If you’ve been on TikTok in the past few months, then you’re sure to have heard about the “Office Siren” trend. The Office Siren is an emerging aesthetic, romanticizing the corporate lifestyle and women in the workplace. This style centers around mini-skirts, pencil skirts, button-up blouses, tight-fitting clothing and pointy heels; a twist on the everyday corporate uniform.
While this trend started as a fun way to glamorize the working lifestyle, it has quickly turned controversial, with people losing their jobs when they lean too far into this style. This raises the question: is the Office Siren trend empowering or insulting?
This trend is a throwback to early 90’s workwear; emulating iconic movies such as Anne Hathaway in David Frankel’s “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006) and Kate Hudson in Donald Petrie’s “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” (2003). This follows an adult return to girlhood and whimsical ‘coquette’ styles. Feeding off of this female empowerment and increased confidence in fashion and personal style, women began to use this formula to romanticize their everyday lives — including the workplace.
Corporate women are making their everyday uniform a trend, going from sensible to sexy. The TikToks and Instagram posts that promote the Office Siren trend show how corporatewear can transform into nightwear, with women going straight from work to an evening out with friends. If we take one thing from this movement, it’s that the trend of business casual in nightlife has grown; girls emulate a corporate look for a night out whether that’s their workday outfit or not.
For people transitioning from fast fashion-centered “going-out” looks from their college years to a more sophisticated and versatile wardrobe in their early 20s, the Office Siren aesthetic is perfect. Simply cultivate a wardrobe full of neutral tones, corporate-appropriate skirts and button-up blouses — at the end of the day you can unbutton the top buttons, add some accessories and hit the town with style.
Many people have fun and get creative with this trend, seeing how their closet staples can transform to be professional and casual. There are also people, however, that take the office siren trend to be the definition of what a corporate woman should wear.
Someone watching their favorite influencer follow this trend, dressing sensually for events and calling it workwear, may be influenced to dress in the same way for their first corporate job post-undergrad. Most people can acknowledge that while the office siren trend can be fun and empowering, it may not always be appropriate for the workplace.
The office siren trend comes from the idea of sirens in Greek mythology, the creatures which seduced sailors, luring them to their deaths.
In mythology, sirens are evil, sexual beings; part monster, part woman. Naming this trend after such reinforces the stereotype and cultural norm of sexualizing women in the workplace. This name further villainizes women when they take back control of their sexuality, telling them they’re wrong or rebellious when they do so.
While dressing according to the Office Siren trend can act as a form of rebellion, the trend as a whole, with its focus on female empowerment, is not rebellious in nature; it’s just the next step for women to take back control of their bodies and their style.
