Wear to Work

Boots at the Office: THE POLL

by Kat on 01/24/2012 · 92 comments

Can you wear knee-high boots to the office with a skirt? Reader B wonders…

I live in DC and work in the public interest world. I love wearing boots in the winter and when there is inclement weather. I have two very nice pairs, one which is ankle-length and has a nice looping strap and buckle and the other that is nearly knee-high and has a four inch heel and some great detailing. They are both fairly formal looking. Is it appropriate to wear these types of boots to work? Would it ever be appropriate to wear the tall ones with a knee-length or slightly shorter skirt or dress (as opposed to wearing work slacks over them), and in that instance would tights or leggings be appropriate?

Regarding the ankle length boots, I’m going to say that while I’ve heard from some readers who think all ankle- and mid-calf-length boots are hideous (I love ‘em, so I’m not in that group), I’ve never heard anyone say they’re inappropriate for the office. Wear ‘em with pants all you want; I’ve even seem some women successfully pull them off with skirts and opaque tights that matched their boots exactly.

Regarding the knee-length boots, now… that’s a more interesting question. It was only a few years ago that the fashion writer for The Washington Post reacted with horror to an outfit Condoleezza Rice wore that involved black knee-high boots, ultimately calling her a dominatrix. As she wrote:

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Sheer Blouses: Some Don’ts Should Stay Don’ts

by Kat on 01/19/2012 · 130 comments

in Fashion Gaffes, Layering Pieces, Lingerie, Professionalism, Wear to Work

A reader alerted me today to a post on XO Jane about a fashion editor wearing a sheer top to work, entitled “DO THIS DON’T: WEAR A SHEER SHIRT TO WORK.” Uh, no.

Now, as this editor admits, she’s never worked outside the fashion and beauty world, so maybe our resumes just aren’t lining up — but even for a creative field, this is the kind of look that would just make me think “Wow, that poor girl must not realize her top is totally see-through. Maybe I should tell her?” In fact, I disagree with almost every single line in her column. So I thought I’d give my take on dressing in semi- or totally-sheer looks for the office, compared against her tale…

1. “Yesterday I knew I wouldn’t have the chance to stop home after work before going out that night, so I wore this completely see-through, sparkly Isabel Marant top with a tuxedo jacket.” Dear readers, there are these amazing things called “handbags” — sometimes called “purses,” “totes,” “briefcases,” or even just “bags” — into which you can put all sorts of things, including changes of clothes. Now, with all due respect to this editor, perhaps she had a big work function that night that required her to wear an edgy, sheer top. But for more conservative fields like law and others, the message you broadcast when you wear eveningwear to work is that your evening is more important than your day — not a good message to send.

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The Bare-Armed Elephant in the Room

by Kat on 11/10/2011 · 162 comments

in Fashion Gaffes, Layering Pieces, Lingerie, Professionalism, Wear to Work

Can you have bare arms at work? Are shells and tanks acceptable to wear under jackets? As everyone’s layering for fall, this seems appropriate to discuss now, and Reader K brings up this age-old question…

I graduated law school in May, and am currently a federal law clerk. My mother, who is an attorney, my sister, a law student, and I have been debating whether sleeveless tops are appropriate work attire for attorneys. I have an ivory silk blouse/shell/tank that I love, but my mother feels is only appropriate if I never take off my suit jacket.

I wore it to chambers with a black skirt suit last week. Normally I wear my suit jacket throughout the day, but that day it was over 80 degrees in chambers…so naturally, I shed the jacket while working. The judge came to give me something while I had the jacket off and while I would have liked to have the jacket on when interacting with him, I shrugged it off considering his office was uncomfortably warm as well. What do you think of the top? Is it appropriate for work? With or without a jacket or sweater over it?

For the record, I prefer wearing sleeved shirts under jackets — in addition to sidestepping the “bare arms” conundrum, it also makes laundering easier by protecting the underarms of your jackets or sweaters.. But I’m really curious to hear what the readers say, so I thought we’d do some more polls to try to close in on what it might be that has historically made sleeveless tops so offensive. Is it strappiness/amount of bra showing? Is it a “this is underwear” vibe to simple camisoles? (Not on the poll: lacy camisoles and skin-colored camisoles, both of which I’m against for anything but underwear (as in, kept underneath). Whether worn by themselves or just as a layer to raise the neckline, they look too much like underwear for the office.) There are other dimensions here also — looseness? fabric? What factors are you considering when you say something is or isn’t acceptable, other than a gut feeling (and the all-important caveat, know your own office!)

