What to wear with long-ish dresses to work - if not a blazer/jacket

[Workisntworking]

I tend to wear dresses to work and these days tend to go for longer dresses.

I used to wear a lot of shirt dresses so a more structured jacket seemed OK, if a bit dated now.

I'm now wearing dresses more like the picture but not sure what goes over this sort of dress.

Any ideas?

Cropped bomber jacket.

Cropped gilet.

Cropped cable knit or furry cardigan. (Would need wide arms with the dress sleeves.)

That's a nice dress. Where did you get it from?

Like this:

Cawley Studio gilet

Or this:

Mango bomber jacket

Or:

Cordera tank top

Or:

Colenimo vest

Or:

Massimo Dutti waistcoat

Cropped, boxy jacket or short fitted jacket Not necessarily these but this style.

Cabbages & Roses jackets
Casey Casey Juliette jacket
Baum und Pferdgarten Bebeth jacket

Or a short cardigan.

Sadly ime a less structured jacket if you want to be taken seriously at work, as opposed to say a cardigan.

Depends on the job tbh. And the people you work with/advise.

I work in a big organisation and had to speak to someone the other day who I didn't know. He joined the call in a dressing gown (over his jumper) and fingerless gloves and slightly wild hair. He then gave brilliant, incisive and practical advice and demonstrated clear depth of knowledge . Far better than than a dimwitted snappy dresser. ( Not saying snappy dressers are dimwitted just that what he wore was actually totally irrelevant)

A boxy shacket for a softer look than a jacket

https://www.newlook.com/uk/womens/clothing/coats-jackets/cream-soft-cropped-shacket/p/913963814

In my office, a cardigan. Good wool, fine knit if you want to be 'smart'.

Women are held to a different bar though

Only in their own minds.

I'm assuming the op is asking because she's interested and that she's not looking for re-education.

I've seen at least three articles about how those tweedy, boxy, Chanel-esque jackets are The Thing again so there should be plenty of them on the High street, like this from Mango - I've not seen it for real but it's had a few mentions:
https://shop.mango.com/gb/en/p/women/jackets/tweed/tweed-jacket-with-jewel-buttons87030653?c=05
The downside might be that half your office might be wearing it too!

Or one of those heavy cotton drill/canvas 'chore jackets'? This Community Clothing one might be too long for that dress but it should give you an idea of the type of look I mean:
https://communityclothing.co.uk/collections/womens-coats-jackets/products/womens-chore-jacket-bottle-green?variant=44148133331221

My own choice would be a 1960s short swingy jacket, but only if you've got the time and the energy and you're interested enough to hunt one down.

I wear dresses like that with a long sleeved t shirt underneath, or a polo neck. Is it a warmth thing or a thing you need to take off like a jacket?

I have been struggling with this too OP. I wear lots of dresses for work but they tend to be quite long and I can't find the right jacket to go over them now that workwear has moved away from suits and a tailored look.

There are loads of short boxy looking jackets in the shops at the moment but every single website photo of every single one of them shows them with trousers!!

I am afraid views can differ on the appropriateness of his attire.

I would wear a nice smart little cardigan with that.

I think it's Hush - bought in department store so I tend to forget which brand!

As I'm perimenopausal, I need the option to remove a layer!

Same here. I noticed the boxy jackets are always paired with trousers. I guess trousers make it look more fashionable.

Nothing beats the comfort of long dresses though, so I am sticking with them.

https://www.asos.com/stradivarius/stradivarius-boxy-wool-look-jacket-in-green/prd/207160080

Footwear is key too, to not make the dress too frumpy. I’d go clumpy platform! It’s the rule of wearing unexpected footwear: https://www.asos.com/dr-martens/dr-martens-1460-pascal-max-boots-in-pale-olive/prd/204165873

I just wouldn't wear short sleeve dresses in winter at work. If the dress was say dark then I might put a dark long sleeve top underneath.

What always confuses me - if you wear a jacket or structured chanel type jacket, do you sit at your desk working in your jacket? Also, if you are wearing the chanel type jacket over the dress - are you not freezing on your commute in winter? Or do you have an extra large coat that fits over them both?

Also, midi dresses look smarter if your winter coat is as long as the dress, which requires a maxi length coat. For the kind of dress pictured - that's a summer dress with a smart linen blazer to me.

I don't wear long dresses but I do wear knee length/just shorter with a knitted /Chanel style jacket. My car is parked about 60 seconds walk from the office so I don't bother with a coat, its barely with putting an umbrella up

But yes I do agree the coat ought to be long with a long dress

I’d wear docs and an oversized jumper over it, but I work in a very casual office.