The Ultimate WFH Ethical Loungewear Guide
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a life lived in loungewear would be a good life indeed. Even the name loungewear is evocative – conjuring images of languid and sun-dappled days spent reclining in your immaculately styled, #nofilter needed, Instagram-ready abode.
Dream versus reality aside, whether you’re working from home juggling Zoom rooms and Skype chats, grappling with grade-seven maths in your new home-schooling reality or binge-watching Tiger King from the couch, there’s no reason to throw your ethics out with the self-isolation bathwater.
Upgrade your homebound uniform to a whole new level and prove that comfort, style and sustainability aren’t mutually exclusive concepts with our epic ethical loungewear roundup.
IMAGE ABOVE: COMMON STITCH
Common Stitch
Call us rule-breakers if you will, but we think the Pipit Loungewear Set from Brisbane designers and patternmakers Common Stitch should be the new standard for when things go back to ‘normal’. Flattering high-waisted shorts are paired with a boxy fluted top constructed from super-soft 100% linen in a selection of bold tones such as forest green, paprika and mustard. It’s sure to jazz up your morning meetings, even if those meetings happen to be with your cat and all your plant babies.
Hand-made slowly in Brisbane, this gorgeous outfit (or should that be infit?) also comes as a printed-paper or digital-downloadable sewing pattern, or you can buy a Pipit Set Sewing Kit complete with all you’ll need to sew from home. #isolationcreation and WFH combined!
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Deiji Studios
Buttery linen and pastel-hued cotton meets cool-girl-in-a-coffee-table-book aesthetic with the loungewear sets from Byron Bay label, Deiji Studios. Specialising in casualwear, bedding and accessories with a slow approach and undeniable timelessness, Deiji’s approach successfully blurs the line between clock-on and clock-off time.
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Atelier Etica
Join the comfort clique with the billowy silk creations by Atelia Etica. Created ethically in Cambodia using silk made at a social enterprise that provides employment to Cambodians who live with disabilities, these hand-loomed and hand-dyed silk robes are inspired by luxury travel (we can dream of better days!).
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Hara
Dreaming of the days when you can bask in a field of daisies making flower crowns and braiding your hair? HARA’s retro overtones and gentle-on-the-planet approach will take you there, even if your only escape from the house involves trips to take out the bins. Made ethically with organic bamboo (redefining the word soft) and dyed using only natural plant dyes, the pairing of the Yoko Top and the sweet seventies-inspired Frankie Flares is the epitome of business up top and party down the (bell) bottom.
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Reformation
If one of the most sustainable options behind being naked is wearing Reformation and you can stay in your PJs all day in cuties like these, then sign us up! The American brand makes no secret of their sustainability mission – from fabric sourcing to design process and more inclusive sizing – producing trend-inspired pieces that celebrate effortless femininity. All that’s left for you to do is pick from two relaxed styles (long or short), in a range of playful prints, and get busy living your best homebody life.
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Kowtow
New Zealand ethical powerhouse Kowtow is a master of blending casual comfort with an edge of refinement, so it’s little surprise that looking chic in pyjamas is all in a day’s work for the brand. They say sleepwear basics, we say whatever-the-heck-you-want wear – and the fact they’re made with 100% organic cotton and dyed with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) approved inks and dyes is, frankly, the sustainable cherry on top.
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Ettitude
With their tagline of “saving the world one sleep at a time”, Ettitude have been targeting those zzz’s since 2014 with their buttery-soft bedding range created from their own ‘CleanBamboo’ lyocell fabric, developed as a world first in partnership with a Shanghai University. Their classic-but-modern silky pyjama separates easily double as daywear, with button-up shirts that could pose as work attire for those ring-in video conferences (pants optional).
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Boody
Has the state of your wardrobe staples got you more down than your patchy Zoom connection? These loungewear basics by Australian brand Boody deserve a spot in your drawers. Cosy basic tees, snuggly knit wraps and tailored lounge pants, these softer-than-a-cloud organic bamboo essentials have ticks of approval from Oeko-Tex, EcoCert, FSC and PETA – and your couch.