So I’ve picked four camisoles below in variations of strappy and blousy. Remember, the question is which tops are acceptable to wear BY THEMSELVES, not just as a base layer….

1) Strappy, plain

2. Strappy, blousy (see also purple cami at top)

3. Thick-strapped, plain

4. Thick-strapped, blousy

poll by twiigs.com

For my $.02, #1 is the perfect camisole for layering under something — but does not look the best on its own. #2 looks great on the weekend, and I think there is probably where it should stay. Numbers 3 and 4 don’t look horrible, but to my eyes a sleeved version would just look better and more appropriate in both instances, and so the sleeved version is what I would advise readers to build your wardrobes around.

Readers, what are your thoughts re: being bare-armed in the office? What factors matter when deciding whether a top is acceptable (other than know your own office)?
(L-5)

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Deal Alert: Nordstrom’s Half-Yearly Sale is Here!

by Kat on 11/02/2011 · 21 comments

in Sales, Wear to Work

As commenters have already noted, the Nordstrom Half-Yearly sale is upon us… here are some of my top picks. In general, prices range from high to low… happy hunting, ladies!

There are also great deals to be had on:

Stuart Weitzman shoes
Cole Haan shoes, bags, and sunglasses
Theory clothes
Calvin Klein clothes (particularly a ton of great dresses)

Readers, which are your favorite pieces from the sale?
(L-all)

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Modernizing Your Work Wardrobe

by GuestPoster on 09/27/2011 · 36 comments

in Business Casual, Layering Pieces, Suits, Wear to Work

How do you modernize your work wardrobe? Today’s guest poster, Becki Singer of Shopping’s My Cardio, ponders the question. I’m thrilled to have Becki guest posting on Corporette — I’ve been reading her blog since way back when (before I even started Corporette). Fun factoid: she used to be a lawyer also and has recently made a switch to focus on writing and fashion. Welcome to Corporette, Becki! – Kat

Greetings, Corporette ladies! I’m so thrilled Kat has asked me to stop by and share a few of my favorite tips and tricks for showing off a bit more style at work. It’s a tricky business, to be sure. I spent years dressing for a law firm before I left for the wonderful world of blogging, so I know the world of grey suits all too well. But the one thing I realized as I spent more time on fashion and less time on law was that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. True, if you’re in the courtroom or the boardroom, conservative rules. But these days, clients and customers expect to see a bit of fashion-forward style from their professionals. After all, a great wardrobe is one of the great things that separates us from the boys. And so, I thought I’d rummage through my style advice, and pass along a few of my favorite tips for keeping your work wardrobe on-trend, without fully crossing into fashionista territory.

First, celebrate your suits! Just about every piece of style advice I see for professionals starts by telling you to ditch the standard suit, and mix up the pieces to create new looks. For a variety of reasons, I’m not wild about that look. Generally, it’s pretty obvious you’ve mixed and matched, and the results are never as seamless as you’d hoped. Different fabrics, different tones, different finish details…a suit is a suit for a reason. Unless you’re mixing a dark blazer with a highly patterned trouser, I say stick with the original. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to play. Instead of your usual staples, try picking up a suit in a head-turning plaid or tweed. Keep the color palette neutral to ensure versatility, but in this case, the bolder the suit, the bolder the statement. And while I don’t advocate mixing suit pieces, a patterned suit does play remarkably well with others. Try ditching the blazer for a classic in leather, and adding a simple silk shell to instantly add some style currency. (Pictured: Technicolor tweed jacket, available at J.Crew for $595.)

