Late 20s/early 30s women in corporate-ish world

[GingerBrod]

What do you wear to work?!

I have gained weight over lockdown and my old "work wardrobe" no longer fits, so this is the perfect opportunity for a refresh. As I used to wear skater dresses, cardigans and ballet pumps, it's probably for the best. I'll be going back 2 years older so I think it's time to look a little bit more professional and sophisticated.

The style ranges from jeans and a shirt to 3 piece suit - I'd like to land somewhere in the middle and as I plan to only work 1-2 days in the office I'd like to have a capsule wardrobe of a few outfits which I can rotate, so I don't mind investing a bit at the outset. But I have no idea where to start! Obviously Topshop is out

I'm now a 12-14 instead of a 10-12. The only restrictions I have is for long sleeves as I have some nasty scarring on my arms which I'd rather not expose at work.

I bought a Knomo backpack in a baby blue and I have a beige Hobbs coat already. My style leans towards colour and pattern, although I know that can be hard with corporate wear so I'm willing to forego that for the time being. London-based, if that helps. Corporate but not City.

Just read this back and realized that I sound like a clueless dunce. I also used to wear a pencil skirt with a blouse for professional or f2f meetings.

But that feels a bit boring and I no longer like wearing high heels!

I guess a bit more information would help

• what industry is it ?
• what do senior women wear at your place ?

I work in banking ans always err towards more formal as have direct reports some older than me etc and on zoom / real life people take me
More seriously when I'm smarter

Things I wear:

• have red hair so wear a lot of navy / dark blues
• always aim to have a collar , straight or trendy smaller Peter Pan style / ted baker and River island have some great slightly flouncy work tops
• always knee length or midi straight a line style skirt or dress (no skater / frills, looks immature)
• always wear boot type heels or heeled sandals if in the office. I'm 5'4 and don't want to draw attention to it oe look little

Places j shop

• dresses - hush, some lindex, monki, understated ted baker. John Lewis

• tops - lindex have lots of smart collared shirts / tops with ruffles and look great layered. River island, next

• trousers - wear wide leg black fitted trousers from next

• shoes - variety of places

I only wear certain patterns usually the pattern is white. Never floral no bright colours. Core wardrobe is navy. Cream. Light blues. Greens. Some brown.

Often get feedback on my style

1983mum

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have a look. The sticking point for me has always been the long sleeve issue. I guess I often feel frumpy or like I'm wearing a school uniform. Ridiculous at my age, I know, but I think that discomfort and lack of confidence shows.

Industry is investment, I work in internal audit. Senior women seem to wear a dress, but not sure what the office will look like when we come back!

maybe check out- house of dagmar, Filippas-k, whistles , finery,

I like Cos for smart but modern office wear. They do great white shirts with long sleeves, well fitting trousers etc. I work in banking and often wear a Cos jumpsuit and have only ever had positive comments. Honestly - wear what you like and what makes you feel good and confident. Patterns and colour can be professional! Who made rules anyway??

What about silk shirts with skirts or trousers (thinking Gillian Anderson in the fall)?

If you mean this kind of cheap ballet pump I would ditch them for a start. They do look really cheap & naff, sorry. If you mean something more expensive looking that might be fine.
On the whole ballet pumps seem to have been replaced by more chunky flats, such as flatform sandals. Lots of the younger women in my office were in loafers or even brogues pre-lockdown.

Again I’d steer away from skater type dresses for work as they look abut immature, IMO.

I wear a lot of silk shirts, I have a silk shirt dress which is a favourite for work.

Would cropped wide leg trousers work, or would that be too informal?

I wear Whistles dresses, JCrew chinos and Equipment, or Equipment-style shirts on a day-to-day basis. I'm a fundraising director for a charity, so while I don't work in a bank, almost all my meetings are with city-types.

So basically what @Miseryisabutterflysuggested.

How formal is it?
Could you wear those cigarette style trousers with a nice blouse?
I do think many of the formal dresses look quite old.
I work in tech which is super casual but I'll keep thinking!

And not those ballet pumps!
I would wear brogues

It might be worth you looking at Toast as well - although you've just missed the sale.

You do need to be selective as some of their offerings are a bit out there but I've bought a couple of great shirts from them this year which would be great for work, teamed with trousers/loafers etc. The quality is great.

I used to wear suits to work when I first started in a posh private client accountancy firm and then in my late 20’s switched to Boden jersey dresses. If you like colour and patterns they are great!

@BadgerFace I was in suits / TM Lewin shirts / pencil skirts / nude tights / high heels from the start of my career (2004) to around maybe 2009/10. Then I moved on to jersey dresses from Baukjen, Phase Eight, Hobbs etc.

Then about 3 years ago I started to feel like the tight jersey dress and heels look was really dated so I moved on to trousers with flat shoes, looser dresses, silk shirts & blouses. Admittedly I had also changed from a very corporate office to a slightly more creative one.

I work in finance but for a firm that has a weird business casual dress code (can wear jeans but need to keep it smart). Corporate, not in London but London-focused.
I like 7/8 or cigarette type trousers, sometimes chinos but they feel more casual. I try not to wear jeans all the time, but more so in the winter as they work better with boots. Footwear, robust flats such as brogues/loafers/substantial non flimsy ballet pumps, I usually look for something with pattern/colour/detail. Then a top, blouse or fineknit jumper. For outerwear, a trench coat, wool coat or decent padded coat depending on the weather and season.
Looser, mid length dresses seem to be more fashionable now, but I find putting the right coats and jackets with them can be tricky. Dresses with heels can look a bit dated now.
The company dress code has evolved from suits to business formal to its current rules, so there is still a mix. I see people pull off more casual looks, but they usually manage it if they look well put together.

I’m a fan of colour/pattern but try to keep my work clothes in interesting but mixable colours and have interesting shoes/bags/jewellery.

I have a knomo bag which I love, alas mine is in black, but yours sounds gorgeous!

Thanks for the additional feedback.

Dress code is smart, but as I said people wear everything from suits to jeans and a shirt.

I think I need to buy brogues, that will be a good foundation. Any recommendations? My old pair was from Office but recently I feel like the soles are very chunky?

I tried on some heels from pre pandemic and honestly have no idea how I wore those?!

Also I went to get trousers yesterday. Size14 in M&S!!! Not sure the 7/8th suit my newly expanded hips so well.

Very embarrassed about the ballet pumps, they were just convenient.

Don’t be embarrassed about the ballet pumps. I had an old gold pair I used to throw on all the time, the backs were trodden down and everything I had to throw them out to stop myself wearing them