The “office sirens” are being attacked for their lack of professionalism, but are they really pushing the limits too far, or are there economic and political reasons for the trend toward more modest corporate attire?
Leather miniskirts, tube tops and corseted shirts and push-up bras are all the rave at the moment, but do they have a place in today’s corporate world? According to the ‘office siren’ trend on TikTok, the answer is: “duh”. But the internet is divided on whether ‘office sirens’ have lost the plot, especially considering their risqué outfits might cost them their jobs.
One TikTok comment detailing how an woman lost a lucrative job over her ‘office siren’ work attire has sparked a heated response online. The original comment reads: “We have a college credit paid 25 per hour intern position that goes straight to a six-figure job at graduation. This girl wore an ‘office siren’ outfit day two and was immediately fired for it. And yes, we can fire for that. It’s in the contract she signed when taking the job. Literally lost a guaranteed £20k comfy job over a leather miniskirt and tube top combo.”
Dozens of response videos have popped up agreeing that the risqué outfit has no place in the workplace and that no outfit is worth losing your job over (especially one so high paying). But some commenters argued that it’s the ‘office sirens’ of TikTok and Instagram that are to blame for misleading young women who are entering the corporate world for the first time. One TikToker said: “Stop letting these influencers who don’t work pollute your mind with this trending b——t.”
Over the past few years, the “office siren” trend has grown in popularity on social media. Also known as “corpcore” or “corporate fetish,” it is also known as “corpcore.” After the pandemic returned to work, the trend, which was characterized by skin-tight skirts, bayonetta glasses, push-up bras, and revealing button-downs, resurfaced in the wider fashion community.
The ‘office siren’ trend began appearing on runways as a call-back to power dressing movements of the ‘80s and on-screen references like Gisele Bündchen’s assistant character in The Devil Wears Prada and Jennifer Anniston’s style from Friends. Model Bella Hadid became a poster-child for the trend last year, rocking slim glasses, a sleek bun, and belly-button revealing button-downs.
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Following the Covid-induced global lockdowns, the ultra-feminine-style attire became popular with business resumption. It was dubbed a rebellion against masculine-dominated, stuffy office attire. However, recent TikTok discourse has made it clear that rebellion and personal expression may need to take a backseat to corporate demands in some cases.
There are a few social and political factors that may be at play here. One is a notable shift to more conservative dressing that we often see during times of economic difficulty. The best example of the shift to more modest dressing was the recent Pretty Little Thing’s rebrand.
The fast-fashion brand long-known for being the go-to retailer for budget-friendly promiscuous party outfits shocked loyal customers by relaunching their website and clothing line with slightly more expensive, muted and minimalist styles. The “boring” rebrand draws parallels to the recession-core trend of the 2010s.
Recession-core is a trend that rose as a result of the 2008 recession, where understated, practical outfits took precedence over embellished and flashy styles. In this era, going-out attire looked oddly similar to corporate wear.
Even girls who were too young to work started wearing fitted blazers, silky button-downs, high buns, and peplum tops. Every magazine had a day-to-night look, with women dressing for both work and play and putting their weight on multi-use, transitional pieces for convenience and cost-effectiveness rather than fashion for fashion purposes.
The “boring” rebranding of Pretty Little Things and the recession-core trend both highlight the importance of “lilac economics.” In order to maintain a sense of normalcy and project a higher status appearance, consumers, especially women, are more willing to spend money on small, affordable luxuries (like lipstick and conventional, practical clothing items) during times of uncertainty.
One of the potential causes of “office sirens” feeling less inclined to push the boundaries of office style and invest in more traditional, practical staples is the current economic situation. The notable shift to more “traditional” and “manifest” workplaces is another plausible cause of the “office siren’s death.”
Social progress that empowered women to express their personal style in the workplace is becoming increasingly tenuous. The mass rollback of DEI initiatives in the US is bleeding into the UK as companies like BT, Goldman-Sachs and Co-op deprioritise programs to boost racial and gender equity in the workplace.
Women are disproportionately affected by these rollbacks, which affect mentoring programs and fair hiring practices. What, however, is related to style in this context? The “office siren” may be stifling their boundary-pushing and rebellious attitude as a result of worries that they will lose their foothold at work.
Shifting cultures toward male-driven workplaces and reduced protections and programmes for women might also mean that younger women simply do not feel safe to show skin and dress in form-fitting attire in the workplace. According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), there is a rise in the number of sexual harassment disputes in the workplace. ACAS, an independent UK public body that works to improve workplace relationships and resolve disputes, recorded 7,245 cases of sexual discrimination disputes in 2024 – an increase of 6.2 per cent from 2023.
Similarly, a 2023 Trade Unions Congress poll revealed more than half of women (58 per cent) have experienced sexual harassment, bullying, or verbal abuse in the workplace. That figure rises to almost two-thirds (62 per cent) for women aged between 25 and 34.
Source: Mirror
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