51�ԹϺ���

For many work-from-home-ers, an 8 a.m. Zoom meeting may only require a T-shirt and a pair of leggings. While there is nothing wrong with that combination, in this current social climate of stay-at-home, the desire to not get dressed for the day is a likely scenario. We are all victims.

When you no longer have to adhere to an office dress code, how best to present yourself when working from home can be tricky.

The turtleneck has long been a symbol of subversion and appropriated power for women. From a turtleneck-clad Jo Stockton jumping into a beatnik dance in a smoky bar in Funny Face, to Shiv Roy's "I will destroy you" turtlenecks on Succession, this garment, which was originally sported primarily by men, has allowed women to inhabit male-coded traits of self-sufficiency and swaggering authority.

As an often-cold Midwestern child of the Nineties, I grew up with — or rather, in — a precious orbit of fleece jackets. There was the cosmically-patterned Patagonia pullover without which I was not photographed from the years 1992 to 1998 and the pistachio green The North Face zip-up I even slept in through middle school until it grew holey. For two decades, I wore one fleece until it physically disintegrated, only to replace it, eventually, and repeat the cycle all over again.

It’s been more than a century since the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean – but despite the decades that have passed since 1912, the memory and legacy of the “unsinkable ship” continue to mesmerize historians and enthusiasts.

Let’s state the obvious: Winter is cold. Clothes keep us warm. Yet every year a stubborn subset of people across Minnesota venture outdoors in their summer finest. If pressed, they’ll say it’s not that cold.

Women put up with a lot at the office. At least grant us elastic waistbands.

I don’t remember what specific combo of frustration and busyness led me to wear leggings to the office one day recently, but I do remember it felt magical. With nothing but a stretchy band and Nulu(™) fabric holding me in, I felt freer, like I was dancing through my duties, rather than trudging through them encased in polyester and wool. My computer seemed to run more quickly; my sources were more responsive; the PR people were less angry.