everybody's obsessed with the retro corporate aesthetic

At 18:17 - there's a misattribution; Samira Guerra conducted the study and her work is included in Uniform: Clothing and Discipline in the Modern World (2019), which was edited by Jane Tynan & Lisa Godson.

"corporate-core" in the height of a recession makes sense - people are romanticizing a stable income from a 'comfortable' desk job because it's become so hard for new grads/gen z to find a job! finance bros and day-in-the-life of a corporate girlies have been trending for a while plus growing up in the age of 'Ugly Betty', '13 Going On 30' and 'The Devil Wears Prada' had me DREAMING of working as a fashion corporate girlie running with coffee in one hand and a phone balanced on shoulder.

As someone who doesn’t use tik tok, all of these aesthetics and your videos in general are always surprising and new info to me. It further confirms why I don’t want to use that platform.

Guess we've gotta bring back the office coke-snorting bathroom breaks then

i wonder if its a way for people to glamorize the 9-5 office occupation? most of the newer generation doesnt want to work 9-5 so maybe making it more aesthetic or romanticized helps.

The cubicles, the dirty carpets, the boss watching your notebook behind you, the endless gossip, the 10 different ways of harassment, the traffic, the early morning showers/neat dressing/hair/makeup/nails, the painful high heels 10 hours straight, the same restaurant near work, the nap on the toilet, actually the hidden cry in the bathroom. Nope, I won´t miss it. Home office is a blessing.

i find it funny that all these 'cores' are made probably by ppl who have never been in that role (like the cottage core, now the office core) because most of us girls working in offices don't find this romantic at all LOL. Also, i feel like the fashion industry loves to glamourize poor ppl/working ppl clothes/lifestyles, since their most millinonaire clients eat that shit up

Before i watch, i just want to say i find it interesting - almost insidious - how the romanticization of office wear is happening after a pandemic, when capitalists have a vested interest in having people go back to the office even after it has been made clear working for home can be more efficient, safe, and mentally healthy. I’m curious to see if this observation comes up in this video!

Retirement core is the mic drop I didn't know I needed

i feel like “coastal grandma” was essentially retirement core LMAO

Even as a kid in high school, I thought the media was way too hard on Monica. Especially her looks. It was ridiculous to 16 year old me and it’s horrific to 41 year old me.

i know we all hate 9-5s now, but I think the rise of this aesthetic is also related to the fact that at least in the 80s and 90s office work, while dreadful at its nature, came with certain benefits, job stability and retirement possibilities, whereas now it's just an endless stream of gig work, low pay, instability, and nonexistent benefits. We're basically stuck in this arrested development state where we can't plan for our lives because everything is so unstable. I work in Marketing and I know it's really difficult for most of my colleagues to keep a steady job for more than a year or two. So I think part of the officecore aesthetic is the nostalgia for these more stable times.

is this like Gen z's "millennial girl boss era" repackaged??

The tik tok of the girl strutting and filming her cute office core outfit and her tiny purse cracked me up because my version of office core is that I’ve been stuck in traffic for 2 hours and I’m using my bulky ass work backpack to carry my life inside. I chugged a protein shake at the toll booth—

I think there’s a connection here with recession and this influx of office wear but i just can’t quite put my finger on it.

As someone who does actually have an 8-5, let me tell you it's absolutely miserable most of the time. The working conditions are worsening by the day. HR serves the company not the people working there and every single person is dispensable. You are going to get punished for your bad days and barely get rewards for all the good ones. The only people dressing this fancy are maybe the higher ups.

I won't lie, early 80's are some tight women's office clothing (well made stuff), because it's before shoulder pads and it's got a hint of disco still in it's blood.

When your workplace is nice, the office environment is pretty pleasant. I work at a library and everyone there collaborates and helps each other out a lot, the vibe is pretty relaxed too. But if tour workplace is toxic there is no greater hell than walking into the office space.

My guess is that this aesthetic is popular now because it's reminiscent of a time when you could actually afford things from working a corporate job, so maybe this aesthetic provides some sort of a feeling of safety?

I could definitely see something like "retirement core" happening, with trends like "coastal grandma" and "eclectic grandpa" popping up and all that