Let’s be real here, we all want to wear joggers to work, aren’t we?
Somehow, I just don’t feel the most comfortable when I am wearing a tight pencil skirt and a pair of dress pants with my bloated belly after lunch.
While joggers can be too causal to work, they can look polished, chic, and put together as well with some proper styling!
So ladies, here are the 6 tips when it comes to what to wear with joggers to work!
Time to dress your pants up!
Update: Make sure you go through all the looks as I have a cheatsheet for what perfume to wear in the workplace <3
1. Pick a structured shape for your joggers
To dress up joggers, choose fitted pairs that showcase your ankles and flatter your curves! 🔍
Size appropriately (visit a tailor if needed—worth every penny! 💰) and avoid baggy styles with excessive pockets.
The perfect jogger hugs your calves while staying comfortable at the hips, creating a refined silhouette that’s office-appropriate.
Your colleagues will appreciate the polished look!👩💼
2. Choose the formal and thick fabric like twill and silk
Closely linked with the first tip, fabric matters the vibes of the joggers and also affects the shape.
Here are some of the fabric suggestions that you should avoid and embrace.
Fabric to avoid:
A. Terrycloth
Yes I know they are comfy but they are just too soft to maintain a structured shape for your pants.
Plus, this fabric itself is too casual to wear at work.
B. Thin/ low quality cotton
Thick cotton is fine but if that’s a thin or low-quality cotton, it will again make the pants look too sloppy.
Especially when you wear light color jogger pants like white or creamy, I am pretty sure that will be a little bit see-through as well.
With cotton joggers, always take a look at the materials and look for at least 20% Polyester and nylon.
The heavier material can balance things out and dress up the look.
Fabric to embrace:
A. Silk
Can we talk about how fashionable yet classy silk joggers is?
Silk by nature is soft thin cotton that looks elegant and it just makes the jogger pants look less baggy.
Added to this, silk fabric is lustrous and that makes your pants look more dressed up without too much styling.
With a black V neck top and beige silk jogger pants, that is a truly smart casual outfit!
Silk jogger pants are my all-time favorite, it just makes me stand out from the crowd wearing cotton pants.
Not to mention it keeps me cool during those hot summer days!
Reminder: For these kind of drawstring jogger pants, it’s best to cover that drawstring area up with a dressy top to look put together.
A peplum top like this is always to perfect choice! <3
B.Twill
If silk is for summer then twill is for winter days!
For the cotton jogger pants, the shape will completely go after washing it a couple of times.
But with a thick fabric like twill, it keeps the pants structured and durable. Twill is always a decent choice for jogger pants.
C. Chino
Compare to the fabric like Khakis, chino is a bit dressier and this can make jogger pants looks more dressed up with a sophisticated vibe!
3. When in doubt, add a belt
Trust me, it just instantly dress up the look!
From my experience, you just can’t go wrong with a brown thin belt <3
4. Avoid big prints and high saturation color for your joggers
Skip bold prints (leopard, floral 🌺) and neon colors for work joggers—they’re just too distracting.
Instead, choose earth tones like beige, ivory, or lime green 🍃 for a professional look that blends seamlessly into your workplace.
5. Wear a blazer to dress up your joggers to work
Not only does this look chic and fashionable to combine two different styles of outfit as one, but this is also probably the easiest way for us to dress up our joggers.
The shape lining of our blazers can seamlessly balance the looseness of our legs and makes the outfit looks more like a smart casual.
You can always go monochrome and style your black pants with a black blazer!
Not only it is high fashion, but it also makes your legs appear longer.
As a petite girl, monochrome is the ultimate no-fail styling tip for me!
6. Wear pointed flats and heels to complete your smart casual look
Last but not least, change your sporty sneakers to a pointed flat to achieve your office look!
Instead of the round toe ballet flats, I do think pointed flats are a better choice as the V shape can lengthen your legs visually.
By picking the same color as your pants, the elongating effect can be even stronger.
I’ve tried styling my jogger jeans with round flats but that’s just not as flattering as pointed flats, it makes my legs look shorter!
Of course, if you want to look more of a girl boss, heels are your best friends!
Any kind of heels can work except the thick ankle strap heels.
The thick straps will cut out your ankles and make your legs looks slightly thicker!
And there’s the workplace friendly perfume and dress code cheat sheet- enjoy my loves!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
So here are the 6 tips on what to wear with joggers to work! Let’s have a quick recap first:
- Pick a structured shape for your joggers
- Choose the formal and thick fabric like twill and silk
- Avoid drawstring waist jogger pants and style it with a belt instead
- Avoid big prints and high saturation color for your joggers
- Wear a blazer to dress up your joggers to work
- Wear pointed flats and heels to complete your smart casual look
Considering how many hours we go to work every day, we should always dress in comfort.
While it has been a stereotype that joggers are too casual for workwear, this is actually not the case at all!
With different styling and different fabrics, jogging pants can look dressy and polished as well.
As Vera WANG once said, “A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes”, so ladies, time to get sexy in our comfy joggers!
By the way, if you are interested in classy styling, you may also interested in the following reads, see you there ladies!
These are awesome tips. I like this advice.
Do you have more photos of the type of joggers you think would be classy? Iโve had to wear my waterproof pants lately for my bookmobile routes, but on days when itโs not raining, casual but classy joggers would be just the thing. Thanks for the ideas!