Help me buy a workwear capsule wardrobe

[Libertymae]

After many years of working from home, I've just got a new job which is very client-facing (meeting agencies, presenting to the board, running events etc). It's quite a step up for me and I'm really keen to project credibility and confidence - but I haven't got a clue what to wear!

In an ideal world, I would look polished, rather than bland or too corporate. I love a lot of the LK Bennett look - I think because it looks quite classic and feminine (which is not at all how I'd describe myself but hey-ho!) - but hate the prices and that the prettiest dresses all need to be dry cleaned.

I'm size 14-16, hourglass shape (large of boobs and hips, rounded tummy,) blonde hair, blue eyes, in my 40s.

I'm a high street shopper usually - most of my clothes are from Hush, Mint Velvet and the like - and can afford a budget of about £500 to get me started.

Could you help me put together a few stylish, confidence-boosting outfits please? Trousers, skirts and tops, dresses and blazers - I'm open to it all! (apart from buttoned-up shirts as they always gap around my boobs).

I'd do a trawl of higher end shops to work out your sizing and style and then use the £500 to buy higher quality stuff second hand. I am client facing in a corporate job and have built most of my work wardrobe this way, with some careful strategic shopping alongside.

I go for dresses from Winser/The Fold/DVF/Boden/LK Bennett/Mulberry/Hugo Boss, silk blouses from Equipment/Hugo Boss/Petits Hauts, with pencil skirts or full skirts from LK Bennett/Jaeger/Celine. I have some beautiful tailoring now and it makes a huge difference to me in the way I carry myself when I am wearing them.

And congrats on the new job!

Hobbs and Reiss do pretty good sales. I think Reiss has a good balance of feminine and classic tailoring.

Congratulations on your new job! It sounds super exciting and I hope you enjoy it.

I buy most of my workwear from high end high street stores: LK Bennett, Reiss and occasionally from Jigsaw and Hobbs.
I have a big interview next week and just bought this sharply cut suit from Jigsaw - comes in navy and black:
jacket
trousers

Other things to consider:
Hobbs do lovely trench coats - I got a navy one in the sale after Christmas. V smart and work appropriate.

If you get a suit like the above, you can build a really versatile capsule wardrobe around it with blouses and camis from the high st sales.

If I had £500 to spend, I’d buy the smartest suit I could afford, and a really comfy pair of shoes. And then I’d buy a couple of H&M / Zara blouses / tops to see me through until I could add more. It strikes me as the kind of budget that a John Lewis (or similar) personal shopper could really work with to your advantage, is that an option for you?

I think I have cracked workwear (am dreadful at weekend clothes)...I tend to go for a quite defined colour palette (navy, black, grey, cream, taupe, with various pinks and mid blues for colour) and then add ‘edge’ by mixing textures: cashmere top with a leather pencil skirt, tweed LK Bennett jacket with a silk cami underneath. It sounds boring but isn’t really because I add a bit of spike through textures - leather trousers or skirt, a studded belt or shoes, etc.

I am a trousers only person. There, got that out of the way!

My capsule work wardrobe consists of 5 pairs of skinny/cigarette ankle grazer trousers in varying shades of navy and grey (including checks) and skinny rib tops in shades of grey, navy, raspberry and cool toned reds (including stripes)

I also have lots and lots of lightweight scarves that I will add to any combo of trouser/ skinny rib.

It’s my ‘uniform’ amd what I feel most comfortable in and, if I say so myself, I always think that I look fabulous 😂

Thank you so much for your replies (& your kind words about the new job!).

WhatWouldPennyDo - where do you look for second hand things - ebay?

MrsKoala - I do like Reiss very much but find not much does up across my boobs, unfortunately, and also so much of their stuff is dry-clean when I just want to chuck everything in a washing machine!

TheWombat - thank you for all that, i think your look is exactly what I'm trying to pull off. Would love details of any other recent purchases you have made!

WineNotTea - Where do you get your trousers from? I often find them easier to wear than skirts too.

I read a style rule for achieving a capsule wardrobe once and I have never looked back. Have only 4 colours in your wardrobe. Literally 4. So I chose mustard, burgundy, navy and grey. Makes life so much easier.

I second the John Lewis personal shopper idea. I got a capsule wardrobe to go back to work after maternity leave and they were very clever. Every top went with every bottom item so loads of outfits.

Here are some Reiss sale items that fit my colour palette - still pricey but I think they will last a long time and won’t go out of style:
Blue blazer
matching trousers
houndstooth trousers - these come up big imo
lovely blue top
work appropriate chunky v neck

Recent splurges:
leather skirt
nude boots - these also come in black.

