Pencil skirt. Kitten heels. Tiny glasses. And a little dark edge. These are just some of the elements of one of the most enduring fashion trends of the past couple of years: the office siren. But we're not just seeing this twist on office norms in fashion: we're also seeing it in TV shows like Severance and Industry, and with musicians like The Dare and FKA Twigs. So what are people expressing by reimagining office fashions? Brittany is joined by NPR's Life Kit producer Margaret Cirino to discuss the "freakification" of office wear — its long lineage in fashion, and what office tensions this trend is speaking to right now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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A warning, this segment contains references to sexuality and sexual violence. Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. Today, I have a very special guest here with me. Yay. Margaret Serino. Welcome to It's Been a Minute. Hi, Brittany. Happy to be here. Happy to have you.
Okay. So Marge is my colleague over at Life Kit, but she's also one of the most fashionable people at the NPR New York Bureau. Oh, stop. I'm blushing. It's true, though. It's true. It's true. And she's often dressed in a style that's aptly called office siren. Yes. Yes.
I have been having a lot of fun with it, but I will admit to you, I've been making some questionable fashion and beauty choices. I over plucked my eyebrows. I'm six months out still working through that decision. So that's great. I also on Amazon ordered... Three pairs of fake glasses that I do wear.
As somebody who wore glasses literally to their wedding reception, I'm going to reserve my thoughts on that. But I'm sure they look amazing. I'm sure they look amazing. Okay. So we know that office siren is glasses. We know it's thin eyebrows. What else does it look like?
Okay, I want you to picture like a tight white button up, lots of hair gel, you know, like the hardest, tightest, slick back bun looks painful you've ever seen. Pencil skirts, little kitten heels. It's like a devil wears Prada, kind of like early internet culture feel to it, basically. I'm obsessed with it. Other people are too, though. It's really popular.
So I've been seeing that office siren thing going on in TikTok. For shoes, a pointy kitten heel. Put your hair either up and a little undone or down and sleek. The most important part, a pair of rectangular glasses. How to dress like an office siren without getting sent to HR.
I've definitely seen the trend. It's made the rounds. Yes. You know, I've also seen, though, that these kind of aesthetics have permeated into the rest of culture over the last few years. Like you see it on TV shows like Severance, Industry. You see it in music. You know, The Dare, who's a musician. He's kind of exclusively wearing like the skinny ties. Suits and skinny ties. FKA Twigs.
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