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- As Wall Street workers return to the office, they're adopting new dress codes.
- Stretchier, comfier clothes are more popular in the wake of the pandemic.
- Lululemon's ABC pants and Untuckit's shirts in particular are gaining popularity.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The famous Wall Street dress code may be a thing of the past.
As workers begin to return to offices in New York City – urged by CEOs like JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon – they're feeling less eager to put on the suits and high heels they ditched during the pandemic, according to The New York Times' Lananh Nguyen and Melodie Jeng.
In their place are jeans, sneakers, and other casual-wear that would have been heavily frowned upon in the before-times.
"The days of people having to wear the uniform of a coat, tie, and suit are over," John Florsheim, an executive at the legacy dress shoe maker, told The Times. "It's going to continue to get more comfortable and casual, but people are still going to want to look nice."
Read more: Sick of working from home? These companies are reinventing work for a post-office world.
In the wake of the pandemic, Wall Street professionals are turning to two brands known for their presentable, yet comfortable, apparel: Lululemon and Untuckit.
According to The Times, Lululemon's ABC pant - which stands for "Anti-Ball Crushing" - has become popular among men on Wall Street. The pants, which retail for $128 and come in a wide array of colors, fabrics, and styles, are made from stretchy recycled polyester that dries quickly and is resistant to wrinkles.
At Untuckit, which makes button-down shirts that don't need to be tucked in, sales spiked after vaccines became widely available in April and May, according to The Times. The company's New York stores are seeing a surge in business as professionals seek out comfortable, breathable shirts that don't wrinkle.
These trends echo what apparel industry experts told Insider's Samantha Stokes earlier this year. Lisa Greenwald, J. Crew's chief merchandising officer, told Insider that shoppers have begun buying "relaxed silhouettes" to wear to work, like linen dresses and pull-on pants.
Gina Mignona, the cofounder of bespoke clothing company Bond & Bari, told Insider that after a year of none of her clients requiring work clothes, they started calling again around April 2021 - with one major difference from before: "Everyone wants something stretchy," she told Insider.