Updated 14:38 12 Mar 2026 GMTPublished 18:40 18 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Don’t Trust TikTok To Dress You For Work, Try These Office Outfit Formulas Instead

These "office siren" looks aren't exactly for the office.

Syeda Khaula Saad

I’d be a hypocrite if I told you not to get advice from TikTok. I use TikTok for helpful fitness tips, delicious recipes, safe travel destinations, and occasionally a cute outfit idea for when I’m trying to reinvent my style (basically every six months). But you know what I would quite literally never go to TikTok for advice on? What I should wear to work.

TikTok is a place full of creative ideas from people who have absolutely no grip on reality. And part of this recent delusion has been an influx of “office siren outfits” where people on TikTok are showing fits they’d wear to work to appear more appealing. If you’ve read (or pretended to read) The Odyssey in school, you’d know that sirens are these mythical creatures that are said to be so alluring (in their looks as well as the song they sing) that they can tempt sailors to their death. Basically, they’re so hot that men would do anything for them. And while I personally have a mission to be as sexy as possible wherever I go, “the workplace” and “sex appeal” don’t exactly go hand-in-hand.

Now there’s a lot of layers to this conversation, because it’s a known fact that often women who are curvier (aka, have a lot of ass or titties) are said to be perceived as more “sexual” than women with more petite builds in the exact same outfit. And more often than not, women of color are policed for what they wear in the workplace. But we’re not talking about that here. We’re talking about people on TikTok telling you that having your midriff out or a micro mini skirt in the office of your corporate job are good ideas. In an ideal world, I could be butt-ass naked and still be trusted to do well at the job I do. But instead of lying around eating fruits all day, society has decided to create things liked LinkedIn and professionalism.

And while we all have different jobs that require different dress codes, there are certain outfit rules that apply to most work settings. (Like anything from your above your nipple to somewhere in between your thighs should probably be covered by some sort of cloth.) Another good rule of thumb is that if it looks like you’re doing a roleplay as someone who has a corporate job rather than someone who actually has a corporate job, it might be time to go back to the drawing board.

I am the last person to tell anyone to dress more modestly, but when it comes to the workplace, it’s probably best not to trust 99% of what TikTok is telling you to wear. You can 100% wear something that makes you feel sexy and cute at work, but just make sure it’s not something that’ll land you in a meeting with HR. Below are some tried and true combos that won’t lead you astray this summer.

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