UAE: How To Master Power Dressing In 2025 Using Apple TV+'S 'Severance‭' For Inspiration

Eid celebrations are over‭, ‬school holidays are winding down and regular office hours have resumed‭. ‬The UAE is back to business‭. ‬And‭, ‬for the first time since Covid took a wrecking ball to office dress codes‭, ‬workwear is at the top of the fashion agenda‭, ‬thanks to the most-watched TV show in the history of Apple TV‭+, ‬the sci-fi dystopian thriller‭ ‬Severance‭. ‬

If you've not seen it‭ (‬and you really must‭), ‬the overall premise is an exploration of what happens if our work lives are entirely separated from our home lives‭. ‬The protagonists undergo a procedure that separates their conscious into Innies‭ (‬corporate drudges tasked with‭ ‬“work that is mysterious and important”‭ ‬for Lumon Industries‭, ‬their employer and inventor of the severing concept‭) ‬and Outies‭, ‬the side of the self that gets to live life‭, ‬blissfully ignorant of office politics‭, ‬and immune from Sunday night dread as the work week looms‭. ‬To be‭ ‬'severed'‭ ‬promises the ideal work:life balance‭.‬

As you'd expect from Apple‭, ‬the production design is impeccable‭, ‬a masterclass in storytelling through the use of colour‭. ‬On the severed floor at Lumon‭, ‬the protagonists of the Macrodata Refinement team are shown via a palette of almost exclusively blue and green‭. ‬Not since the 1988‭ ‬movie‭ ‬Working Girl‭ ‬made Melanie Griffiths'‭ ‬boxy suits and bouffant hair‭ ‬de rigueur‭, ‬has office style been so aesthetically all-in‭. ‬But while‭ ‬Working Girl‭ ‬was about power dressing‭, ‬Severance's corporate automatons are powerless‭. ‬Each day they are dressed by their Outie‭, ‬consciousness switching to their innie persona in the Lumon Industries elevator‭. ‬“She dresses me in the morning‭, ‬like I'm a baby‭,‬”‭ ‬bemoans Helly R‭, ‬played by Britt Lower‭, ‬of her Outie's control over what she finds herself wearing each day‭. ‬While the conflict between Helly R's inside and outside selves is central to the show's narrative thread‭ (‬no spoilers here‭), ‬were I in her nude‭, ‬block-heeled shoes‭, ‬I'd be less quick to condemn my Outie's fashion choices‭. ‬Like Apple's iconic founder‭, ‬the late Steve Jobs‭, ‬who wore an Issey Miyake black turtleneck‭, ‬Levi's 501‭ ‬blue jeans and New Balance trainers from the 1990s until his death in 2011‭, ‬there is something to be said for a workwear wardrobe that is reliable‭, ‬repeatable and rudimentary‭, ‬as Lumon Industries'‭ ‬verbose Mr Milchick may or may not have said‭. ‬

As‭ ‬Severance's central female character‭, ‬and the standard bearer for the show's style credentials‭, ‬Helly R's office wear‭, ‬as chosen by her Outie Helena‭, ‬revolves around some form of blue A-line pencil skirt‭, ‬three-quarter length sleeve‭ ‬knit top‭, ‬and those nude heels‭ (‬specifically French footwear brand Repetto's Marlow style‭; ‬designed for dancers‭, ‬durable for eight hours at your desk‭, ‬whether your job entails running down Lumon Industries'‭ ‬endless sterile corridors or not‭). ‬There are no prints‭, ‬no extraneous detail‭, ‬and very little variation in silhouette‭, ‬bar the‭ ‬occasional shift dress‭. ‬Build a wardrobe of mix-and-match block-coloured basics‭, ‬and you too can devote as little time as Helly‭ ‬R does to thinking about what to wear for work‭ (‬even if her lack of sartorial say-so is down to bioengineering rather than free‭ ‬will‭). ‬The trick is to find a palette you are comfortable working within‭, ‬pun entirely intended‭. ‬For me‭, ‬it would be a spectrum‭ ‬of beige‭, ‬from ivory to camel‭ (‬do not attempt this if you have children under the age of five‭). ‬Then‭, ‬harness the discipline to‭ ‬shop only within those shades‭, ‬sticking to simple shapes that suit your body type‭. ‬Thus‭, ‬in true Lumon style‭, ‬freeing your creativity and frivolity to run wild outside of office hours‭. ‬Just not too wild‭. ‬Where Helly R's wardrobe is a lesson in restraint‭, ‬it's wise to be discerning in your choice of televisual style cues‭. ‬I once got carried away watching a‭ ‬Love Is Blind‭ ‬reunion show‭, ‬ending up down a Google rabbit hole and impulsively ordering a floor-length rhinestone sheath dress from partywear brand Babyboo‭. ‬

It looked fantastic on screen‭, ‬but‭, ‬being neither a reality TV star‭, ‬nor a highschooler with an upcoming prom‭, ‬it has yet to emerge from its box‭. ‬In a world of unlimited style choices‭, ‬there's something to be said for limiting your shopping self's freedom of thought‭ (‬Season 3‭ ‬of‭ ‬Severance‭?). ‬So‭, ‬the next time a new series of‭ ‬Selling Sunset‭ ‬tempts me with the prospect of 150mm heels‭, ‬I'll stream some discordant jazz and hit up Clarks for a Helly/Helena-approved court shoe instead‭.‬

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