If you work in an office, what do you wear?

[LovelyBranches]

I'm struggling for inspiration. I want new clothes and tend to prefer trousers with a top to skirts or dresses. I'm 30, petite build and work in an office. I get cold easily too.

I always wear a dress and cardi or dress and jacket.

If you are bored with what you wear, try going into a big department store and make yourself try on stuff you wouldn't normally wear. You might be pleasantly surprised?

Or if there is someone on tv whose style you admire, maybe copy that, or a pared down office version of it?

Skinny black cigarette trousers, a top, blazer and smart flat shoes (ie not ballet pumps). Or a dress and tights and low heels.

That is, when I'm not pregnant. At the moment, sadly, at 35 weeks I'm wearing whatever fits...

A combination of slim cut trousers, blouses, cardigans, jumpers, scarves, skirts, tshirts, dresses, tights, boots or flat shoes.

If i have a major client meeting then the suit comes out but this is rare

I used to wear pencil dresses with a print, but they were too distinctive to only have 5-8 of them and I couldn't afford more.

So I now have lots of neutrals: skinny and drainpipe black trousers, jersey and crepe blazers, fine knitwear, tunic tops and some thicker knits. Pencil dresses have been replaced with dresses in a more relaxed fit.

And some leopard and other print coats and scarves, but in muted colours.

It's just easier now I have to be awake at 5:00.

My usual uniform is slim cut / peg /tapered trousers with a blouse or shirt tucked in (I like to think slightly androgynous cool but I doubt I pull it off) or occasionally a drapey blouse with smart skinny jeans on days with no client facing stuff.

Shoes are either ankle boots, brogues or pointed flats.

I do have a couple of smarting dresses too but wear them rarely.

Like Running however I'm pregnant at the moment so wearing tents with leggings.

Dresses with tights, heels or smart boots and cardi/jacket.
Wear a lot of black so try to make it a bit less dull with scarves sometimes

Oh and I work on a v limited palette of black, grey, taupe, off white and navy for 90% of stuff.

A selection of Fat Face tops / dresses and knee high DM boots with the red flowers up the side mostly. A big chunky cardigan lives on the back of my chair because it gets hot then cold very quickly so it's easy to take on and off. I dress far more casually than I probably should. On days I meet with the public a full suit.

Slim trousers with heels or loafers, with a fine knitwear top.

Selection of shift and fitted dresses with tights and heels or with a couple of the shift dresses I can wear patterned tights and knee length boots.

Mostly dresses and skirts with boots in the winter. I find black and navy dresses in a variety of shapes work well as they are not very distinctive!

This is exactly the question I was coming on to ask. Back to work in Jan after mat leave and I have no idea what to wear. Would love to look well put together but always think I look messy and teenage. Does anyone have links to the sort of stuff they are talking about because when I try and find stuff I get all confused.

Sorry OP for jumping on your thread.

I usually wear jersey dresses with a print. I have a few cheap ones from Sainsbury's and more expensive ones from Coast and Phase Eight.

Jeans and a top/jumper - I'm very lucky that it's a very casual environment. If I go to a client meeting I might wear smarter trousers, sometimes a dress - very, very, very rare to wear suits these days (I work in a creative environment)

Trashpanda - I recently returned from maternity leave and brought some new stuff for work.

I brought a slim fit pair of black trousers from Dorothy Perkins: http://m.dorothyperkins.com/h5/product?productId=13930314. These are great as you can wear them with flats or heels. I realised all my pre baby trousers were totally out of fashion.

I also brought a black pencil skirt from Next

A couple of shirts from GAP, similar to this:
http://m.gap.co.uk/product.html?dn=gp304355250&pid=304355250.

A top similar to this which I wear with a nude vest underneath: http://m.dorothyperkins.com/h5/product?productId=20555087

Those can all be mixed and matched and worn together.

I stopped wearing cardigans to work and switched to Blazers as they look smarter. Got a couple of cheap ones from Primark.

http://m.warehouse.co.uk/email/item/fcp-product/02387801&ern=PDITEMM_IMAGE - just brought this cause I thought it could be dressed down for the weekend as well as worn to work.

I ordered some new ankle boots.

I've also ordered this:

m.warehouse.co.uk///warehouse/fcp-product/02476572

This: m.warehouse.co.uk///warehouse/fcp-product/02454647

And a black polo neck to wear with skirts which I ordered. This one: m.newlook.com/shop/womens/skirts/burgundy-corduroy-button-front-a-line-skirt_344760167?productFind=search - thought this would go nicely with the cream warehouse top too.

Also this - www.riverisland.com/women/skirts/tube--pencil-skirts/Black-lace-hem-pencil-skirt-666976.

Stock up on tights too

Think that should keep you going for a while! I don't wear anything to work that I wore prebaby, the couple of times that I've done it I have felt 'odd'. It was lovely having new stuff to wear.

Jeans, boots and Fat Face type tops, vests, cardigans etc. Exactly what I wear at home in fact. We're not public facing, I do scrub up a bit for client visits but I only get those about once a year.

Twinklestar, thank you so much for the links. I've returned from mat leave recently and I think I've lost my way a bit with clothes. I don't feel like I know my style anymore so those links are very helpful.

Twinkle your links are fab.
Where are you lot buying your 'staples' from?
I can't seem to get a black pair of work trousers, that FITS, atm.

My office falls into the smart-casual category between full on suits, and leggings/jeans.

I wear dresses or skirts 90% of the time I'd say, because I have a small waist, big bum and short legs, and I'm too lazy to find trousers that fit properly.

Some links:

Dresses:
Jersey dresses from me+em (like this or this) and Baukjen (like [[https://www.baukjen.com/uk/shop/baukjen/dresses/darton-dress-teal.htm
this]] or this). Would never pay full price, but wait for sales.

Tops:
Uniqlo for merino layering knits of various styles (also like Gap for crew necks but they do less colours). Woolovers cashmere merino mix is also good, and J Crew Tippis often go into the sale.
Long vests from H&M for underneath.
Also me+em again for layering tops if you like the "collar peeking out" look.
Silk shirts and tops from Uniqlo but I think this is a S/S thing for them as they don't have any at the moment - I can't recommend them enough.
Short sleeved knits from Jaeger also at half price in sale.
Finally if you don't mind polyester, Asos usually has some nice plain tops, I have this to wear over skinny trousers.

Skirts:
Can't really link as a good high waisted pencil skirt is my weakness and I own loads from all sorts of places, but J Crew do great structured ones (with code or in sale). The one I wear most is this ruched one from Baukjen, no doubt bought with a code!

Jackets:
I hate wearing jackets so never spend loads, I have ones from H&M, Topshop, Massimo Dutti and Mango.

There are very few shops I wouldn't buy from, but these are the things I've found to be my favourites for work.

Lovely - I was the same about returning from mat leave and clothes. It takes time.

I tend to stick to smart trousers (grey, black, navy or pinstripe) with a plain fitted short sleeve top and fitted cardigan. For shoes I wear smart flats or a small heel.

Occasionally I do the smart dress and tights thing, but I don't think that it is comfortable for sitting at a desk all day.