What do you wear to work?

[apoorna]

Hello all you lovely working mums, what do you wear to work to look elegant and how much do you spend on clothes on average every month (what % of your income)? Please let me know in detail as I am very poor at understanding fashion trends and also do not want to spend a lot of money on clothes but would like to look elegant. This is what I mostly wear to work -

• Knee length skirt or
• Trousers (I realised that the boot cut ones look so bad on me and the tapering ones look more stylish but not many shops have them) or
• Occasionally a dress knee length but not sleeveless.

• A formal TM Lewin-like-shirt (usually blue, sometimes pink or lavender) or
• a blouse with a sweater
• Black or grey tights most of the time

• Black or blue shoes with small heels or
• grey/ beige /black flats

• A coat that is usually black or grey

• Hair always in a pony (it is curly and probably styling it is not an option. I tried everything but nothing else looks good)
• Light foundation and kohl/ light lipstick usually in brown/ plum

I recently started working in a formal environment but the tragedy is I am not able to make out if the women are dressed in formals or business casuals except in cases where they chose to put on a suit/ blazer. Some of them dress very grand but that's not an option for me. Like when they wear a pair of orange trousers with a matching Tory Burch shoes, I can see they make a lot of money to dress that way but I am not sure if I could go down the same route. I am the only bread winner in my family and I don't think spending £300 on a coat/ dress is a sensible option for me. Besides, the stuff I bought in Next previously lasted me longer than the stuff I bought in Jaeger for 4 times that price. The only issue with Next is I usually see 20 other women wearing the same.

Sorry you don't have to answer the % of income if it is too personal for you. Didn't realise that when I first posted it

I mostly wear knee length dresses in black or navy. In winter with opaques and either a selection of boots like ash spirals, taupe ankle boots, black chelsea boots, or black brogues. I have several coats in various lengths, two v. expensive ones (armani) in black and light grey that make me feel like a million bucks and also very warm, and two other slightly shorter black ones. I also wear black pencil skirts with either a shirt or blouse and jacket. I also have black jackets to wear with the dresses. I have about 4 different scarves I wear as well. In summer, similar, black or navy dresses worn with heeled sandals or decent ballet flats (french sole types). I have a few pairs of work trousers in same colours but dont often wear them as I just feel I look better in the dresses. Couldnt tell you how much I spend but I've found I get way more use out of the more expensive garments, I just seem to like them for longer. I also have clothes from asos and so on as well. I only buy tailored type clothes as I am very tall and slim and floaty type things dont look very good on me.

I should just add, I wear only those colours as that's the requirements where I work - black navy or grey and colour only in the tops

What you wear to work sounds just fine to me.

I wear knee-length skirts and dresses in a variety of colours. I often wear patterned dresses, some cheap, some expensive. I also wear dark coloured jeans if I have no meetings that day. Sometimes I wear a tailored skirt and jacket with a cheaper top or camisole underneath. Think I get away with it.

Some months I spend around £200-£300 on clothes and some months I spend nothing! It depends if I see anything I like or if I need something particular.

My tip would be to spend more on classic items that won't date quickly like pencil skirts, leather jacket etc and less on fashion pieces (for example, if horse patterns are everywhere one month I might buy a less expensive dress in that pattern knowing I will only wear it that season).