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Office-Wear Influencers Like McLaurine Pinover Clock In Twice

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Office-Wear Influencers Like McLaurine Pinover Clock In Twice

As soon as he arrives to his office, just before 8 a.m. each day, Xander Maddox makes his way to the kitchen and lounge area, where large windows drench the space with ample natural lighting.

Usually his colleagues aren’t yet in at that hour, so he makes himself a cup of coffee and positions his phone in front of the window with the camera on and facing him. Then he hits record and steps back to capture the day’s outfit:

A black leather jacket.

A bright blue sweater from COS, Margiela loafers and two cups of Raisin Bran for breakfast.

A white T-shirt, gray pants and cherry red Nike Air Rifts, which he described as “a calm office fit.”

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The whole process takes about five minutes. Then he has to upload.

“I try to do the same routine every day just to make it cohesive,” he said in a phone interview.

Mr. Maddox, a 31-year-old executive assistant at a finance company in Jersey City, N.J., isn’t doing this as part of his day job, but for his side hustle as a fashion content creator on TikTok, where hundreds find inspiration in the looks he put together.

Fashion influencing is a billion-dollar business, by some estimates, and many creators aspire to make it their full-time job. But for office-style influencers, their side hustle depends on their main hustle. They’re working at — and showcasing — their style at their real-life offices: law firms, tech companies, call centers, advertising agencies. Several times a week, they discreetly find the perfect spot in their break rooms or restrooms to record their ensembles for the internet.

After all, where else are you supposed to shoot #professionalfashion, #officeootd and #workfashioninspo videos but at an actual office?

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In conversations with around half a dozen office-wear influencers in recent days, one thing was clear: You do have to time it right.

And posting your style at the office can backfire. Last week, McLaurine Pinover, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, came under fire after CNN reported on her workplace-style influencer videos, filmed in her office and posted on Instagram as her agency oversaw the layoffs of thousands of federal workers as part of an order by the Trump administration. She deleted her Instagram account, @getdressedwithmc, soon after the news outlet reached out to her.

“There’s a lot of emotions around the government and the state of the world we’re in right now, so I think you got to read the room,” Mr. Maddox said of Ms. Pinover’s case. “If you are in a highly visible job and you’re doing something that seems to be insensitive to the masses, then you’ve got to be able to have that common sense.”

As someone who is 5-foot-10 and broadly built, Mr. Maddox said he had to be meticulous with his shopping, prioritizing pants and shirts that would fit his frame. He would describe his style as “cozy, but elevated” and aims to inspire men, especially those with his body type, who want to express personal style in the office. Many of his colleagues follow him online with enthusiasm and support, he said. They haven’t spoken about it directly, but Mr. Maddox said he was also pretty confident that is boss was OK with it.

“As long as it doesn’t affect work,” he said, adding that his boss has a large social media presence as the chief executive of the company.

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Five years after the coronavirus pandemic sent many employees home to log into meetings in loungewear, including new college graduates who began their professional careers on their couches, many are still unsure how to show up for work.

“After Covid, people didn’t know how to dress, because I definitely had no clue,” said Whitney Grett, a 27-year-old I.T. account manager for a staffing company in Houston. “Everyone was wearing sweatshirts the first year.”

Ms. Grett joined her current workplace remotely in early 2021, several months after she graduated from college. She was excited when it was time to return to the office and she could experiment with different ways to dress for work. Last summer, after receiving compliments from her co-workers about her outfits, she decided to start sharing her work looks on TikTok.

“It got to the point where I was like, I guess I’ll just start posting these because it just gave me another hobby to do, honestly,” she said.

In her videos, which are seen by thousands, Ms. Grett poses in front of the glass doors of an unoccupied conference room to capture her look for the day. She and a work friend usually meet up with a tripod around lunchtime to avoid foot traffic. Sometimes they have to wait until the end of the day to shoot if the office is really busy.

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“I get some comments from people being like, ‘Oh, I could never do that,’ and I’m like, ‘I understand,’” she said. “I have a very supportive team — I’m not the first one who posted videos from the office before. I think they’re happy that I keep it to a little room.”

According to Jaehee Jung, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, office-wear content is popular today because younger audiences, especially ones that started their careers in a hybrid work world, are desperate for guidance on a very basic question: How should I dress for work?

“You’re not at home, so you do have to think about what are some of the rules that could be considered in the working environment,” she said. “Because depending on the profession and industry, you do have some different etiquettes, different tolerance of formality.”

