Work clothes help

[suggy]

Hi - I have been invited to talk at 2 conferences in March - one London and the other Italy :-). Now what to wear, not many women in my line of work, the men typically in bad suits of grey ? A good (new) outfit always gives me confidence as I want to do a good job. I am 5'7 size 10/12 and would like something smart but not too smart, so typically I have tea dresses, jersey dresses and dress up with scarves and heeled boots. Not into suits. I need longer length for skirts and trousers... Not bothered about cost (within reason) I am flush this month and next as no council tax

[MrsBadger]

wrap dress v good but would considr something more tailored (dress & jacket?) esp for It confrernce as ime Italian professional women are very well groomed

[suggy]

I agree - when I've been abroad before with work the Europeans alwways much classier dressed. WHere would a dress/jacket come from?

[Nelvana]

Maybe look at Reiss?

[Nelvana]

Austin Reed?

[OmniDroid]

Hobbs? I tend to shift dresses and jackets for work - smart, but not overdone. Most of my faves are from Hobbs.

[Pollyanna]

Kew? People linked to Austin Reed on here recently and the dresses looked nice.

or LK Bennett have nice dresses sometimes.

[suggy]

I have difficulty with length though - the Hobbs work dresses always seem a little short. Austin Reed makes me think of my Dad... though will have a look.

[KristinaM]

can you really not manage a suit? jersey dress, boots and scarf seems a little casual for giving an important presentation

or even a tailored dress?

maybe i am just an old fuddy duddy?

[NorkilyChallenged]

I have this dress from Austin Reed. It is saying out of stock in your size on the website but it was when I bought it, but they had 2 in my local store. Actually they had another dress which isn't on the website either so might be worth going to have look. The sale prices are amazingly good I think.

I'm the same height and size as you and I really like this dress.

Though it's wool so might be warm, depending on how warm Italy will be in March

[NorkilyChallenged]

On length - this is just on the knee for me (I'm probably more like 5'6 than 5'7 but should be about the same on you)

[suggy]

That is lovely Norkily challenged... and I am NC too ! Maybe I need to get out to the shops. Its 3 days in Italy - its northern Lakes so prob coolish. Was half thinking of one of thesse for the days I'm not talking cos I love the colour and have their ponte trousers and the material is great.

[NorkilyChallenged]

That dress is lovely too.

I had a quick look at the online sale at Hobbs, there might be something here if you have a look through. I don't think it would all be too long (I tried on the Seymour dress a while ago and it was just above the knee on me and some of their formal dresses are even longer I think, more like knee length)

[Matsikula]

I wouldn't bother with a suit. Hard to find a good one, and if you go too plain you run the risk of looking like one of the conference hostesses.

Italians are always very well accessorised, so how about a plain dress or trousers with a tailored jacket and a great necklace or scarf to liven things up (that's if you know how to wear a scarf without looking like you are hiding a hickey).

For the jacket, depending on budget I'd have a look at Tara Jarmon, Jaeger, Jesire (stocked in John Lewis), Zara...

And if you have an hour or two to kill in Milan on your way to the Lakes, check out the Quatriglati d'Oro - not just for the window shopping, but because it is the only place you will see Dolce and Gabbana manbags used in real life.

[Isabela1]

I'd avoid Tara Jarmon. Their clothes are poor quality sold at high prices. Definitely look at Reiss. It's got lovely things that will last a long time. Personally I've had such a bad experience with Tara Jarmon and find them impossible to deal with. I bought an expensive navy coat which started going all bobbly and horrid after wearing it just 3 times. I went back to the shop after one month. It took four months for them to get back to me with no resolution as they claimed that I washed the coat in the washing machine( crazy). As if someone would do that to an expensive coat! They're based in France so it's impossible to communicate with them. I feel like I wasted £300 on a coat with faulty material that I'll never wear again.