Coffee Break: Double Leaf Earrings
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Our Annette Ferdinandsen earrings are some of our favorites — the wires are very comfortable to wear, and her delicate, nature-inspired designs dangle ever so slightly (and we're normally not fans of dangle earrings for the office). We like these simple leaves — if we had light-colored hair, we'd get them in the “oxidized oat” (pictured) for contrast; for darker hair we'd get them in the silver
. They're $80 at Amazon. Oxidized Oat Double Leaf Earrings by Annette Ferdinandsen
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Question for all:
Once you became a professional, did that change how you dressed on days off? I still like to wear my “booty jeans and low cut shirts” with friends in bars and sweatpants and tank tops for brunch with the husband. The other weekend I ran into a superior coworker at the local coffee shop. I was with very hungover friends and we all looked like crap. Luckily, my coworker seemed to be in the same boat. So, on your off days – do you worry about what you wear in case you run into someone? I can’t imagine my boss would fault me for showing cleavage if he ran into me at a bar – but I would rather not have the run in at all. I need to move to a bigger city!
Nope! Weekends are mine – though my out-of-the-office style is more high-school tomboy and less the booty jeans/low cut shirt that you describe. I’m not sure if that impacts the answer you’re looking for… I’d be comfortable with a partner seeing my in a hoodie looking like I’m 16, but would be somewhat mortified if he/she saw “more” of me than usual.
The caveat to this is that if I need to go to my office, even for 5 minutes, I will attempt to make myself more presentable. This means no trackpants or t-shirts — I’ll actually wear jeans, ballet flats, sweater, etc. I am also only a few years into my legal career and am therefore attempting to put my best foot forward. I have seen (male) partners wearing old t-shirts and shorts (horrors!) when in the office on the weekends, but I don’t think I will ever feel comfortable enough to enter that realm. :-)
Agreed – I look very professional/casual if I go to the office, even for a second, on the weekend.
Ick, ick, ICK to old male partners in shorts!! :) That would have left me scarred for a while.
My general rule of thumb is that I try to look appropriate for where I am. I don’t feel compelled to dress as a nun for formal occasions where one’s decolletage might be on modest display in an evening gown; I might be spotted in a trendy, bar-worthy top (but not dancing-on-bar worthy!) while out with friends, and I will not leave the house looking as if I have just awakened from a bender-induced stupor. I absolutely won’t, however, change my personal “me-time” style — as long as I look appropriate for wherever I happen to be, I don’t believe any of my colleagues or superiors will view me differently. (If they did, they’re probably the type to have judged me based on something groundless and unpredictable already, haha!)
Absolutely I did when I was in financial advice, you never know if the woman next to you in the grocery store is a potential client. I’m in law school now, but I still try to be more presentable. I don’t own booty jeans anymore, but I will show some cleavage at a bar. But really only a particular dive bar where the only people around are our rugby teams. But yes, I always dress a little better than I used to. Except during exams …
Absolutely. I once ducked in a different aisle in the grocery store to avoid one of the attorneys I see at my internship. He was looking the same, essentially, and I was looking like I just rolled out of bed to go to the grocery store…at 2 in the afternoon.
I think this is particularly a concern as I am graduating soon and am looking for a job and will also be looking for clients in the near future. You never know where you will meet someone and whether there might be a missed opportunity because of what you were wearing.
I do try to be conscious of how I dress not just because of running into existing/potential clients, but also because of running into parents from my son’s school, or colleagues of my husband’s.
I usually go with a top and jeans with boots in the winter, and usually a cute casual skirt and tee in the summertime, with sandals.
I actually made an effort to step up my game on the weekends when my husband made a comment one day about how he never got to see me dressed-up any more. (I work from home quite a bit, and on days when I do dress up for client meetings, I’m usually back in the grubbies by the time he gets home, because by that point I’ve picked up our son – and I don’t chase a preschooler in heels and a skirt.) I make an extra effort to look nice when we go out as a family – even just running errands or for a casual lunch – and he does appreciate it. The older I get, the harder it is to look cute with pulled-back, unwashed hair, sloppy clothes, and no makeup.
However, I wouldn’t worry about the “booty jeans/low-cut top” at bars because honestly, if you bump into someone from work at a bar on the weekend – how would they expect you to be dressed? I don’t see many women at bars in muumuus.