Give leather a try. You’d be amazed at how easily it translates to even the most conservative workplace. Especially this fall, you’ll see leather skirts and blazers everywhere – don’t be afraid to get in on the trend. True, the leather pant is best left to your weekend barhopping, but pair that plaid blazer with a suede skirt, and you’ll have a seriously professional look that’s infinitely more stylish. Or give the black blazer for your favorite power suit the day off, and sub a fitted leather blazer in a ladylike shape. The trick to making leather work-appropriate is to keep the silhouette and color demure – nothing too bulky or shiny. Look for matte leathers, leather trim, or even suede, in soft silhouettes that you’d expect to see in gabardine. I love a knee-length, A-line suede skirt for work – add a patterned silk blouse or crewneck cashmere sweater, a mid-length gold chain and your favorite neutral pump, and you’re set. (Pictured: Classiques Entier® ‘Lamb Moss’ Leather Jacket, available at Nordstrom for $398.)

Banish the black. Now that I have you thoroughly out of your comfort zone, my next piece of advice might not be quite as painful. Brace yourselves, because I want you to banish the black (and the navy and the grey)! Now, not forever – a black suit is a classic for a reason. But, just for the sake of sartorial experimentation, try pushing whatever dark, neutral hue you gravitate to every morning to the back of your closet for a week. Getting dressed in the morning without that staple in arm’s reach will do wonders for your closet creativity – trust me on this. At the end of this week-long experiment, you’ll be amazed by how willing you are to pair navy with emerald green, or cobalt with chocolate.

Play with pattern and color — another great way to up the ante on your office style. Colorblocking is huge this season – so reach for those bold color combos without fear. For fall, you’ll see two different variations on color trends, and they couldn’t be more different. First, pattern-mixing is still huge. It’s a trickier trend to try at work, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Just be sure colors are in the same family, and keep the silhouettes simple – let the patterns be the star. Too scared to try? How about a black-and-white tweed jacket over a patterned silk blouse? It’s a virtually foolproof starter for pattern-mixing. Spend 20 minutes playing around in your closet some evening, and try pairing that jacket with absolutely every patterned piece you own (dresses included!), and see what sings to you. (Pictured: Joie ‘Mirabella’ Silk Blouse, available at Nordstrom for $218.)

Try dressing monochromatically. On the opposite end of the spectrum is monochrome dressing, a great way to get more mileage out of those suits and up your style quotient at the same time. Add a black button-down, black pumps and a patent black belt to your favorite black suit, and watch it jump from reliable to cutting-edge. But don’t stop at black. Any color can go monochrome – in fact, the colors don’t even have to match perfectly, as long as they’re in the same family. When in doubt, hold them up together and take a hard look– your eye will tell you if it’s a fit. I’ve even resorted to taking a camera phone picture if I’m really unsure. Have a pair of red trousers? A red cashmere sweater? Add your favorite red ballet flats and go for it! If you must, tack on a camel blazer for safety’s sake, but I have a hunch you’ll be relegating that blazer to the back of your office door in no time.

And last, but certainly not least, I can’t leave without giving you my favorite office dressing tip of all: layers. Layers, my friends, will save you from a lifetime of wardrobe boredom. Make your weekend shirt dress or sleeveless silk tunic do double-duty by having your drycleaner press it, and wearing it belted over a pencil skirt. Sick of that boring cashmere shell? Try it over a crisp button-down shirt, and under a trouser suit (leave the shirt untucked, please). Or better yet, try the same trick with that patterned silk blouse we talked about earlier. And, pardon the rhyme, but invest in a vest. Find a modern style, and try pairing it with absolutely everything you own until you find a look you love. (Pictured: Smythe Double Knit Vest, available at Nordstrom for $450.)

If nothing else, I hope I’ve inspired you to go spend some quality time in your closet. Lock the kids and the spouse out of your room, and spend an hour just playing. You’ll be amazed at the combinations you come up with. Particularly when it comes to professional wardrobes, I find there’s rarely a wrong answer when combining pieces – they’re all built to be friends. So, branch out, be bold, and have fun!

Readers, what tips and tricks have you learned as you got more comfortable dressing professionally?

(L-4)

Interested in writing something similar for Corporette? Check out our guest posting guidelines.

