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“Office siren.” “Corpcore.” “Cassette futurism.” For the past couple years, fashion has been having a love affair with the aesthetics of the office. From Sandy Liang & Thom Browne’s uniform chic to the resurgence of officewear in the closets of every it girl, polished minimalism with a playful corporate twist has dominated the hottest brands. One of the first times I noticed this developing trend was while watching Severance, Apple TV’s surrealist series that takes place in and around the corporate offices of the shadowy Lumen Industries.
What do Lumen’s workers do exactly? We have no clue, and they don’t either. To be honest, I was so distracted by the show’s amazing corpcore costuming that I had to rewind several times to follow its twisty plot during season 1. Severance’s genius premise is that Lumen workers’ consciousnesses have been divided in two, split between a version of themselves that exists outside the office and a version of themselves at work. Costuming is a huge part of how we distinguish between the characters’ “innie” and “outie” lives, contrasting the polished clean lines of severed life inside the office with the messiness of the outside world. Even though life inside the Lumen offices is a Kafka-esque nightmare for the “innies,” their clothes are an office siren’s dream, offering style inspo we never saw coming.
With the much-anticipated Season 2 finally dropping, we took a look at how Severance manages to turn a bland office park into a 90s-chic corpcore playground. Read on for our official Severance style guide:
Aside from being a mini-bangs icon, Helly (Britt Lower) is always impeccably dressed, adding pops of color and sleek, minimalist silhouettes to contrast with the boxy suits of her male coworkers. Everlane is our go-to for well structured, versatile basics. Their crew neck shirts are the perfect mix of comfy and form fitting, like Helly’s office fits. If you want to make your corpcore look feel younger, a hemline slightly more daring than most old school office wear like Everlane’s The Dream Mini Skirt will do the trick.
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Aside from being a mini-bangs icon, Helly (Britt Lower) is always impeccably dressed, adding pops of color and sleek, minimalist silhouettes to contrast with the boxy suits of her male coworkers. Everlane is our go-to for well structured, versatile basics. Their crew neck shirts are the perfect mix of comfy and form fitting, like Helly’s office fits. If you want to make your corpcore look feel younger, a hemline slightly more daring than most old school office wear like Everlane’s The Dream Mini Skirt will do the trick.
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Helly’s style inside the office is definitely more cheerful than her “outie” all-black corporate power dressing. Iconic French brand Agnes B makes some of our favorite black blazers and light coats, perfect for scheming inside your family’s corporate HQ (or, you know, going out for dinner). Their perfectly tailored Spencer jacket is on mega sale right now – grab one while you can.
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If we had to dress for an eternal life inside an office, we’d reach for this slim fit J. Crew suit. Mark (Andrew Scott) wears a slimmer silhouette than many of his coworkers, which is both flattering and contrasts with his “outie”’s bulky outerwear. We love the Ludlow’s sleek lines and double vent design. If you’re going to wear a suit all day, it may as well be made of J. Crew’s signature premium Italian wool fabric.
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Compared with Mark’s sleek in-office looks, his “outie”’s style is more relaxed. Buck Mason makes some of our all time favorite shirts, and this double pocket chambray button down is both comfortable and dresses up a simple outfit.
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Patricia Arquette’s Harmony Cobel is one of our favorite unhinged villainesses, and we love how her polished corporate power dressing clashes with the moments when she shows her true (deranged) colors. Quince’s silk items are unbelievably well priced for their quality. We love this mock neck blouse as a dupe for Ms. Cobel’s signature buttoned-up style. Pair that with one of Hey Harper’s gorgeous chunky gold bracelets, and you’ve got Floor Manager potential.
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Quince’s corpcore gems don’t just stop with silk. This high quality crew neck cashmere sweater is a perfect dupe for the enigmatic Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman)’s gorgeous charcoal sweater. Ms. Casey is quietly the best-dressed of the Lumen employees, serving Miu Miu it girl on the office floor. Quince’s perfectly cut knitwear lets you get the look and feel of a luxury brand sweater for a tenth of the price.
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Ok, we take it back. Lumen’s best-dressed is obviously Mr. Seth Milchik (Tramell Tillman). From his signature turtleneck sweaters to the sick leather jacket he wears while pumping the “outies” for intel, Milchik is always extremely suave. Ralph Lauren is a go-to for a classic chunky turtleneck knit for good reason – their materials are top notch and their knitwear lasts forever. We love this cable knit sweater’s wool-cashmere blend for its warmth and surprisingly slim fit.
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Milchik isn’t afraid of a little color, and you shouldn’t be either. If you prefer a splash of color and a more streamlined texture, this royal blue Hawes and Curtis roll neck sweater is our pick.
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And, of course, no Milchik style guide would be complete without mentioning his amazing leather jacket from Season 2 Episode 2. If you feel like splurging on a timeless leather jacket that will last forever, we love the authentic feel of this biker jacket from The Real McCoy’s.
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Severance, you have our full attention. If you’re as gripped as we are by Apple’s hit show, shop our Severance style guide and design the corpcore look of your dreams.
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