Trend Alert: The girls are making office fashion sexy again

By Brittany Luse,

Margaret Cirino, Liam McBain, Neena Pathak, Barton Girdwood, Veralyn Williams

Published April 30, 2025 at 9:34 AM EDT

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 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.

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Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, and cultural critic. She is the host of It's Been a Minute and For Colored Nerds. Previously Luse hosted The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, and Teen Vogue.

Margaret Cirino

Margaret Cirino (she/her) is a production assistant at Short Wave, NPR's daily science podcast. Her job involves pitching, producing and forcing her virtual and in-person co-workers to play board games with her. She has a soft spot for reporting on cute critters and outer space (not at the same time, of course).

Liam McBain

Liam McBain (he/him) is an assistant producer on It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders. He's interested in stories at the margins of culture.

Neena Pathak

Barton Girdwood

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.