When you work from home, every day is (very) casual Friday

(CNN)There is no dress code in the home office. How disheveled do you look when you're working from home? Do you stay in your pajamas all day? Do you even shower?

Or are you one of those people who insists on looking your office-best even while pecking away at your keyboard at home? As officials try to control the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of white collar workers — normally bound by dress codes and expectations in the office — are trading business trousers for sweat pants, and stiff blazers for that hoodie they would only ever allow their family, roommates or dog to see. For some work-from-homers, comfort-first attire is a source of shame — a symptom of broken routines and under-motivation. For others, it's ultimate liberation.

After all, fashion in general has become increasingly casual over the past few decades. These days, activewear or "athleisure" is customary weekend wear, even outside the gym. Plus, formal work environments have become the exception, not the rule — a trend often blamed on millennials in tech startups. Even notoriously buttoned-up Goldman Sachs is adopting a more 'flexible' dress code.

But even in a casual work environment, there's a limit. When going to a job interview, 65% of Americans feel it's important to wear a suit, regardless of how formal the company's dress code is, according to a 2019 survey by Ranstad US. In the same survey, 50% of respondents say they wear business attire from the waist up and casual clothing from the waist down when they have a video interview.

“So, given the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, is it unhealthy for people working from home to just wake up and stumble over to the computer screen in their pajamas?”

"If that works for us and we can be in that place to put our energy into work the way it needs to be — to do the job — there's nothing wrong with that at all," Atlanta-based psychologist Erik Fisher told CNN. On the other hand, the CDC has told people it's important to keep up their routines to ease anxiety during the pandemic. "It's all about mental preparation," Fisher said. "If this helps somebody to mentally prepare and to go through that habit (of getting dressed), and that's the habit and the structure they've created for themselves, don't change that.