Office wear help please! New senior job, recent weight loss, can only wear flat shoes. Anyone up for a challenge?

[petitpasta]

I've just landed a board level role (think equivalent to a deputy CEO role). Charity sector, vocational education type of focus (trying to be vague to avoid outing myself). Head office is in London so I will be commuting on trains, but there will be national travel to partner sites. I've also lost 8 stone and have lost my way with clothes after years of having limited choices and being mostly WFH.

My shape has changed dramatically and wide leg trousers - which have always been a staple for me - now look clownlike on me. I had a lot of help on a thread a couple of weeks ago about interview clothing and dresses seem to be the way to go.

I'm more of an apple shape now and am a 14-16 on top, a 16-18 around the middle. I'm also short - 5ft 2.

I think, based on suggestions from the other thread, that shirt dresses might be the way to go but I am open to other dress types that skim over my tummy area.

The other challenge is that I can't wear heels due to a knee injury. I also seem to have a hammer toe developing so I'd prefer to avoid ballet flats as they tend to make me screw my toes up. In an ideal world I'd wear brogues, of which I have an impressive collection!

I have knee length boots in brown and black, brown suede loafers (the M&S viral ones from last year), burgundy loafers and I have just bought a pair of silver mary Jane's from Clarks (fawna I think is the name of the style)

So I need help with a new work wardrobe based on dresses and flat shoes.

What should I be looking for and where? Is John Lewis ok? Any other brands I should be looking at?

My budget is around £1,000. I suit earthy tones and my best colour are charcoal grey, chocolate brown, navy and greens. Orange tones like apricot and watermelon are good accent colours for me and I look like death in black. I have a decent navy coat, a beige trench coat, nice jewellery and good quality bags in brown, tan and silver plus a great stackers backpack for my laptop so the budget can all go on shoes and dresses.

Is anyone up for helping me build a wardrobe?

I absolutely love Joe Browns for dresses, they have a petite size and plenty of tummy skimming styles.

I would invest (if you haven't already) in some classic, plain jackets - a black one and one in a neutral colour as a minimum, so you always have something to pair with a dress.

I have troublesome feet and I wear brogues to work whenever it's tights weather, I think smart brogues always look good especially if you have a choice of colours to pair with different outfits.

In summer I wear structured Mary-Jane style shoes, usually Clark's - like you I don't get on with anything completely flat. The 'artisan' range is good. The choice of widths in Clark's is ideal for me as I have wide feet and two hammer toes so anything too narrow exacerbates them.

Congrats on the new job!

You will not be alone in only wearing flat shoes in the office, so don't worry about that at least.

At the more expensive end Air and Grace are suppose to be comfortable. I think they are very pretty also.

https://airandgracelondon.com/products/anais-red-leather-pointed-t-bar-flats

At the cheaper end:

https://www.next.co.uk/style/su798985/h74591

Also loafers, boots in winter, some workplaces allow smart trainers.

I saw your last thread OP, massive congrats!

I'm not really a heels person nowadays so I'd definitely be planning around flats. My favourite flat work shoes (when I worked in an office) were ridiculously comfortable black patent loafers with a platform sole from Next. I don't really like patent for summer though. I do like a sort of Mary-Jane brogue though.

Dress-wise I also love a shirt dress, especially with a low-key print or a little texture. My favourite ones were from Autograph, Hobbs, Hush and Jaeger. I also quite like a plissé skirt to a shirt dress.

You'll only know the level of formality once you've been to the office a couple of times - my experience is that there's a wide range across most modern offices, so don't be put out if someone posts a dress you like and someone else clutches their pearls at that suggestion for a work environment. People are different 😁

A couple of suggestions, as a starter for ten:

Boden jersey shirt dress, darkish purple - would be lovely with brown boots for autumn

Crew Clothing darkish green shirt dress

My other advice would be to not get too hung up on the brand. People are VERY wary of particular brands but the reality is you can dislike 99% of a brands styles and then unexpectedly find something that just works for you, washes well and fits in with your current wardrobe. IME it's not that useful to dismiss a whole brand, unless you have concerns about ethical working practices or quality, of course.

For clothes I would go to Next, click on Women's, workwear and size 18 and filter by colour and knock yourself out. Sadly their website doesn't seem to be working for me so I can't post links.

I would get a couple of blazers at least, possibly three or four over time.

Perhaps cream and navy to start with or light brown/dogtooth and navy.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/search?searchTerm=women%27s+blazer&filter=Size%253D14%257C16

Things like shirt dresses or any midi dresses will be a good start.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/lyocell-rich-midi-shirt-dress/p/clp23074403#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r1c2%7Cprodflag_Just%20Arrived

https://www.marksandspencer.com/jersey-floral-midi-tea-dress/p/clp23074421#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r2c3%7Cprodflag_Online%20Only

Though separates may also be good given different sizing top and bottom.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/twill-midi-a-line-skirt/p/clp23063801?color=NAVY#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r3c2%7Cprodflag_Online%20Only

https://www.marksandspencer.com/pure-cotton-embroidered-notch-neck-blouse/p/clp23077315?color=REDMIX

Love the boden dress, red shoes and twill skirt!

Will have a look for petite blazers as they tend to drown me due to my height

Flat shoes are the norm in London - everyone wears trainers in my office

Second this - you'll not feel out of place in flats.

OP - in my office lots of people (including myself) have work shoes to leave at work. I wear trainers on the commute and change into my less comfortable work shoes when I get there. The bonus (on top of having comfy feet when walking to/from/between stations) is that they last longer as they never get worn outside 😅