I miss my pearls. And lipstick, because both look absolutely ridiculous with my new daily wardrobe: pajamas. While I am blessed to be able to work-from-home during this COVID-19 nightmare, the situation has wreaked havoc on my style. At first I made an effort to get dressed, put on makeup and jewelry, and fix my hair just like a normal workday because, Zoom. But… sleeping a few extra minutes started to feel really good. So did simply rolling out of bed and getting right to work (some days).

I started slacking. My husband is currently in another state, so it’s not like I have someone at home to impress. (Teenage daughters are rarely impressed with their mom, period.) The first to go was jewelry, simply because it felt silly to wear it with pajamas no matter how cute or classic it was. Then went the makeup. I told myself I was giving my skin a break. At least I still fixed my hair. But the morning my hair rebelled, I thought, shit*. And I left it alone.

That morning – no makeup, no hair, no jewelry – I had a Zoom call with colleagues. When my video came on, I proudly announced I had no makeup or styled hair (as if they couldn’t tell). No one said a thing. In fact, a couple other colleagues were sans makeup as well. Things that would never, ever happen out in the wild of the world.

I’ve come to realize that I kinda miss getting dressed for real, and doing my hair and makeup, and putting on jewelry. Emphasis on the word kinda. I don’t feel that way every day. Just as I at first allowed myself to have relaxed pajama days, I now allow myself dress-up days. However, I’m secretly wondering if I could start a trend of with pearls with pajamas…


*The Modern Belle curses, sometimes for emphasis and sometimes because nothing else will do. What can I say?

Bev is the author of the upcoming 10 Little Rules for the Modern Southern Belle. Sign up for our newsletter to see more posts from Bev and the rest of the 10 Little Rules authors.