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The “It” Business Dress

by GuestPoster on 08/25/2011 · 81 comments

in Basics, Professionalism, Wear to Work

What makes a dress professional enough to be the “it” business dress? How do you find it? I’m so so thrilled to introduce today’s guest poster, my friend Yuli Ziv. Not only is she the founder of Style Coalition (a network of fashion bloggers that includes Corporette) but she negotiated the deal between Elle and SC to create the ad network that Corporette uses. Neither of these is her first entrepreneurial undertaking — she also received angel funding to create the first crowd-sourced fashion blog, My It Things. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, she also recently published a book: Fashion 2.0: Blogging Your Way to The Front Row. She’s a huge source of inspiration to me, and she has some wicked advice on the perfect business dress — so enjoy! – Kat

During the first few years as an entrepreneur I tried so hard to fit in the male dominated environment. Whether it was a meeting with a VC or a tech industry networking event – pant suits were my safe choice, decorated only with some jewelry at the most. I wanted to be taken seriously so badly, I chose to forgo my own personality and style – ouch! Luckily, pretty quickly I realized this strategy lead me nowhere – the problem wasn’t my clothes. I was, in fact very different from these people, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Stylishly shining in a room of gray suits is a huge advantage that at some point I learned to use to my benefits. (You can get a similar dress to Yuli’s at DKNY (Three Quarter Sleeve V-Neck Wrap Dress) for $325.)

This is when I discovered the fashionable business dresses, and since then I collected quite a few. It took some trial and error to find not only what’s appropriate and works for my figure, but also what makes me feel confident. These days I’m often invited to speak in public (last time was in front of 1,000 people at Lincoln Center in NYC), and I find the right dress helps me present myself in a confident way.

So what makes a dress an appropriate business dress? A garment that makes you feel stylish, professional, confident, beautiful and smart is hard to find. I developed my own set of rules that guides me through that process:

Fit. A business dress has to fit you impeccably. There is no room for too tight or too loose, it has to be right. You can’t just slap a belt on it and hope it will fix the fit problem. It has to hug the body in a proper way, and have a room (1-2 inches) to breathe – this will avoid any undergarment from showing. I also find defining waist helps to create a more structured, well put together look.

Color. No matter how progressive your work place is, a light pink business dress doesn’t project much power. It has something to do with the colors and our perception or the meaning we apply to it. Primary colors project confidence and look sharp on anyone, so stick to them when choosing a business dress. Patterns should be used in moderation. While they definitely add a sense of individuality, remember that they might distract your opponent in a business meeting.

Fabric. I think fabric is the most crucial part of the proper business dress. It has to have a certain thickness to it to avoid few potential problems, such as sheerness, showing undergarments or simply your body imperfections. Thick fabric also doesn’t wrinkle easily, and there is nothing that ruins the professional image more than wrinkled clothes. So even if you have been sitting at that boardroom for 5 hours, a thick fabric won’t catch the wrinkles.

(Above: Here’s one great example of a perfect business dress — Calvin Klein Dress, Cap Sleeve Belted Metallic Shirtdress Sheath, available at Macy’s for $83 (was $128).)

Texture. Besides being thick and properly fitted, I find the texture of the dress being very important to project quality and sophistication. Is there a shine to it? Or perhaps it’s made of a soft wool blend? Perhaps there is a subtle pattern which is part of the fabric itself? The material is sometimes all it takes to make a dress stand out.

Underlining. All of the fit and fabric issues could be solved in most cases with the proper underlining. It also prevents the dress from stretching too much, and keeps it in the original shape. I find it disappointing when a nice dress isn’t lined properly. It seems some designers and especially budget retailers tend to skip that step these days, so watch out not only for the outside, but for the inside of the dress.

Coverage. Needless to say a business dress has to cover much more than an evening dress. Depending on the industry, you can show off legs or bare arms. My personal favorite is just above the knee length and cap sleeve. I find it most flattering and providing just the right coverage.

Details. While there are plenty of options for the basic business dresses, I find every dress needs to have something special about it in order to showcase your individuality and style. Whether it’s draping, pockets or other embellishment – look for sophisticated details in every piece.

What are your rules when it comes to business dresses and which one is your favorite?

(L-4)

Interested in writing something similar for Corporette? Check out our guest posting guidelines.

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