Mumsnet Talk

Media jobs don't tend to require suits - I honestly would have no idea what I'd have to wear if I crossed over into corporate. These pieces are written by people who can come to work in 'directional' 'pieces' so they won't represent, say, what someoen in a temp job in a fashion-desert town would generally wear (answer: Next from the sales to fit in with dress code that looks cheaper and nastier than less traditionally conservative outfits, particularly if one is busty and 22.)

Christ. You snob!

Arf @ crossing into corporate, like having a sex change

At least the ST doesn't have Laura Craik or Lisa Armstrong trying to look all moody and allegedly representing normal women while usually wearing £600 shoes. The week when they got up Craik as Alexa Chung looky-likey - hilarious!

I used to love Lisa Armstrong in Saturday Times mag.

I ewould never wear a trouser suit, personally. Frocks all the way (sleeveless ones as well, a decent fitted cardigan or jacket to go with).

Fashion so DUlL. All repeated. When for the name of arse are maxi dresses going to leave us. They have been a summer staple for years. I blame bloody Sienna Miller.

Yes to nautical, military, colour pop, crayzee shoes this season repeated ad nauseum.

Trosuer suits remind me of 20 something recruitment consultants with bad mascara.

Hate the word frock.

I work in a portaksbin. It's chic.

I always felt like a wanker ina suit. Luckily closest thing I have to a dress code these days is rubber gloves

Getorf, I believe maxi dresses are only fashionable in the UK (blame the weather) and possibly in Australia (I don't know why - do you?). The recruitment consultant look seems to be coming back, and I can't wait to see blue mascara again...

I think a) magazine editors are truly clueless re: real life workplaces and b) imagine how dull an issue of black and navy and charcoal trouser suits with discreet jewelry would look. They try to offer fantasy and eye candy.

I sort of love the cyclical nature of fashion. It means my handbag from early 90s looks 'directional' again.

I had to wear a maxi skirt to Henley. It was roasting. Why do people wear them ?

I love wank speak like 'directional'

Oh, I LOVE a good trouser suit from time to time. I am corporate, although at the slightly more creative end.
But when you need to be all power-weidling and serious and arse kickerish , there is nothing that beats stomping about in trouser suit and heels, like some kind of Mary Portas/Christine Lagarde hybrid.

I am not wearing at trouser suit at the moment, however. I'd be able to spell wielding properly if I were...

I say frock in RL to annoy dd, she absolutely loathes the word.

It is all a big joke, isn't it?

Trousers suits? Pfft! (We will all be wearing them next year, I guarantee it...)

What's that piece on the back page where they do 'my style' thingy? My sister thought that one was a joke, like Mrs Mills.

I quite like Jess cartner-merely in the guardian magazine, the ladies of varying ages and skin colour do nothing for me though.

My sister

Yup, I hate those features where they do outfits for different age groups but they are mostly interchangeable.

It would make more sense to do a series with women of different sizes and shapes. But that would probably be too sensible!

I watch Jess Carter-Morley out of habit but she looks underwhelming most of the time.

oh god the back page "what are YOU wearing?" feature! My sister says it should be pronounced "what ARE you wearing?!" because the people always look such states...

The ST style magazine is the first thing I look for when I pick up the paper. But it's light entertainment rather than serious fashion advice.
What are you wearing on the back page always makes me laugh. NOBODY I know ever dresses like that. Tempted to send in a pic of myself - 'here I am in my M&S skinnys, on the school run and no time to brush my hair'

Yes it's a good point that media types don't have to conform like the rest of us. I have a friend at Vogue and she would no more wear a next suit to work than she would bootcut jeans! That being said, neither would I, but the point remains.

Though I will say she dresses like a normal, stylish person. Not at all 'directional'.

I would love to wear a trouser suit like they do endlessly in the press, but it seems to involve being six feet tall and a rake. It is not a look that works on most people. As it is I've resolved never to work anywhere that would require any kind of suit.

"Christ. You snob!"

I'm speaking entirely from experience. I grew up somewhere where the Next sales had queues outside from 4am, as most people were lucky to make £150 a week (myself included - I was a temp) and that doesn't even cover a cheap wardrobe of the kind of clothes admin offices tend to require (the strictest dress codes I've worked with have been when I've been lowest-paid - call centres etc.) It looks fine if you're slender, it looks like crap if you're not an average size, which I'm not.

I always feel like I'm playing Office Job Barbie in a suit, so sex change isn't that far off

I don't mind a bit of Next for the kids, but they do have a really special kind of shiny polyester they make suits from that looks unbelievably shit. I think if a suit is going to work it needs to be majority natural fibres!

I love 'directional' when it's pointing backwards

My least favourite 'directional' phrase is when people wear 'a trouser' or 'a red lip'.

Metro does a what are you wearing type thing, all of them are fashion industry types, though - journalists, bloggers, designers of small labels, people who work in boutiques rather than high street stores with a uniform.