According to Professor Jung, shooting office-wear content in an actual office offers influencers one major advantage: being automatically perceived as an expert. That generic conference room décor proves that someone hired them to work in an office, so they must know something about getting dressed for one.

Vianiris Abreu, a 30-year-old human-resources manager at an advertising agency in Manhattan, said one of the reasons she began posting office wear on TikTok in 2021, when she returned to an office, was that she had missed dressing up for work. Working in a somewhat nontraditional environment allowed her to be more innovative in her dress than many would expect.

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“Perhaps what I wear is not something that all H.R. people wear, but it’s definitely normal being that I work in the advertising industry,” she said, adding that she doesn’t divulge too much online about where she works and what she does.

Ms. Abreu said that shooting in the office — she usually spends about 15 minutes a day recording what will become a seven-second clip on TikTok — comes off as more authentic.

“I think for me, the aesthetic of the office is very pretty, and the engagement seems to be higher,” she said. “But I also think it just shows me in the office, which is the whole point of it.”

In many cases, these side gigs can pay off. Last year, Mr. Maddox, the executive assistant in Jersey City, said earned around $2,000 in sponsorships, payments and merchandise from brands. He describes this extra income as “play money.” But he is selective about the work.

“I don’t take every opportunity that comes in because it’s not my full-time job,” he said.

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‘Wait Wait’ for March 28, 2026: Live in Savannah with D.W. Moffett

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‘Wait Wait’ for March 28, 2026: Live in Savannah with D.W. Moffett

Actor, director, chair of film and television department, SCAD, D.W. Moffett speaks on stage during Rising Star Award presentation to “Star” on Day Three of aTVfest 2017 presented by SCAD at SCADshow on February 4, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for SCAD)

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This week’s show was recorded in Savannah with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest D.W. Moffett and panelists Adam Burke, Shantira Jackson, and Joyelle Nicole Johnson. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.

Who’s Alzo This Time

Flotus and Robotus, Ineligible Bachelorette, and a Change of Season

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Panel Questions

Fold-out Coach

Bluff The Listener

Our panelists tell us three stories about a hot new dining destination, only one of which is true.

Not My Job: Actor, director, and chair of the film and television department at SCAD, D.W. Moffett, answers our questions about melees

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Actor D.W. Moffett, part of the cast of One Battle After Another, plays a game called “Lots of Battles All At Once.”

Panel Questions

Hairless Whisper, Signing Off

Limericks

Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: Buns on the Runway, Constructive Play, Getting Work Done at Work.

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Lightning Fill In The Blank

All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else

Predictions

Our panelists predict, after the Bachelorette, what’ll be the next TV season to get cancelled at the last minute.

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation. Here’s what can help

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Gen Z is the loneliest generation. Here’s what can help

We are more connected than ever before, with our high-speed internet, pinging smartphones and ever-updating apps and social media networks. (iPhone 17e, anyone?!)

And yet, we are also lonelier than ever, especially younger generations who are even more likely to be on their digital devices for longer periods of time. Gen Z, it turns out, is the loneliest generation of them all, according to the 2025 Cigna Group report “Loneliness in America.” It found that 67% of Gen Zers reported being lonely (65% of millennials, who also grew up with digital technologies, did as well, as compared with 60% of Gen Xers and 44% of baby boomers).

What’s more, about 1 in 5 teenagers ages 13 to 17 experiences high rates of loneliness, according to a World Health Organization’s 2025 report; and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40% of high school students reported “persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness” in 2023.

Dr. Shairi Turner, chief health officer of the nonprofit Crisis Text Line — a free, 24-7 text-based mental health service — calls it “a public health crisis” that is especially affecting Gen Z for a reason.

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“They’re 14-29 now, so they’re digital natives, very comfortable with being connected to people by phone,” she says. “But that connection isn’t a replacement for human connection. It gives the illusion of being close, but without real interpersonal interaction.”

That’s compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased single parent households, she says.

“This is a generation that lived through the pandemic during some key developmental years — some of their formative years may have been in lockdown, using smartphones, [instead of] developing critical social skills,” Turner says. “And Gen Z is more likely to have been raised in single-parent households, and may have come home to an empty home where one parent was working or they were going back and forth between homes.”

So where to go from here? Note the warning signs, Turner says.

“Is your child spending more time with their phone than their friends?” she says. “Are your kids coming home upset about interactions at school or with their friends more times than not? And: Are they avoiding in-person extracurricular activities like sports or clubs? These are all things to look out for.”

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Here are Turner’s top three tips for helping your Gen Z kids cope with loneliness.

