New work wardrobe required... Where do I start?

[Apronlady]

After having two children, and spending the last three years or so in maternity clothes at work, or jeans at home, I need to build a new base wardrobe of work wear. But I don't know where to start looking or what I need to buy! Please help!

From September I'll be spending four days a week in a professional office environment and need to look smart but not necessarily suited.

I'm 5'4", size 10/12, biggish chest, smallish waist (not as small as it once was). And I can only wear flats. And I'll be commuting by train and car for an hour each way.

Oh, capsule wardrobe, that's the term I was looking for.
And I'm 33.
I literally don't even know which shops to look in. And I prefer to buy things that are versatile and reasonable quality that wears well and lasts (because I hate going shopping)

Anyone?

That's funny, I returned to working four days a week in an office and have to be smart but not suited, and can only wear flats... Am a bit taller than you but otherwise same shape.

So... I mostly bought dresses - machine washable from Phase Eight, Agnes B, Hobbs, and Cos. I have a black shirt dress, a navy fitted dress, a grey fitted dress which I wear with a scarlet belt, a pinstripe dress... you get the picture. It's just so darned easy to get dressed when you only need to grab one thing in the mornings! And dresses can be quite elegant without being super-formal. Of course you do have to try them on to get a good fit. And I think it's best to stay away from florals in an office, but that's a personal opinion... For shoes I have ballet pumps from Kurt Geiger and some patent black brogue style lace ups which look good with opaque tights. I also bought a couple of knee-length skirts from Uniqlo (£9 each) which I wear with fitted shirts.

Have to say one of the best bits for me about going out to work is getting dressed up smart in the mornings! Good luck with your new working life - hope it goes as well for you as it has for me.

I have quite a few dresses from Phase Eight, worth looking in their sale at the moment.

Banana Republic also do great sales, and have nice quality items.

Zara is also good for tailored trousers, but they're quite long, so you may need to have them taken up.

I have a couple of Thomas Pink shirts which have lasted me years. My white one must be at least 8 years and still looking great ( and still white!).

Oh and for shoes: I wear my Boden ballet shoes (animal print) almost every day from spring to autumn, then LK Bennett or R&B boots in winter.

I would go for something like the following:

crop trousers like these

breton tops / tees on sale!

collarless shirts also on sale :)

jersey blazers grey

Tea dresses - could also layer in winter nice with boots

cropped cardis boden

Useful shoe-boots brown

And as Carrie says...plenty of ballet flats - see here and
tk maxx bargain and
gorgeous...just off to order some for myself in fact!

Wow that is great folks, thanks. Most of those stores I wouldn't even have thought of looking in. I like the ideaof dresses, mainly because of ease of dressing in the mornings, and also because it's something I never ever wear at home, thus making the difference between work and home a positive one!

What is r&b carrie?

Russell & Bromley

I am really impressed with trousers from M&S at the moment. Their Autograph range is particularly good. They fit well and wash well. and if you lie them flat they don't need ironed!

Ah Russell andbromley, of course. Think I may need to wait for a few pay cheques for those however, SMP isn't really going to permit that kind of splash. Nice to have something to aim for and look forward too though ;-)

So, I've had a look at the links, I think I'm more of a jersey dress person than a cropped trousers person, and I haven't had a look at M&S yet. But I LOooooove all the shoes. And I just sold my double buggy on ebay for £200 so maybe I can look at R&B after all ;-)

My next challenge is to try and not always be drawn to black.

Just remembered I have a lovely pair of black brogues that I haven't worn since going on mat leave... wonder where they are? (have moved house in meantime)

where else should I look?

I bought a nice jersey dress in Phase Eight not long ago, and a grey one in Cos last year. IMO you do have to be a tiny bit careful with a jersey dress though as they can be a bit 'Boden mum on the school run'. If you go for navy, grey or black and keep it plain with quite sharp accessories (eg patent shoes and belt) then I think you're fine. But avoid flowers... Flowers + Jersey = Mumwear and unsuitable for the office. But that's just my opinion, others may disagree. Definitely go in Cos, Reiss, Uniqlo, Hobbs and Zara

oooh, yes, I wouldn't do flowers at work. I"m not a Boden-school-run-mum even out of work, for sure.

Question re jersey dresses: I often find them too long for my limited height as they end up hitting around the widest part of my fat shapely calves. (to give you an idea my legs look much better in a so-called mini skirt, than a knee length or calf length one, and I'm short so mini isn't really mini iyswim) So does anyone know if it's easy for jersey fabric to be altered, i.e. shortened. I always assumed that it couldn't be done, but maybe it can. Would open up more options, also.

It can be done, but if it's done badly it will run. So go somewhere you trust to get the hems taken up and tell them you don't want it to run. Alternatively you can use iron-on hemming and do it yourself. (Although I often find that needs to be re-done after a few washes...maybe just because I'm not very good at it!)

if anyone's interested in the follow up... I bought online and have just tried on the following. What you think....? I'm a teensy bit worried I'll look boring/frumpy so please give me your honest opinion. I have a very bad sense of when something looks good/bad on me and I'm really not good at accessories, so any help appreciated greatly.

www.johnlewis.com/319753/Product.aspx A bit more formal that I originally was looking for but this will be for those days where I need to kick as* or meet the big bosses. It fits like a dream, and of course was in the sale, I could never ever justify the full price. But, I'm hoping it's a staple and classic at the same time. My husband told me to buy a second one. (Haven't. Would have done if it came in a different colour, but it doesn't) Only negative is that it's dry clean only, but not too worried.

www.johnlewis.com/319742/Product.aspx
In dark fushia because the rest of the wardrobe is all a bit black. Is washable.

www.johnlewis.com/329237/Product.aspx
Given the beautiful fit of the other two I'm not 100% sure about this jersey dress but it was a good price.

I've also found in my wardrobe, that still fits, a smart black suit, a couple of austin reed shirts that I never wear because I hate ironing but are still nice, and a black fenn wright manson wrap dress which I love and fits, hangs and wears perfectly. It has some button detailing on the hip and some of the buttons are lost so I thought I could replace them with some new ones. (make do and make etc etc)

right, off to look for some shoes now...

oh, and I bought this but ... Cheap fabric, poor cut and not nearly as nice as it looks in the picture. shame.
www.notonthehighstreet.com/kikis/product/belted-wrap-dress

Have you looked in the whistles sale? U got a few dresses there for half price

I was going to suggest Jaeger and then followed your JL links and saw that's what you've bought. It's worth signing up to their website as there are lots of special offers, stock seems to go on sale all the time in all sizes and the quality is fabulous. Really nice fabrics and well made though full price there is a significant ouch factor. They also do a lot of less fitted styles so I have worn quite a few pieces during early/mid pregnancy which has been really handy.

Love all three of the John Lewis dresses. Will look very smart and all at a good price.
Unsure about the belted wrap dress. Looks very casual and seems expensive for what it is.

Yes the belted dress is going back as it was poor value and quality, Esp compared with the fit and fabric of the jaeger sale dresses at only 20quid more. I think it would have been great in something like a cotton mix fabric with a bit of structure but it was kind of flimsy nylon polyester with a slight sheen (not good)