oh good god, help me dress myself

[loombands]

I have a new job. And i need to smarten up. Ive only been required to be smart/casual up till now...think English/geography teacher style

I'm useless at this, but i think most effective changes would be some good shirts. I'm a bit plump and misshapen so i don't want really fitted, but don't want big baggy efforts which make me look like a sack of spuds. I'm a bit averse to really formal and would be more comfortable in clothes that have a bit of a twist...even if its just a nice colour/pattern

any suggestions?

also some shoes...im thinking ankle boots?

This kind of thing

Second the bra intervention...

If you are wearing the wrong bra you could go from vixen to "WRONG" in 2 seconds flat, no matter what you were wearing over the top. I have worked for years finding the best bras to suit/fit me, without having overly loaded cleavage, droopy boobs, back fat etc - all of those could ruin a beautiful outfit.

I often people watch and today was sitting in a coffee shop completely agog at the badly dressed in the underwear department, boobs all over the place from right underneath the chin to nearly down by the waist, all wearing the wrong size - I had to sit on my hands and not start giving out advice!

this is the kind of heel shoe i really like but i couldnt wear with a dress, could i?

i think the trouble is...what i like dress wise, doesnt match what i like shoe size

hmm bras...i get them all from bravissimo...its been a while since i measured, but i think they fit

Yes you could wear some of those with a dress/skirt as long as it were the right pair - there are hundreds on there and some would work with jeans/skinnys and some with casual weekend skirts but if you are looking for work you need something a bit more elegant in my humble opinion. There are a few on there that are fantastic but I don't know how to pick them out of the wallpaper....

What suprises me is that you do like heels i.e. height but you don't like slim heels is that correct? Your previous posts suggested no heels at all but if you are willing to block heel with some height there are far more options for you

im too tired...im getting in a jumble now. one last question before i go to sleep

i lke these

but i couldnt wear them with that lovely Hobbs dress (in blue) for example, could i?

This is exactly the route I was going to go down next for you! Yes they are fab, the things I was picking out were totally frumpy but if you are willing to wear a heel a mary jane like this is a great solution.

I tired too so lets get back on the case tomorrow :)

By the lovely blue dress - do you mean the Brunswick? If so the tone of those shoes would work I think as it is a light military blue, we just need to think about colour of tights...unless you are going to go bare legged? (brrrrrrrr)

Thanks amanda

heels...i am 40. I have owned 1 pair of heels in my life. I had a very high pair of red stilettos when i was 17 i think i wore them twice. They were hellish and put me off forever.

I'm not very graceful, and im not sure i wont look like a bad transvestite in heels. But i like the look of the block heels alot. And i think i am ready to give heels a go

up until this point i have had fairly manual jobs, where heels weren't really an option anyway. And im not someone who goes out to fancy places, so my lack of heels has never been an issue

i think in my role now, heels would be a bonus...i think they make an outfit look my professional. And i need that

Mary janes are really easy to wear.