work clothes panic

[littleomar]

people who Know Stuff, can you help me?

going back to work after maternity leave and REALLY have nothing to wear. just spent two hours schlepping round town and came back with some ballet pumps and a couple of pairs of knickers.

i'm aout 5'6 and a 10 except for big knockers. i have a long body/short legs so i find it really hard to wear anything with a waist (can't do shirts for example). i wear lots of dresses to get over the waist thing. i need to be smart, but not that smart (suit/high heels is common but by no means compulsory).

usually shop in jigsaw for work but they are having a weird ruched/sheer moment. looked everywhere else i could think of and drew a complete blank. some nice stuff in french connection but gosh didn't it used to be cut a LOT better than that?

so:

1. what shops could i try to find stuff that might suit my shape? (and age: ahem mid 30s)
2. when do the shops finally get rid of their end of year sale tat and get new stock in? should i just buy some crap from gap to tide me over and wait a few weeks?
3. i'm quite thin and rich at the moment and i still HATE clothes shopping. is there something wrong with me?

Oasis have some good work dresses at the moment one maybe? comes in red too

re 3) I think it 's always the way that when you NEED something you can't find it, and when you don't have the budget/don't need anything you find loads of nice things.

Know what you mean re French Connection - the dresses there are usually hopeless for me as too short (and I'm a couple of inches shorter than you!)

Id stic with dresses. They obviosuly suit you and if you get a few smart tailored ones its a no brainer getting ready in teh morning. I struggled with work separates for years and it was a constant hassle finding tops/trouer/skirt combos that worked for me.

Ive bought myself 5 dresses, none of them expensive, and Im finding its a godsend in the morning, stick on a dress with opaques and a nice necklace or scarf and I feel much more sorted than ever before

Ive gone for this sort of thing

or this

or this

thanks ladies. keep 'em coming.

if you wear dresses with short sleeves like that how do you keep warm? i don't really like jackets (too Hobbs) but are cardigans too mumsy?

Sainsbuys do good long sleeved tops (T shirts?) that would fit under the dresses shown. Nice range of colours too and only cost about £8. I wear mine under most things & they keep me warm.

Totally agree with Emo76. I am a perfect size 12 at the mo and love loads of things I've seen in shops & catalogues. Guess what? DH has decreed we must cut back :-(

I wear quite a short fitted black cardi over mine. baggy cardigans are a short cut to mumsy I reckon!

I just got this and this. They look rather good together and the dress is a little bit Mad Men (snd it's machine washable).

I was surprised to find something I liked from CC but hey, it's a good reduction and you wouldn't know!

PS I also like a fitted cardie, I have a grey B*n one with sequins on from the sale, and I figure the sequins make up for it not being a jacket.

employment - that dress is lovely!

Bravissimo is worth a look if you are large of nork. I bought this and have had loads of compliments on it. It looks very short on the model - I am 5' 5" and it sits just above my knee. I wear it with a fine polo underneath and I love it. They have other dresses too - very much worth visiting if you can to see stuff in the flesh/ try on.

cheers for the link employment - just ordered a dress for work reduced from £100 to £20 - bargain!!

And thanks to for the bravissimo link - have also ordered a dress from there - woo hoo!

Employment - thanks for the tip off about CC. I would never normally look there and they have a few good work dresses in their sale. How do you find their sizing? I'm between a 14 and a 16 and as they don't have free returns it'd be good to know how they size up before I order. As you say, once the dress is on, no one is to know where you bought it.

Cruelladepoppins - where do you get your fine polos from? I've only seen them in Cotton Traders. I want a light grey one but I don't think their tone would suit my colouring (shame as they're only a tenner in the sale!)

I am a uniqlo gal - I love their Heattech. Not a huge selection of sizes and colours left at this time of year however do have a look They are down to £9.99 and free standard delivery.

If you need cardis to go over dresses - try here (currently in sale).