“Back-To-School” Wardrobe Staples For The Grown-Up Office

There’s nothing quite as distinct and memorable as the adolescent feeling of going back to school. The slight cooling in the air, the nervous anticipation of seeing old friends, the excitement of having fresh new duds and school supplies — it’s a specific churn of emotions that kind of fades as you reach adulthood, and your schedule is not so governed by the seasonal school year. However, there’s no denying that the return of fall has the ability to conjure up those feels — even if you’ve only been out of the office for two weeks, and not three months.

To channel the unique nostalgia of that bygone time, we thought about all of those back-to-school items that we prized as kids and younger teens, and came up with the office-friendly, grownup counterparts that will help you conjure up those butterflies again. Even if you’re packing up a laptop-friendly leather backpack instead of a padded-strap nylon number or re-stocking a cubicle in lieu of a steel-and-formica lift-lid desk, these fresh new work-life staples will have you feeling like a kid again (while looking, of course, like a totally put-together adult). Click through to see what will help hit the seasonal reset button.