Work Clothes / Clothing For Work

Finding clothes to wear for work is always a dull process. It just is not fun shopping for clothes that remind you of your job when you are not working. There are of course several ways to combat this feeling of despair as you look through rows of black jackets and skirts. That is to abandon the need for the dullness of a suit and expand your thinking to make your wardrobe one that can work from work to play without it feeling bad. That way shopping for work clothes becomes a fun thing – you are not just shopping for something which will only be seen by your work colleagues, you are now shopping for something that can be used in other social situations too.

OK this can be difficult if you have to wear a uniform to work – but then you never have the problem of shopping for work clothes anyway! I used to work at Selfridges before it became all trendy and I had to wear a uniform of a dreadful brown skirt and cream blouse. I hated it so much I used to make it my sole purpose in life to change it as much as I could without getting fired. I wore brightly coloured tights, swapped the blouse for one with embroidery on it, and even took up the hem of the skirt. Surprisingly no one ever said anything but obviously I am not advocating that to anyone.

Anyway back to work clothes. Let’s start with suits. Is a suit essential? I would say not for a woman. I think you can wear smart skirts and jackets and look better than you would if you were wearing a suit. There are lots of smart trousers in the shops and there are a range of skirts that look great on anyone regardless of size and shape. Longer line jackets and tops are back in fashion now too so there is no need to feel self conscious about bits of you being too much on show either. IN fact a pair of line trousers with a tunic or fitted blouse in my eyes looks far more professional and sophisticated than a polyester suit.

The only rule of thumb I would use when buying work clothes is not to wear sleeveless tops or vests to work. That look does tend to say ‘beach’ rather than ‘work’ and unless you have a great body they are not that forgiving!