Be present and engage in active listening

“Give them the space to share their feelings. Just be present and listen to your child — don’t put words in their mouth. Create that safe space so they know they can share with you that they’re feeling lonely. Ask open-ended questions. Instead of saying ‘did you have a good day?’ where they can say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ ask a question that elicits more: ‘What did you do today that you enjoyed?’ Or: ‘Is there anything you found challenging today?’ Brainstorm with them options or ways that they could have handled a situation differently; or do some role playing with your child, so they feel prepared the next day.”

Plan outdoor social activities

“That can be with your child or with your child and their friends. Connect in a low-pressure way: ‘Let’s bring some kids over and go to the park.’ Plan something around a shared interest, like soccer or baseball, where they’re enjoying the sport together and they don’t have to sit and talk in a high-pressure way — they can just have fun. Our report on young people in crisis shows that outdoor third space areas — parks and recreation — help young people cope with their mental health. These same young people identified sports and opportunities for social connection as helpful to their mental health and well-being.”

Explore mental health resources

“Know what the school resources are, what’s available, before your child needs mental health support. Are there counselors, school psychologists? What’s the bevy of resources in school or in the community if my child is in need — therapists, local support groups? Our Crisis Text Line is great because it’s on the phone and most young people are comfortable with that and they can text our volunteers and it’s confidential. It’s about being prepared and aware.”

Ultimately, Turner says, young people are resilient — their brains are still growing — and intentional parenting goes a long way toward offsetting the effects of digital devices and social media.

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“It’s never too late to encourage — and model — positive interpersonal skills,” Turner says. “Meaning: human to human connection.”

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‘The Madison’ adds to Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone’ legacy — ‘Marshals’ not so much

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‘The Madison’ adds to Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone’ legacy — ‘Marshals’ not so much

Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Stacy Clyburn in The Madison.

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Since introducing his Yellowstone TV series, starring Kevin Costner, in 2018, Taylor Sheridan has made a very successful career of building dramas around veteran stars. Now Sheridan has a new official sequel series — Marshals, on CBS — and a seemingly unrelated series, The Madison, that I suspect will connect to the Yellowstone storyline before too long.

The Madison is a six-episode drama, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell. It streamed half its episodes when it premiered March 14 on Paramount+ and has been renewed already for a second season. All six episodes were written by Sheridan and directed by Christina Alexandra Voros, who directed many episodes of both Yellowstone and its prequel, 1883.

The Madison is set up as a sort of dramatic Green Acres, and presents Pfeiffer and Russell as Stacy and Preston, wealthy New Yorkers who are close to approaching their 50th wedding anniversary. They have daughters, and granddaughters, and Preston also has a cabin and some land he shares with his brother Paul in Madison River Valley, Mont. He goes there when he can to relax; when he does, his wife Stacy stays behind in the city.

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Before long, Stacy decides to take her daughters and granddaughters to see the Montana cabins for the first time. The whole family is there: One older divorced daughter with two girls — a teenager, and one in grade school — and the younger married daughter, who has just been mugged.

The Madison, like Yellowstone and all its prequel series, is all about legacy and responsibility and relationships — but focusing on the women instead of the men. Some scenes and concepts in The Madison are absurd in the extreme, like the idea that the streets of New York are more dangerous than any wild west. But there also are moments of true beauty and calm — and the valley setting itself, I suspect, eventually will link to previous series in the Yellowstone canon.

Fly-fishing figures prominently here, as it does in most other Yellowstone-connected series — but Sheridan and The Madison, with Russell fully enjoying the peace of the river, nails the emotion. The new CBS sequel, Marshals, which also has a male-bonding fly-fishing scene, does not.

Luke Grimes as plays Kayce Dutton in Marshals.

Luke Grimes plays Kayce Dutton in Marshals.

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Marshals, which premiered March 1 on CBS, stars Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, one of the sons of Costner’s John Dutton from Yellowstone. Sheridan co-wrote the first episodes, but Marshals isn’t nearly as good a series as The Madison. It finds a way to get Kayce hired as a U.S. Marshal, but mostly to give the character a chance to run around with more advanced weaponry. And his relationship with his son Tate, played by Brecken Merrill from Yellowstone, is explored a lot less credibly, and dramatically, than the maternal dynamics on The Madison.

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Marshals adds to the Yellowstone legacy, with its allusions to long-established storylines like a seventh-generation land surrender, and modern clashes that echo deadly standoffs of old. But it’s The Madison, like 1883 and 1923, that brings the best out of Sheridan. And bringing back veteran movie stars Pfeiffer and Russell? Even in a modern Western, that’s a real Bonanza.

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