Help me update my wardrobe please!

[KillashandraRee]

I live in Devon so think lots of hills, dog walks, two boys under 5 there is not a lot of call for glamour in my life. BUT I work with lots of very well off clients and need to look stylish when I meet them but also need to be able to walk around a house where building work is going on.

My normal attire is skinny jeans, brown suede pull on ankle boots and a long sleeve t shirt with cardigan on top. Not very exciting!

I've seen this skirt https://www.finerylondon.com/uk/products/deloraine-tie-split-front-jersey-skirt
and like it but wondered if it would look dreadful on me (5'3" and 10 1/2 stone - bit of a tummy left from the boys and boobs / bottom on the large side. I have very slim lower legs and arms and good neck/ shoulders)

I also wondered what practical footwear I could team it with?

Any help great fully appreciated!

Hello,

I'll start by saying I can offer no help. But reading your post really resonates with me. My life is about dog walking, builders doing a large extension and living in a very nice area where I'm constantly embarrassed by what I wear.
So if you find some inspiration I'm all ears!

I don't think I'd be comfortable with the skirt myself on a day to day basis, maybe if I was meeting a friend for a drink, or if I ever went back to work. I'm not sure the addition of muddy spaniel paw prints would do it justice.
But it would look nice with long black riding boots maybe?

I think realistically I need to keep to trousers of knee length skirts and thick tights (in this weather!).

Hi Karcheer

The skirt would really be for client meetings so I could get out of jeans. It doesn't feel very professional to meet in jeans and increasingly my role is becoming more client facing and more about style! I'm project managing renovation projects and seem to be advising on style and interiors more and more so I need to look like I know a bit about style IYSWIM?

Oh for the heady days of high heels and lovely office wear... I used to love dressing up. Sadly budget and lifestyle do not allow for that now.

I was thinking ankle boots with the skirt something like this https://www.jonesbootmaker.com/s/basket?variantId=263140433311

The link didn't work for me, but it guess it would give this kind of look here which would look nice.

Sorry these ones https://www.jonesbootmaker.com/catalog?params=fhlocation%3d%2f%2fcatalog01%2fenGB%2fprissale%3e%7btrue%7d%2fpragecategory%3e%7bladies%7d%2fprproductgroup%3e%7bboots%7d%2fprcompoundcategory%3e%7bsale%7d%2fvasizeukextended%3e%7bsize6%7d%2fprcolor%3e%7bbrown%7d%26fhuserdate%3d20160216%26fhlisterpos%3d20%26fhrefview%3dlister%26usertime%3d02160828%26fhsort%3d-prstockpersize%252C-prlast2weekssalesonline%252C-prlast2weekssalesoffline%26fhuserdate%3d20160216%26channel%3dSmartphone%26fh_secondid%3d2631404333&variantid=263140433311

love the cowboy ankle boots . Not sure if they are right for the tie front skirt. Maybe a sleeker ankle boot like the skirt model is wearing.

I live in Devon and I'm a personal stylist, so I feel your pain on the practicalities v style issue!

Could you replace jeans with wool trousers/chinos? Or even solid colour skinny jeans in black or dark grey so they look a bit smarter?

I wear jersey dresses with opaques quite often - can go with heeled ankle boots or flat biker/Chelsea boots, and can be layered up with thermal top underneath/cashmere sweater on top for keeping warm.

Accessories are also your friend - decent scarf or two, bracelet and/or watch, necklace, and a decent hairstyle. All that will make you look more pulled together without adding difficult-to-wear-on-a-building-site-ness.

Thanks armarmai I wondered that too.

Maybe I'll buy boots and not the skirt.

Hopefully that's all really helpful thank you. I normally wear chinos in summer but have been stumped on what to wear with boots in winter as I like the skinny leg into boots look. I will look at wool trousers and see what is around.