Workwear orientated fashion blogs?

[snowgirl1]

I lot of the fashion blogs I've looked at tend to be more 'school gate' fashion - great for inspiration for weekend wear, but I work full-time and would really like some inspiration for workwear. I follow twentymumthings blog as that's got some workwear, but are there any others that you could recommend?

[Floisme]

Here's an example of what I mean: I have a presentation coming up and I will need to look smart and professional but my audience will be a real mixture and I don't want to look intimidating. A blazer and a crisp white shirt will definitely not cut it I'm sure I can't be the only one walking this tightrope? Can I?

Anyway I too have to go and do some work now - in my tube skirt and ankle boots yet again!

[Deathwatchbeetle]

HI, tried to send this about 8 times yesterday but my aunt was visiting and being super annoying. Doesn't normally talk to humans especially not family, but (my fault I have been encouraging her) decided to be super chatty and putting me off whenever I cut and pasted so kept losing the links!!!!

Hope these help.


www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/fashion/street-style/2013/summer-autumn-fall-glamour-work-wear-fashion



www.forbes.com/2010/10/29/fashion-blogs-professional-women-forbes-woman-style-working-wardrobe.html

www.elleuk.com/style/work-style


www.pinterest.com/withlove3/work-wear/

www.marieclaire.com/fashion/tips/what-to-wear-work-gallery


www.corporatefashionista.com/

businesschic.com.au/



www.girlnextdoorfashion.net/2013/05/workwear-15-for-15-beginning.html

[CointreauVersial]

Thanks, Deathwatch, that should keep us going!

My office isn't super-formal, and not client-facing (that Outfit Posts blog is about the right smartness level), but I figure I am here five days out of seven, so I do care what I look like.

I sometimes wonder about starting a blog, even if it serves simply as a reminder as to what outfits I can put together (fewer of those "staring into the wardrobe" mornings).

[Floisme]

Do it, Cointreau! I'll follow you

[Djangor]

Thanks for the recommendations on brogues. Unfortunately I didn't say that I have size 3 (35) feet. Boden starts at size 4 and Kurt Geiger have very little choice for size 3. Hobbs have some but they have metal caps on the toes which I'm not keen on so I'm still looking.

[FrugalFashionista]

I would definitely read your blog Cointreau!
Ironically I suddenly had to have my photo taken yesterday for a work-related news story and had to agonize over what to wear...

Deathwatch thanks for the great links! I enjoyed the Corporate Fashionista site and via it found links to 25 Bedford. That would be an ideal source for more formal workwear needs for me, but usually I get away with a shift dress or a lightweight but structured jacket. I have a couple of go-to jackets from Tory Burch, Tara Jarmon and D&G, they are light and flexible and can be paired with sleeveless cotton or cashmere tops or a silk blouse and either a short skirt or trousers. Floisme I do a lot of presentations and I use either attention colors (red, blue, green) or soft whites. It's a fine balance to strike, to look friendly and approchable but also senior and in-charge. I do this by mixing the jacket with less intimidating items or by wearing dresses. I think the key is to find a few more formal items that really feel 'you'.

I still believe in the neutral column dressing approach for work (a gray or black or beige/taupe/soft white neutral combo of shoes, tights, skirt and tops) that can be varied with jackets. Shift dresses are super easy because you don't need to worry about a top and they can be layered to look more formal or relaxed. I like to walk to the office so I tend to wear comfier lower-heeled shoes like ankle boots or loafers or ballerinas for the commute and have half a dozen pairs of heels in the office.

[BecauseIsaidS0]

Oooh I like the cubicle one!

I used to read Petite but lately she looks a bit...older than her age.

I think many well dressed corporate women would not blog for fear of their employers not being happy about it.

[AmberNectarine]

I agree that the lack of workwear blogs is due to time constraints. I got promoted last sept and followers of my blog will notice the amount of posts have diminished dramatically since then - I just don't have the time in the main!

I will make more effort though!

[Floisme]

Frugal thanks, that is good advice: something formal but then tone it down. I sometimes wear a pencil skirt with a sweatshirt - not for a presentation (I don't actually do that many) but I find it works for some meetings.

Thanks too for the links, Deathwatchbeetle that's really helpful.

And congratulations on the promotion, Amber but I hope you don't give up on the blogging. I think your workwear probably needs to be more corporate than mine but I bet you could nail my dilemma!

[BecauseIsaidS0]

Djangor I am a size 2 (34) and get all my shoes from Pretty Small Shoes online. It takes about a month for them to arrive but sooo worth it!

[BecauseIsaidS0]

Frugal, I fully agree with your thoughts re. not putting too much thought into office wear. I love fashion, I really do, but with a demanding/stressful job and my spare time taken up by yoga, I don't really spend a lot of time hunting the perfect office outfit. There is a shop in my home country where I always find suitable workwear that's naice, and I go there twice a year, and that's that.

Maybe I'm just being lazy though

[Floisme]

My reasoning is that I love clothes and I spend a fair bit of time at work so why would I not want to look good when I'm there? Also, the way I dress does affect how people perceive me, I've seen it happen. Agree that it's not compulsory though!

