Carolee, 40, hails from Portland, Oregon and has a BA in English. This lifelong bibliophile works in the processing department in a university library where she doesn’t have a lot of interactive with the public, but spends her day with a lot of books.

Her favourite articles of clothing to wear to work includes long (inappropriately long, since they often get rolled on by her office chairs), bloomers edged in black lace, a long cardigan made of a lightweight knit, or a crocheted shrug since it’s either air-conditioned or just cold all year round, and a “Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab” apron to protect my clothing from bookbinding glue.

Some of her workplace clothing versus her at-home ensemble are the same. Carolee wears long skirts all the time and most of her wardrobe is black, naturally.

She tells us, “I’ll wear velvet and lace to work even though the office is very casual, and I generally wear some kind of jewelry. Around the house I will still wear a long dress and black crocheted shrug.  My day look is considerably toned-down from what I’ll wear at night, though – I don’t wear makeup or do anything with my hair during the day, nor will I wear a petticoat or feathers!

“Co-workers have described me as ‘witchy-looking,’ which I take as a compliment.”

Kitsune_13, 37, is based in Vancouver, BC. Her educational background beyond high school includes some adult courses and a classical graphic arts training on the side. She is a customs broker, and has been working within the corporate field for 20 years.

Her favourite clothing to wear to work is her black Sanctuary hoodie from a local club night due to the constant A/C in the office, or pointy toed boots, or black capris on hot summer days). Because she walks to work, she tends to layer.

Kitsune_13 describes her workplace as pretty easy going. “They really don’t care if I have multi-coloured hair, facial piercings or visible tattoos. In fact, when dying my hair all black for the winter (to give the stripped and coloured bangs a break for a few months) my boss has mentioned that he ‘missed the bright reds and purples’ as flat black made me look waaay too white. There’s not much difference in my home/work wear but I do tend to be more fussy in my dress when heading out clubbing.”

Tommie, 40, lives in Bayonne, NJ, and works in customer service.

Her clothing for the workplace depends on her mood or laundry detail; generally she is attired in grey or black slacks with a top that keeps her from freezing due to incessant A/C. Sometimes this includes her zip up hoodie with a painted skull on the front.

Tommie describes her job as pretty open on dress code; it is a business-casual atmosphere unless big wigs come to visit. Her work look is totally different from her at home style. She tells us, “I actually look more professional on my job than people over me. Sometimes I’m in a purple frock top with Rennaissance sleeves, or a white formal silk shirt with my full black skirt and patent leather mary janes. Nails are done in either black, deep purple or deep blue but only black lipstick should I decide to wear any. Jeans go on in bad weather.”

Gary, 40, is based in Whiting, NJ and has a BA Sociology. He is an inspector for the NJ Casino Control Commission and monitors day to day activities of the Atlantic City Casinos.

His work attire is very conservative. One of his favourite articles of clothing is a pink button down polo dress shirt, but as a state government job, he also has to wear a uniform jacket.

“My expression is through my hairstyle,” he tells us. “My hair is naturally black (Asian background) and is an undercut. The length is long enough to be in a ponytail when I’m in the mood to do that. Other times I slick it back with gel for a punkish executive look or I let it flop over for a more casual metal guy appearance.”