Back to work wardrobe........

[GreatSoprendo]

Had a miniscule 20 minute opportunity to clothes shop today for a few work basics before I go back to work from mat leave. I went in M and S, as as my options and time were limited. Not really shopped there for a long time but some stuff looked ok (a lot looked awful too) - but their sizes were just all over the place!

This was so big I could take it off without undoing the zip.
This was so tight I couldn't breathe.
In the end I just bought these as they seemed to fit ok - although ankle grazers aren't ideal in the freezing cold!

So where is best for me to shop for a smart work capsule wardrobe? I still have some pre-preg tops that will be ok but no dresses/skirts/trousers. Could do with a dress, a skirt and maybe a pair of (long!) trousers to see me through a 4 day week, which I will mix up with shirts and cardigans. Want to hit one or two shops (RL or online) and get the lot ideally. Probably a ceiling of say £40-50 for a skirt or trousers.

Where should I be looking?

Maybe I should say - I'm late 30s, size 10 currently, average height and work in a professional/managerial role so need to be fairly smart (but not often in a suit).

Try banana republic? It's decent quality and much better cut than marks, although sizes can be a bit erratic. They did a brilliant thing on their website recently showing 10 items and heaps of outfits that you could create from them

I had to do this quite recently. Department stores are your friend!

I found I liked some new brands (new to me anyway) - linea, (definitely in your range), phase 8 (didn't like all their stuff) and petit minuet (bit more pricy, but very well cut dresses) - and I am over m&s, jigsaw, where I used to buy my workwear.

I wash my four outfits every week and its going well so far. All good quality and surviving!

Good luck

Thanks crochet - House of Fraser is a good idea. Will give it a go. Before mat leave I had loads of different work clothes accumulated over years and spent ages putting together an outfit each morning, but I just can't be bothered now!

Banana Republic is interesting brillenbar - do you know if their delivery and returns work well? No store close to me but happy to shop online as long as I can easily return what doesn't fit.

Don't know if it helps but my work wardrobe when I went back was just loads of dresses. That way I never had to put an 'outfit' together as such. I got them in sales from phase eight, boden and eBay. Always jersey so I could wash them and just hang up to dry. Nude and black shoes. Not exactly exciting but I found dresses so much more flattering than trousers with my baby gut!

That does help actually minibreaks - much quicker and simpler to get ready too. I'm going to have a look at some sales online and see what I can find. Thanks!

Banana republic sales and returns online do work well (I rarely shop in an actual shop). The returns are free and they are quick to refund. They also have regular 25 or 30 PC off codes so it is worth waiting for them.

I agree with other suggestions that a few wash and wear jersey dresses with a couple of interchangeable jackets is a low stress way of running your life. Depending on how formal your workplace is, jersey blazers are as comfy as a cardi, but much smarter.

Other revelation I have had recently is uniqlo thermal tops (much recommended on here). They are lovely and very fine you can put one on under a dress that is otherwise too insubstantial for winter wear and hey presto, jersey dress works all year round!

That's so helpful - thanks Brillenbar. Jersey jackets is a very good tip - I'm browsing some now, and am then heading to Uniqlo to stock up on layers. I have a couple of Great Plains jersey dresses that I wouldn't have thought warm enough for winter at work, so those layers will help me out hugely!

Found the banana republic thing I was thinking of teawithonesugarplease.blogspot.co.uk hope link works. Not that I'm suggesting you go out and spend ££££ on exactly that but I thought it was useful to show how you could create quite a lot of outfits out of relatively few well chosen items. I do like the burgandy trews quite a lot tho

That's really great - just a small number of versatile items that I can create different outfits with is exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking I'm going to up my budget per garment a little, and just buy a few good quality pieces to mix up. That link is great - just what I wanted so I could identify what pieces I need. Thanks so much!

Best of luck with it, and more importantly, best of luck with being back at work