My friend Kristen always says that the best part of freelancing full time is the pants-free dress code at her office. The same can be said for being a stay-home mom; some days, it just makes sense to keep your pajamas on. All day.

These days, though, more and more of us are looking for work, and unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any offices with pants-optional or pajama day attire policies. Which is a shame, because imagine how productive people would be if they just didn’t have to worry about pants!

Sadly, not going to happen.

Job hunting can be stressful (because omg! you have to put pants on!); scoring an interview is both cause for celebration and reason to panic. Because oh my god what are you going to wear???

Don’t panic. I’ve got you covered. Promise.

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Photo via Ann Taylor

Office dress codes can be tricky; while many workplaces have clearly articulated guidelines about what is and is not allowed (no flip flops, jeans on Friday only) there is often a bigger gray area around what’s really appropriate (suit? pants? dressy shorts?). In the corporate casual office, “appropriate” often depends more on what your job is than on any company-wide policy. A good rule of thumb is always to dress for the job you want, rather than the job you have. This means looking at what your supervisor and her peers are wearing to work and taking your cues from them. It can also mean finding a style mentor in your place of business, someone who can give you advice about what’s acceptable for certain functions or situations.

Of course, there are better and worse ways to approach this. Let’s look at an example of how not to handle the the what-to-wear-to-work dilemma.

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Photo via Nordstrom.com

Summer is coming, which means getting dressed for sweltering temperatures outside and freezing conference rooms inside. We all know that you need a cardigan for the office, but how else can you make your summer clothes work-appropriate? You can start by not making these five mistakes.

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Getting dressed for work can be tough — but what if your work day is wearing out your wardrobe? “I teach music classes to children from birth to age 7,” Elizabeth writes. “Every day I am crawling, rolling, running, skipping, bouncing etc. on the carpet with little ones. I’ve been wearing dark jeans and a nice top, but I’m finding that I constantly am wearing holes in the knees! Do you have any suggestions? I want to look professional (I own the business), but practical. I’ve been thinking about going in a ‘fitness instructor’ direction, with yoga pants and tees. I do have a little flab to hide. What do you think?”

I think Elizabeth is on to something.

All That Pant, $59 at Athleta

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One of the most difficult wardrobe transitions you’ll ever make is the post-kids return to work. It’s a tough shift for a lot of reasons: your body has changed, for one thing, and your budget probably has, too. And for many of us, the return to work is a foray into a much more casual office environment than the one we left before the baby came home. All of this often means that our current everyday clothes are too casual, while our old work attire is too dressy — or just the wrong size and shape. And most of us don’t have the cash to start over with an entirely new wardrobe (and of course, if you’re still working to lose that last bit of baby weight, you may not want to buy a bunch of stuff that — hopefully — won’t fit in a year anyway).

So what should you invest in before you kiss the baby goodbye and head back to the office? Ideally, pieces that will work both with your current closet and on their own, and that can transition from work to weekend without missing a beat. Here are my five essentials for the back-to-work closet.

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