Considering currently:
bronzer blouse
smart v neck shell top

My daughter used a personal shopper at Debenhams; she was very impressed.

I like these trousers from Gap

Yu could get a Reiss single button navy/neutral blazer and team in with the gap cropped trousers and some nice blouses/shirts/tops from FCUK or Zara.

If you are an hourglass and struggle with things across your bust Hobbs wrap dresses and tops might be a good fit.

If you want a really nice wrap dress The Outnet do good Diane Von Furstenberg discounts.

I got a generously fitted blazer by Hugo Boss from Brandalley too. They also do good accessories.

Thanks everyone. I have booked myself a personal shopper appointment at John Lewis and am checking out the rest of your recommendations. Any ideas what would be a good 'four colour' palette for me? I'm blonde and blue-eyed. Blue/Navy is a definite!

I LOVE that Jigsaw suit!
I have a big event coming up in work in April and I might invest..
What top did you put with it?
And shoes? I am not keen on those mules

Hi. I have recently used the personal shopper at John Lewis because I also needed work wear. As an idea - I took with me jackets that I already had, shoes, belts and one of my dresses so that they could not only find me a few completely new outfits but also also find things to fit some of what I already had. I came away with all of my wardrobe completely sorted and am very pleased.

Not sure where you are, however, I saw Holly in the York store and she was really excellent - listened to everything I asked for and fully met the brief.

I also meant to add - the John Lewis personal shoppers are trained in colour and so should be able to recommend good colours for you.

And another thing (sorry - realise I am going on) - I also buy a lot of things second hand - ebay for some work clothes but there is the risk of them not fitting right. I also visit a dress agency if I am in York and also try to visit charity shops - ideally affluent towns. I get things altered to fit correctly and this can make a huge difference to the look.

A colour plette really depends on your skin tone.... I'm a very fair blue eyed blonde but look bad in cooler colours as I have yellow undertones.

So for me good colours have a touch of yellow. I don't do well in grey, powder blue or pale pinks. Lilacs and purples are a special kind of disaster. Blck and white also don't do me many favours.

So I tend to go for browns over greys, cream and ivory over white, peach and coral over pink, greens and yellows over purples.

Some blues I can get away with if they have a touch of yellow, so I can do OK in teals, petrol blue and strong turquoise.

If you have a pink undertone in your skin you are likely to be the opposite to me.

What colours do you put on and instantly feel that you look more 'alive' in ?

I literally only buy navy and black smart dresses now, ones that work in winter with dark tights and in summer with light/no tights. Then at work I have a navy and a black jacket. So everything goes with everything else. It's not exciting colour wise, but you can add necklaces or brooches to liven it up.

A personal shopper will be really helpful, and then once you know what styles suit you and what sizes work in each shop you can start keeping an eye out on eBay for good bargains. I don't have a capsule wardrobe as such because I now have about a dozen dresses, but at least the choice of dress feels like it livens up the fact I am always in black or blue!

How do those of you who wear Reid’s find the sizing? I am a pear shape (size 14 realistically on the bottom, 12 on a good day with the right fit) and I get the impression their stuff is more suitable for a straight up and down silhouette? Heading towards 40 and with (fingers crossed) a promotion coming up I’d like to treat myself to some nicer stuff.

I’d like to think I have good eye and can creatively mix and match a smart pair of trousers and good shoes with an inexpensive top from H&M but I’m not sure if I’m kidding myself. I have a very definite “look” and I do try to express my personality through my clothes at work but it’s a fine line to walk sometimes. I know what I am good at is knowing what colours work for me.

Just wanted to update.

Had my appointment with a John Lewis personal stylist and it was really good. She didn't get what I wanted at all to begin with - very flowy, shapeless, long cardigans and the like, which didn't suit me - but we soon got into it! I ended up trying lots of things I wouldn't have dreamt of, the result of which was buying a light pink jacket (and some other bits) that I would not have looked at twice but that I love! So thank you very much for that recommendation. Now I need to find some work shoes (the stylist suggested nude court shoes which looked lovely but not very practical for me).

In answer to DamsonWhine - I think you have to try on Reiss clothes if you are curvy. I have a couple of bits from there that I really love (trousers, in which I take a size 16 from Reiss - as opposed to a 14 in John Lewis) but the tops almost always flatten my bust.

Yay OP! So glad it worked. Pink jacket sounds fab, I’ve been after one for a while.

I find Reiss fairly true to size and consistent in their measurements - although sometimes with skirts I find myself sizing down, and sometimes I find jackets are cut tight on the shoulders. So, I’m a UK 8 but sometimes need a 6 in a skirt (am most definitely not a 6!) and a 10 in jackets.