I live a couple blocks from my GC … Usually I am okay…but there have been the “…my kids are sick, and I’m tired etc… and the run in sweats etc….” but there is a generlly accepted not at work, on your own thing… My boss, lives near my principal internal client…many meetings in Starbucks….
Yes, definitely. But that’s also because I’m a surgeon, and I don’t think anyone wants to see the person who operated on them looking hung over/sloppy. That isn’t to say that I never show cleavage these days, more that I’m very thoughtful about my image. I live in a casual part of the country (NW) so a typical winter outfit of dark jeans and sweaters can get me though 90% of what I do on the weekends. I also had more money to afford comfy things that were a bit more stylish. It’s not to say that I don’t stop at the coffeeshop in gym clothes on the way back from the gym; rather I tend to avoid wearing gym like items when I’m not going back and forth.
I agree with Ellen. I’ll still venture out to the grocery store early in the morning in gym-like attire, but for the most part, I like to look put together and a bit polished. I don’t think you boss would “fault” you if he saw your cleavage in a bar, but it may make him see you differently in the workplace.
Agree. To be clear, I’m not talking about wearing a form of business casual all the time — but living within walking distance of the office (along with a number of attorneys, wide age-range) means I’m likely to run into a boss figure somehow during the weekend, so I don’t wear anything that I’d be embarrassed if they saw me in. (So: yes to a little cleavage in formalwear, no to skimpy tank tops at brunch)
Just wanted to add that I was not the hungover mess in the above scenario, my friends were – but still.
One of the reasons I love the weekends is that I can sack out in big hoodies and soccer shorts, like I always have. If someone from work sees me walking my dog or grabbing croissants dressed like that, so be it.
I think that there are too separate (somewhat related) questions being discussed here. One question is how casual/relaxed we feel comfortable dressing on our own time, given the risk of bumping into colleagues. The other question is how comfortable we feel wearing tighter or more revealing clothing than would be work-appropriate on our own time, given the risk of bumping into colleagues (this was more what I thought the original poster was getting at).
I like discussing both!!
Oh sorry if there was confusion – I also like the discussion of both! It was just an observation.
Regarding the earrings, I never wear dangly earrings to work. Is this over-conservative? I work in-house and the dress code is “smart business casual.”
I think it depends on what your coworkers wear. I stuck mainly to posts or my pearl earrings that are on a french hook until I realized that most of the other female attorneys at my office used jewelry to create their own style and that funky jewelry was clearly okay when not in court. I figure if I’m wearing dangly earrings that are more understated than everyone else, I’m fine. But I have a friend whose office seems to mandate pearl studs or those big silver ball studs so she’s only ventured into dangly territory once or twice.
For what its worth, in my previous ‘life’ (pre-law school) I was a high school teacher. If I was ever in the ‘area’ near where I taught OR if I knew there was a chance of seeing students or their parents there, I would be sure that I looked appropriate. Not 100% professional, however that I would appear in a manner that would not diminish my professionalism. I have continued to dress in this manner as I have transitioned into my role as a Summer Associate.
I think that my clients, colleagues and superiors never need to see me A. drunk or B. sexy. In my gym clothes, sure. But I don’t do cleavage or miniskirts anymore, and I don’t go for post-work drinks close to the office.
I do make an effort on the weekends. Even if my effort is just jeans a sweater and a pony tail, I make it neat and try to look professional. I don’t even live close to my office or my colleagues, but you never know when you may run into a potential new client.
I started dressing semi-nicer in my off time (well, all of the time too) after I started watching What Not To Wear a couple of years ago. It made me realize that in my late-20’s I should look decent when out of the house. Sometimes it’s a real PITA to put on nice jeans, real shoes and a jacket to wear for a few minutes in the coffee shop or grocery store, but in the long run I think it’s worth it to look presentable. And this never stops me from immediately stripping off the real clothes and hopping right back in to my jam-jams as soon as I set foot back in the house. :P
I think this question of what to wear outside the office is less about changing your style as you become a professional, but more about changing your style as you become an adult.
If you are seeing parents from your child’s school, or neighbors, or work colleagues, or potential clients, you shouldn’t look scrubby. Grow up.
If you’re going out drinking, it never hurts to look slightly more classy than slutty.
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