A week in work outfits with the Founder and Director of Third Form, Merryn Kelly

“I like to dress relaxed and comfortable, but always with tailored pieces mixed in.”

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?

This week, the Founder and Director of Third Form, Merryn Kelly, takes us through a week in her busy life. Being a new mum and the owner of an independent Australian label, Merryn’s schedule is a mix of meetings, design days, business performance reporting and new mum duties.

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On this particular week, Merryn and the Third Form team were deep in preparation for Australian Fashion Week (AFW). With a penchant for interesting layers and tailored basics, Merryn’s wardrobe uniquely balances style, comfort and function. Here, she takes us through five days in her work wardrobe.

Monday

Monday is meeting day for me, we have our round table meeting and get things set in place for the week. With four weeks until our debut show at Australian Fashion Week, I spent most of the day working with marketing building out content ideas and longer-term strategy.

Often I’ll pop out for meetings so I like to dress relaxed and comfortable, but always with tailored pieces mixed in. With the change of season, it’s trench [weather] for me. I love layering and playing with proportion, today I’m wearing the Frontier Trench Coat over the Push Pull Tee and Tie Up Tailored Trouser. This tee is my new go-to, it’s a super soft modal and has a more elevated feel than a cotton tee. Perfect for the office.

Tuesday

Tuesday is design day, where I try to spend most of my time working in the design room with my team, across anything from fittings and design direction to range reviews and what is inspiring us for future ranges. While we’re busy preparing for AFW, we are designing Autumn ’25 in the background. It’s a strong follow-on from Resort with an ongoing focus on premium fabrications and beautiful hand-drawn prints by my designer, Kate.

Today I’m wearing the Free Fall Shirt Dress over the Peer Through pants. I love this look, it’s so relaxed yet the fabrication and play on opacity elevates it. I’m also breastfeeding (pumping) in the office, so anything with easy access is a must for me.

Wednesday

Halfway through the week, my focus is on reflection and refinement, so I’m back into meetings with my focus on digital and the online store. I spend time with each team member weekly to run through their world. We go over business performance reporting and what’s coming up, and put our actions into place.

I’m bumping around from desk to desk so I’ve gone for comfort today, wearing wardrobe staples – a blazer is not far from reach at all times. I love the Interchange Relaxed Blazer and its warm chestnut hue, mixed with our neural tones of the Glimmer Knit LS Crew and Skipping Stone Maxi Skirt dressed down with Nike trainers.

Thursday

A fun day in the office today with model castings for our upcoming Resort shoot. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the pieces in final form and starting to see the collection come to life ahead of the show. The Resort collection is a shift for the label with a true focus on the craft and design and premium craftsmanship, so it’s incredibly exciting to start to see our hard efforts come to life.

I’ve gone for a… feminine look today and a button-down again to make life easy. The Unbound Knit Shirt and Skirt in Shell, are dreamy. I love the texture and the fine rib makes the pieces incredibly easy to wear. I’m out tonight for early evening dinner with friends, and black is my go-to.

I love soft tailoring, I feel feminine yet powerful and still relaxed. The Day Dreamer Kite Top has been a surprising go-to for me this season, I’ve also loved dressing it down with denim for day events or midweek date nights. Tonight I paired it with the Day Dreamer Trouser, which I’ve also been dressing down with slides and a tee.

Friday

Today is a work-from-home day for me as I’m trying to balance work and my new mum life. My daughter is ten months old but already, I love to involve her in my world and what I do, so today we’re off to do some retail, popping into stores for inspiration and a refresh. I pack her food and we have lunch out, somewhere relaxed and where we can watch the world go by. She’s a Gemini, so loves being social.

I’m wearing something a bit fun and again, playing with pattern and opacity. I’ve layered a vintage men’s stripe shirt over one of my favourite pieces from our newly launched winter collection, the Wayward Wrap Neck Maxi Dress. It’s stretchy and super soft, so can be worn all day and into the night.