work from home sweatpants

Writer Gets Dragged For Condemning “Work From Home Sweatpants”

With pretty much the whole world on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, much of the American office workforce is now learning the joys of working from home. And by “joys,” as we bloggers and other shut-ins can undoubtedly tell you, working from home means all PJs, all the time. (Seriously, I have not put on a pair of pants and walked into an office since 2013, and my life is unequivocally that much better for it.)

But because some people just hate to see the joy of others, one party-pooping LA Times writer decided to bestow on the world a take so scorching hot, that scientists may someday harness its heat into a renewable energy source.

On Friday, Adam Tschorn, Deputy Fashion Editor for the Times, published an op-ed aggressively titled: “Enough with the WFH sweatpants. Dress like the adult you’re getting paid to be.” Right out of the gate, that headline is clearly instigative. Dress like the adult you’re getting paid to be? And kindergarten teachers aside—show of hands—who is getting paid to be an adult? Most of us are getting paid to like, perform a job function. But you do you, Adam.

And lest anyone think the headline was purposely attention-grabbing—friends, it gets worse. After humblebragging about his daily routine and personal sense of style (which apparently “falls somewhere between Vermont rural casual and West Coast preppy,” exasperated sigh), our man Adam went there.

You’re more than likely laughing at me right now, sitting there in your yoga pants and your zip-front Patagonia faux fleece thrown over a circa-2000 Coldplay concert T-shirt sourced from the bottom of the hamper — your bare feet swinging wild and free under your Ikea Skarsta worktable. Your slouchy henleys, underwire bras, nice jeans and dry-clean-only designer tops are now shunted to the back of the closet like enriched polonium.

Tell me this mofo did NOT just bring underwire bras into the conversation, a torturous undergarment that he has undoubtedly never in his life been made to endure.

Tl;DR: Adam actually did make a valid point at the end, when he points out that when office drones do finally have to return to the workplace, they’re “probably going to feel like shrugging into a straitjacket you won’t be able to take off for five days.” But even then, that seems like more of a comment that maybe stuffy workplace dress codes are actually kinda bullshit in the first place.

In any case, it should come as little surprise that the op-ed was not well received online, as the tweet promoting the article got quickly ratio’d.

And then speaking of Adam’s personal sense of style, eventually, his headshot came into play, and … let’s just say it didn’t help him.

Even the LA Times social media editor wanted to get as far from the damn thing as possible:

Guys, take it from a work-from-home pro. Just wear what makes you happy and comfortable. Especially in these scary and unsure times! And if that means dressing like a Where’s Waldo background character or the toddler son of an Instagram influencer named Greighson when working from home, then so be it.