Work wardrobe - short and fat🫣

[Bellyblueboy]

I am struggling with looking professional at work. Covid was not kind to my waist and I am now short and busting out of a size 14.

crash diet has begun but I have never had that polished look of my females colleagues.

hints and advice please!

I shop for workwear in Hobbs and Boden mainly because they do petit ranges. I wear trousers, silk shirts, blazers and occasionally dresses. But I look frumpy and unstylish compared to my slim female (usually older) colleagues: my hair is usually a mess by 11am (despite using hairspray every morning) my lipstick never lasts longer than 10 minutes (despite using
one that is supposed to last) , I frequently drop coffee down myself. I use fabric tape to stop my shirt gaping and go up a size but I still look crumpled and strained by the end of the day!

I am pretty damn good at my job but I cringe when I see photos myself and I worry it is detracting from my professionalism - I am frequently photographed at corporate events and plastered all over LinkedIn and it is just dreadful!

I don’t really know what I am asking - just help!!!!!

Suggest buying a plain wardrobe wirh a few colours and sticking to it - successful work dressing IMO is flattering, sleek and unnoticeable

Recommend:

• navy- a line dresses
• dark green (i have red hair)
• blazers- dark red, dark burnt orange, navy, blue
• loose black wide trousers with belt
• satin shirts with trousers and blazer always diff colour to trousers

Jewellery

• pearls with satin shirts, thin doible gold necklace and bracelet otherwise
• matching rings, trendy gemstone ones to match if u have them

Hair

• i get keratin treatment
• get thickening extensions if thin
• hair up to to side witj strands around face if down doesnt look good

Shoes

• black or navy suede ankle boots
• black thick tights with chunky black work shoes for events

Coat

• burberry & scarf, ted baker one dark colour or a copy

Im 5'6 size 14. People often comment on my look. Im 40 and work in an invmt bank 70% male.

Thank you so much!

can I ask where you shop? I really struggle to find clothes that fit.

I am speaking at an event on Friday and was planning on wearing a black shift dress with a pink jacket. All my back jackets are too small and I don’t have time to buy a new one! I need understated staples in size 16 until I can lose some weight!

How tall are you, actually? Sometimes people declare themselves to be ‘short’ and only able to wear petite ranges when they’re maybe a similar height to me - 5’3. I’ve never worn specifically petite clothes, though I realise proportions and length of limbs can make a difference. If it’s at all possible for you to buy from a wider range of shops and have things altered to fit, you’ll have a lot more fun getting dressed.

Because part of the reason why you feel frumpy compared to your colleagues (you may not actually look it) might be that you are buying your clothes from awfully dated shops, whilst seeing them adopt a more louche, 21st century style. (Not to speak of the post-lockdown softening.)

Regarding your hair - I recall being astonished to learn, when I started my first post-graduation job in the City, (in the 80s) that the women hoping to become partners stopped by the hairdressers every morning for a blow dry before work. It still seems a bit - but if you have the sort of hair that needs spraying, surely your hairdresser could provide you with a style that will look neat all day, without effort on your part?

A black dress with a pink jacket will - forgive me - send you straight back to the 20th century. Must you?

You probably don’t have time to trawl all of Matches or Net-a-Porter, but - assuming you’re happy to spend either more or less than mid-range High St - you might find it helpful to cast your eye over some of these places (online) and see if any look possible. They’re mostly not the usual corporate dress brands, but can provide up to date basics and styling inspiration. I cannot stress enough that you need a decent tailor / alterations service to which you can take all new purchases.

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What about booking a John Lewis personal stylist. Free! (Preferred the Debenhams one myself). Tell them you want work stuff. Petite. See what they can do!

I agree, try the John Lewis stylist. I used them when I'd recently had a baby and was interviewing for jobs, and nothing fit.

I'm also a size 14-16 and short. I wear plain or patterned midi length shirt dresses, pencil skirts and tops (not shirts), sometimes a wrap dress. If in doubt stick to quite muted, plain things.

Shirts won't look good in my view. They gape or are too loose and work their way out of whatever they are tucked into. Shirt dresses don't seem to have the same issue as they can be belted, and I safety pin between the buttons

I also have wild curly hair which sometimes I straighten but mostly keep curly. I use curl gel to tame it and it looks fine. We all need to get over the thing that it's only ok in the corporate world to have sleek hair.

If lipstick isn't working for you, try a lip stain (or nothing and focus on eyes!). Good tubing mascara stays put all day.

Also, it's good to look polished and professional but you aren't the same shape as those colleagues, so if you always compare to them and see them as they aspiration you won't be happy. Better to try and look like the best version of yourself.

Have your colours done then buy in those colours that you like. It's a game changer. I buy loads of cream, beige and blue and my wardrobe is so much easier to buy for.

And sorry I think black doesn't work for a lot of people and putting it with bright colours can look off.

Go see a stylist at JL they can be really good.

Re the hair. Have recently discovered Wow. Worth trying. Been a game changer for a fellow 'frizzer'. And a fraction of the price of salon treatments.

Otherwise brilliant suggestions above. I am short but slim ish. Itned to find sticking to one or two colours, and absolutely no patterns unless on my accessories helps. Boring but effective.