion?
Come back, Telephone Sanitisers - all is forgiven.
Re: What would we do without fashion?
@joeW: Come back, Telephone Sanitisers - all is forgiven.
[1]They are back!!! So says the BBC.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwPVqXrJitI
Re: What would we do without fashion?
Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.
Oscar Wilde
Fashion is easy!
*Inflates the bag of my neon plaid bagpipes, squeazes the bag betwixt my knees, & wanders around naked & twerking to my incredibly excrutiating disco polka mashups*
Trousers are Evil! Death to Pants!
*The Levan Polka*
Re: Fashion is easy!
Fine for the office, but are you going to tone this down a bit now that you are working from home?
If not I suggest adding a bowler hat and a cravat to give it that corporate look.
Re: Fashion is easy!
I just had to Google twerking.
Consider yourself off my Zoom list!
Re: Fashion is easy!
Korpiklaani's version of Ievan Polka I hope?
Re: Fashion is easy!
Korpiklaani's version of Ievan Polka I hope?
Nah, the Hatsune Miku version.
Really...
Desperate people flogging desperate tat.
Amateurs. Video chat accessories are things you leave in the background such as whips, chains, spatulas and the occasional blow up doll. If it's an important meeting always have a scotch egg to hand so when someone makes what they think is an important point loudly say "I couldn't agree more" and take a nice big bite out of it.
I made the mistake of leaving my folding ladder, work mate and drill behind me, so now everyone is saying they'll get me to do their DIY tasks once this is over :(
I have my two shelving units of records (yes, 12" vinyl) in the background. Oh, and a red hat hanging on the wall.
Ah, yes someone was trying to get me to show them what was on my bookshelf.
I think most people are bored, I bet someone will suggest you DJ for them for some evening entertainment.
Hmm, visible in mine are a couple of toolboxes, a pair of ear defenders and a workmate plus spare monitors and a model railway baseboard.
They already know I'm a sad git so I'm not bothered!
Gap’s posh workwear brand Banana Republic
How quaint, they just picked a boringly literal name describing how their government is currently run.
Ah, to be part of the military-industrial complex
...where cameras are a hyuuuuuge no-no and all meetings are webcasting slide decks / spreadsheets / etc. instead of video. (Just don't have an embarrassing desktop wallpaper!)
No one wants to see my messy home office anyway. Been in this house almost a year and I'm still trying to organize old paperwork (whole boxes of paid bills, receipts, etc.). If I do manage to sort them, I have a ceiling fan that still needs to be changed (ugly 80s/90s brass affair out, modern brushed nickel in); new matching cabinet/drawer handles are on their way from the Home Despot's warehouse. And maybe re-sort the bookshelves we randomly refilled just after the move. THEN this room might be camera-ready.
Taking months to improve on the semi-minor things in our living space: still better than the years we wasted waiting to improve anything in the last house. Besides, procrastination is like the bureaucracy at work: it comes standard with this industry/customer.
A phrase I leaned last week is "business mullet" - shirt on top with boxers below, the ideal outfit for video conferencing