[BecauseIsaidS0]

Floisme don't get me wrong - I admire the people that put the effort in and look great at work! Also, it impacts perception very positively. People well put together are assumed to be organized and responsible, quite often rightly (although I've met a couple of notable exceptions).

[Floisme]

Because no worries at all In fact I think it's a shame - and really very silly - that people make judgements based on how you dress. I am also careful because I'm older than a lot of colleagues and they would make all kinds of assumptions about me given half a chance! But mostly I think about it because I enjoy it.

[FrugalFashionista]

Yep, in theory wearing nice clothes to work is important but in practice it's a fraught issue. There is still a lot of sexism out there and at least for me being labeled 'girly' or 'a clotheshorse' will work against my larger life goals world domination. For my working friends, various career goals and yoga, running, golf, sailing, vacation homes, food, international travel seem much higher priority than workwear. So they prefer to minimize the time invested in dressing. The best dressed female friend I have is a SAHM whose husband is a high-flier but whose personal career aspirations are currently on hold.

I like a sweatshirt with a dressier skirt. I vary the skirt too, can get away with a leather skirt that also updates a more conservative jacket. Much like the Armani suit was a sign of power in the 1980s, these days sports luxe oriented brands like Celine or Stella McCartney will provide you with a uniform that keeps you relative confortable but also says that you've made it (mmm, fur-lined Birkenstocks in the boardroom). But mostly I think our culture is strongly anti-uniform... And that makes office dressing difficult, because making individual choices that convey your values and aspirations is much harder than just putting on a prescribed uniform. My husband can 'go totally wild' by wearing an orange or green tie with his suits. Wish it was as easy for me

[SnowBells]

Well, it all depends. The UK is far nicer when it comes to office dress codes.

I worked in the US for a few months right after uni. Big, corporate environment with very wealthy clients. I literally had to buy a new wardrobe as soon as I arrived. You were meant to look the part all the time. If you wore skirts, you HAD to wear tights. Never mind it was California and really hot.

[CointreauVersial]

Ha, SnowBells, I remember a business trip to our US office in California back in the 90s; after a couple of days there, someone took me aside and commented on my lack of tights. I hadn't given it a thought.

[SnowBells]

CointreauVersial

Same thing happened to me!!!

Never ever forget tights when going to the US anymore. However, here in the UK, the majority of my female colleagues wearing skirts often leave out the tights…

Difference between UK and US, I guess...

[snowgirl1]

Really, Snowbells and *Cointreau? Your US offices must be a lot different from our US office. The US HR manager wrote a dress policy and specified that underwear must be worn to work. I didn't want to ask what had resulted in that being stated...

[SnowBells]

Haha!!! What - ehem - industry do you work in snowgirl1 ?

[snowgirl1]

The company's in the scientific industry - but it's the office based staff the 'underwear' instruction was aimed at. The lab-based staff have it easy - they have to wear white lab coats so look like boffins professional regardless of what they're wearing underneath. But, the office is in LA, so I think the standards of dress in LA may be a bit more relaxed than corporate East coast.

On a different note, I can understand the reasons there aren't more workwear blogs, but wish there were. I'd love to just be able to chuck on a suit (and used to do that), but in the last 20 years the work dress code seems to have relaxed a lot. I need to look professional without standing out from everyone else like a sore thumb and appearing unapproachable. I do meet quite a few women in other organisations that look really stylish, so while lots of woman who're career focused might not focus on fashion I think there are quite a lot who do think about what they wear (like the woman in Redoubtable linked to who does the lilac pages blog - she's an investment banker, so must have full on-job, but still seems interested in fashion. I want more UK blogs like that, but which are less (a lot less) spendy!

[Stokey]

Maybe we should just start pinning or posting somewhere what we are all wearing to work each day to get ideas?

Though might struggle to fit in taking a photo in that hour of getting myself & two children dressed, fed & out of the house in the morning!

[wiltingfast]

Pinning is not a bad idea Stokey, I think you can make a board private too now? I wouldn't be keen on public pins of myself floating about!

Not wild about Ms Lilac Pages' style though I see she has the new (to me) celine bag JEALOUS

Though I prefer this one... the-northernlight.com/?p=25245

Not sure how she had in 2011, it's only recently appeared in the shops here...

[bunnymother]

Hedvig from the Northern Light seems v connected in the fashion industry - she's a popular one for appearing on street style photos etc, so maybe she got it early as an "insider"?

Have any of you seen this blog that features a bit of workwear? Its German, so I can't read it: glamupyourlifestyle.blogspot.co.uk/ The poses actually make me laugh out loud (has she had a few martinis??), but some of the outfits are really good, I think.

[StyleOverSubstance]

thanks for the info on classycubicle have just favourite it. definitely a gap in the market for a uk based workwear blogger, but in a way, understandable as if you have DCs to get ready for school in the morning as well as getting yourself up and out, time is at a premium even in the best regulated households.