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Vege Threads
Promote yourself to CEO of all things comfort with help from ECA-accredited, basics mainstay, Vege Threads. With a range of relaxed, pull-on pieces that are dressy enough for virtual happy hour on Friday afternoons, our picks include the organic cotton jersey Everyday Dungaree in the serious-but-make-it-fun shade of pine, or this effortless Organic Longsleeve Maxi dress in rust. Then, when it’s time for a post-work Zoom dance class, channel the best of 80s workout nostalgia in this unitard from Vege Thread’s stretchy sister brand, Organic Yoga Company.
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LazyBones
LazyBones is no stranger to a vintage-inspired pyjama set – or to the art of turning your house into a haven with their highly coveted homewares range – and their delightfully floral signature prints are archetypal of their style. Ethically-created in a GOTS-certified factory in India, their fair trade organic cotton ‘Relax’ separates come in sassy shorts, drawstring pants, slips and shirts in a classy-but-casual no-one-will-ever-know-they’re-pyjamas look.
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Dream States
Even before our new reality set in, Dream States’ romantic style defied categorisation, transcending the sleepwear label with ease. Consciously crafted in Melbourne (and surrounds) from a combination of deadstock and sustainable plant-based fabrics, the selection of pretty pastel pjs made from soft hemp are perfect for mixing and matching, no matter where you’re going.
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Smitten Merino
Family-owned favourites Smitten Merino are the transeasonal answer to your ethical loungewear question. The Tasmanian-made brand woos fans with beautiful non-mulesed merino and organic cotton clothing, recently adding a lovely short pyjama set made of superfine merino to their comfort-infused lineup. We heart the longer style winter PJ too, consisting of stretchy, soft leggings and a long-sleeved top – coziness, warmth and style all wrapped up in one wooly package!
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Dominique Healy
If lockdown looks this good, then sign us up. Levelling up your loungewear game is Dominique Healy with her stunning new made-in-Melbourne preorder pieces landing in early May. These ever-so-stylish slouchy jumpers and matching pants are fulfilling all of our ‘just something comfy I pulled on’ dreams.
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Fabrik
Fabrik has long been a champion of effortless dressing, but the slow fashion brand’s sleepwear certainly ups the ante on the wholesome country charm front. Ethically produced in Bali using botanical dyes and hand-printing techniques, the range boasts classic garments made from gingham cotton, crisp linen and bamboo satin – such as the Peony pyjama set and a masquerading-as-daywear nightdress – which will slot right into your WFH wardrobe.
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NICO
Brisbane-based intimates label NICO recently plunged into the loungewear pool with a soon-to-be-released capsule collection. Adding to the brand’s trademark aesthetic, the new styles feature a range of luxury basics such as turtlenecks, high-waisted pants and figure-hugging skirts in two striking new colours – peach and cactus – and some amazing tie-dye detail. Produced ethically in India by a team of skilled artisans using organic fabrics and plant dyes, the styles are slated to drop at the beginning of May, so add your name to the waiting list (by signing up to their enewsletter) to be first in (the socially-distanced) line.
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Cats Pyjamas Sleepwear
Transport yourself to a tropical poolside paradise (in the sartorial sense, at least) thanks to the dreamy holiday vibes of Cats Pyjama’s indulgent Palm Beach Set – made in the ACT from loose-fitting, oh-so flattering cotton and linen. Or if vintage florals are more your vibe, the label’s Liberty of London range – created using fabric from the esteemed purveyors of fine luxury fabrics, and featuring classic pyjama sets, camisoles and robes – is sure to set your botanical-loving heart aflutter.
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Len.ok Linen
Be still, our size-inclusive-loving hearts: you had us at XXXL. Handmade in Minsk, Belarus, from organic Oeko-Tex Certified, stonewashed linen, the Len.ok pyjama range features all the hallmarks of a WFH/outside appropriate outfit. Bloomer pants, oversized tops, wide-legged culottes and billowy linen ruffles (and seriously, that ‘mommy and me’ matching set – too cute!) – these custom-made, swoon-worthy sets will take you from the bedroom to the boardroom to the classroom and beyond (same room, we know…).
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