A week in work outfits with E Nolan’s Founder and Creative Director, Emily Nolan

Satin ballet flats, Carhartt and button-ups.

Working in a creative role, it can be difficult to know how to dress for the day. Instead of having a set uniform of crisp white shirts and tailored black pants (as much as I love both), an ever-changing schedule means every morning requires a set of questions. Am I running around, or just sitting at my desk? Do I need to dress specifically for a project? And most importantly, will I be in the background of someone’s TikTok?

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For E Nolan’s Founder and Creative Director, Emily Nolan, “getting dressed is a very intimate and tender ritual”. Fascinated by the psychological phenomenon of enclothed cognition, Emily thinks of clothing as her love language. “I always mix high and low, masc and femme, and I prefer to be thrown together rather than put together,” she tells us. Below, she shares a week of work outfits. 

Monday

Monday is my day off (I’m a sleeper-inner), and the day I try to do my life admin. [I] still haven’t gotten the knack of washing, drying and putting away, [so] I have little doom piles of clean clothes, dirty clothes or ‘to-dry-clean-clothes’ that actually live in washing baskets. Every six to eight weeks, the admin is the fringe. 

Mim at Have a Nice Day hair is the kind of hair soulmate you come across and can’t let go of. When it comes to house admin, one of my girlfriends Grace gives the advice to always put on shoes when you’re cleaning and doing laundry, so your body doesn’t default to thinking you’re relaxing at home. Admittedly, it’s fucking ridiculous to clean the house in satin ballet flats, but c’est la vie, dress for the life you think you have.

Tuesday

First working day of the week. I’m a shit sleeper and we start with a team meeting and I want to feel comfortable enough to pretend. I wear shirts as an outer layer a lot, either with a T-shirt or a cotton vest. I brought this roll of red stripe cotton poplin home with me from Italy, and it went on the plane as oversized baggage – it was like cosplay pretending I was a skier. [E Nolan] has since turned it into the best coordinating oversized shirt (think of Mr Picasso painting away). 

Wednesday

Happy hump day. Owen Wilson ran me over with his bike on Portobello Road just after I bought this vintage shearling jacket. It was equally painful as it was ridiculous – a good dinner party story. Made-to-measure trousers, chunky melange socks and Wales Bonner sneakers.

Thursday

This particular Thursday I had to be fancy – lipstick on, Aslan mane out. Charcoal wool flannel suit, T-shirt and freaky deeky Asics runners. 

Friday

Vintage car T-shirt – Etsy has the best. [E Nolan] tailored shirt in cornflower blue and made-to-measure white cotton linen trousers. [I] then changed into a striped long-sleeve from Carhartt that reminds me of a boy I kissed two years ago, and the jacket to wear out to dinner with friends. Clothes carry memories, and sometimes it’s nice to have them with you.

For more of Emily’s looks, follow her on Instagram here.