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A few years ago, “double cloth” or “gauze” clothing started becoming really popular for summer. Personally, I love it — it’s super soft, incredibly airy, and easy to wash.
But: It also tends to look perpetually wrinkled, and a lot of the clothes that kicked off the trend — particularly wide-leg pull-on pants — inevitably looked mighty similar to pajamas. (It also always reminded me of the Aden + Anais blankets and swaddles my kids loved as babies.)
It’s been a few years, though, and now more workwear brands are coming out with double-cloth and gauze pieces, as I noted when we were discussing the best summer work pants for women. So for today’s question: Can you wear gauze clothing to work? Is there something that separates a “work-appropriate” double-cloth pant or blouse from its weekend-only counterpart — the cut, the color, the styling, the weight of the fabric?
And where are your favorite places to buy gauze clothing for work?
Why Gauze Clothing Might Not Always Be Work-Appropriate
When gauze clothing first started trending, a lot of it had a distinctly vacation-y vibe… or, frankly, a “daytime pajamas” vibe. Long, flowy pull-on pants. Matching, unfitted blouses. Oversized button-front shirts. (The latest: barrel pants, like the matching blue set pictured at top.)
In general, I think you’d have to work in a pretty casual office for a full matching gauze set to read as workwear rather than resortwear. (They’re great for work-from-home days, though!)
If you’re hunting for a very casual look, though, Marine Layer and Gap both have a ton of relaxed options.
Can You Ever Wear Gauze Clothing to Work?
My take? These days, absolutely — if you know what to look for.
I think the newer options work best when the shape of the garment reads as workwear even though the fabric is casual: a structured blouse, a proper collar, a defined waist, a shirt dress, or another detail that makes the piece look intentional rather than pajama-adjacent.
For example…
Boden has a number of beautiful blouses that I think look great; the tiny bit of structure really makes a difference like the banding on the sleeve. They also have some relaxed, fun looking maxi skirts and shorts.
ME+EM has some gorgeous blouses, dresses, and pants. The dresses unfortunately tend to read a bit more vacation (-in-Provence) to me, but they are stunning (I’m obsessed with this one and this one) and might work at the right office.
Banana Republic Factory has a lot of fun weekend pieces (I am not a romper girl, but the gauze pocketed romper actually looks really cute)… But right now they also have a number of pieces that could work for work — the pictured shirt dress, this relaxed sleeveless blouse or this collared blouse all look great to me. (I actually think the pants pictured at the very top are some of the few gauze pants that definitely look more work than weekend to me — the pleat and zipper fly add a ton of structure there.)
Even Gap — which I feel like helped kick off the whole gauze trend — has a fun peplum top right now. I’d even possibly wear the entire matching outfit to the office with a Merrit jardigan on top for the A/C. (I also like the blue barrel pants pictured at top — for the weekend.)
Readers, what are your thoughts? Would you wear gauze or double-cloth clothing to work? What makes a gauze piece read as polished enough for the office to you — and what sends it straight into weekend/resortwear territory?