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The Wardrobe Stylist

Advice on Fashion, Beauty, Fitness, Home Décor & DIY

Work Wear Tips to Dress Your Way to Success

May 7, 2017 · Fashion, Style tips, Womenswear


Work wear an be tricky depending on the function, industry and your colleagues overall fashion sense. If you’re too fashionable, you might appear too bold. If you aren’t dressing the part, you may not be taken seriously. And if you’re not in traditional work wear, you might appear out of place. So what gives?? Especially for those of us who love fashion.




Work wear, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work outfit_pin

What Work Wear Should I Go For??

Nicole Molders from High Latitude Style takes the guess work out of work wear in her book How to Dress for Success in Midlife. Let me start though by saying that it seriously applied to all ages, not just middle aged women. The book discusses how you should dress for all life events, I focused on work wear as I find it’s often confusing as to what we can and cannot wear at work.



Job Interview

For a job interviews, alternatives to suits that may convey mixed messaging depending on the industry you are interviewing are. Look more modern and on trend with:

Grey plaid blazer, black pants, black top, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • Shift dress with short or long sleeves
  • Blazer, blouse or button down dress shirt and pencil skirt
  • Blazer, blouse or button down dress shirt and straight or wide leg pants

Keep it in neutral colours.

Pair them with closed toe pumps to be on safe side if you work in a conservative field. Keep away from anything too pointy or too high.

If you are in a creative field, you can permit yourself to be a little less formal and more colourful.



New Job

Ensure you follow any dress code there may be. Also, look around you, what are your colleagues dressing in? This should give you a cue. What can you take and adapt to your style?

For your first day, go with your interview outfit but dress it slightly down. What does that mean? You can take off the blazer for example.

Introduce your style into your work wear with a coloured or printed top, a scarf or statement necklace.

Try these as options:

Shawl collar printed blazer, black pants, white top, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes

  • Coloured blazer with crew neck top and skirt
  • Sheath dress with cardigan
  • Straight leg pants with a colourful top




Casual Friday

Most office allow jeans on casual Fridays. That doesn’t mean grab your ripped jeans and pair them with fishnet stockings and a cropped top. Trust me, while I’d love to as fashionable as I can at work, there are some thing you just have to stay away from. It’s not the place for it. While you are well intentioned, others may have a different perception of you. Word travels, and the next time you want that promotion, well guess what?? You ain’t gettin it!

So take something that fits the work wear definition and scale it a bit down:

Tweed skirt with plaid shirt, white shirt, black pants, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • Jeans with a blazer and a top
  • Denim shirt with black pants
  • Plaid shirt with a skirt




Social Office Functions

Office Parties

Depending on the type of office you work in, party and time of the year, you’d have the adjust the outfit accordingly.

  • Festive office party: go with an LBD and accessorize with bold holiday jewellery
  • Corporate office party: keep it neutral such as a grey or black pleated skirt with a colourful blazer or cardigan

Awards

These types of events call for business work wear or business casual depending on the field. Here’s what you can do:

Navy suit with white striped button down shirt, white shirt, black pants, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • business work wear, try a 2 piece suit
  • business casual look, go for a tweed skirt, a blazer, and silk top

Galas

Galas are a fun time to put on a full length gown if it’s a formal event or a cocktail dress for a semi-formal night. Try something like this:

tea length dress, black perforated cocktail dress, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • Long glittery gown
  • Tea length gown

Social Events

Your company may have some company BBQs, picnics or employee appreciation outings where you can go for a business casual look. Something like this works well:

White buttons down shirt with flowy peach skirt, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • Printed summer dress with a cardigan
  • Short or 3/4 sleeve top with an a-line skirt




Offsite

Business Travel

Before you go anywhere and no matter who you work for, make sure you check the weather for your destination. Depending on the season, pick your fabrics accordingly. the structure though should be based around this:

Navy suit with white silk shirt, white shirt, black pants, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • Suit with silk blouse
  • Shift dress with a short jacket (think Chanel)

Conferences & Seminars

For these offsite events, opt for business casual. Avoid large jewellery and busy prints that steal the sunshine away from the presenters…lol…

Pants tend to be more comfortable in such settings:

Grey blazer, grey sweater, jeans, business attire, work outfit, clothes for work, work clothes, business clothes, work dress

  • Dark jeans with button down dress shirt
  • Pants with a casual blazer and top




The Gist of it

Whether you are dressing for the interview or casual Fridays, knowing what to wear to the office or work functions is very important. After all, they don’t say “Dress the part” or “Dress up for the job you want not the job you’re in” for nothing. It’s just as important to take note of what you wear to work daily to ensure a successful career.

You represent yourself when you enter those doors, make sure the impression is a positive and lasting one. Follow Nicole’s advice to be on your merry way to dressing for success.

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, sign up to my newsletter to get the latest advice, tips, giveaways and freebies right into your inbox!




This is Grace

Pink blazer, t-shirt, ripped jeans, Chanel quilted purse

Grace from Color & Grace. Based in Troy, Michigan, Grace is a 42 year-old petite woman who loves colours. Born and raised in China, she moved to America for love in 2007. Her day job – teacher. Her dream job – fashion blogger. Make sure to go and check out her blog and leave her a comment on her awesome outfit.

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11 Comments

Comments

  1. dousedinpink says

    May 8, 2017 at 7:34 am

    These are great tips for dressing for success at work! Casual Friday’s can be tricky!

    Jill
    Doused In Pink

    Reply
    • The Wardrobe Stylist says

      May 9, 2017 at 10:17 pm

      Totally! You have to see what it’s like in your office and see if there are any applicable rules. Many companies opt for more casual wear but with very corporate industries that doesn’t really apply.

      Reply
  2. Nicole Mölders (@HighLatitudeSty) says

    May 9, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    Great post! Thank you!

    Reply
    • The Wardrobe Stylist says

      May 9, 2017 at 10:14 pm

      Thank you for the great book!

      Reply
  3. Nicole Mölders (@HighLatitudeSty) says

    May 12, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    Thanks for linking up to Top of the World Style.

    Reply
    • The Wardrobe Stylist says

      May 13, 2017 at 2:38 pm

      Thanks Nicole!

      Reply
  4. Johanna says

    May 13, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    Such fabulous office-inspired looks!

    Reply
    • The Wardrobe Stylist says

      May 14, 2017 at 11:31 pm

      Thank you!! It really has inspired to dress a little differently at work.

      Reply
  5. Johanna says

    May 13, 2017 at 4:28 pm

    That necklace is everything!

    Reply
    • The Wardrobe Stylist says

      May 14, 2017 at 1:47 pm

      Thanks Johanna, I love it too!

      Reply

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  1. 8 Ways to Look More Stylish In Office Clothes – The Wardrobe Stylist says:
    October 9, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    […] to indulge yourself? I’m pretty sure, earning shillings for bread isn’t the sole goal of a working woman in today’s […]

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