Back to work, aw heck! Help!

[pookamoo]

Actually I have been back to work for 5 months now.
I started out all positive, got myself a new suit, and off I went...

Now I am in a daily dilemma of what to wear, mainly because I can't wear said new suit every single day! I feel like the scruffiest in the office, and so I need your help lovely mners.

I rarely wear a jacket, but I do need to look relatively smart as I am a solicitor. My usual option is trousers, t-shirt type top and cardi.

I dislike shirts because I find them uncomfortable to sit at my desk, and I find they are usually scrunched and scruffy by lunch time. Plus if I can avoid ironing, that's a great thing.

I quite fancy some little blouses for summer - any ideas? I have one t-shirt I bought 3 years ago in Oasis that gets regular wear, and I have 1 pair of suit trousers that fit my post baby body, plus a pair of wide leg linens which I am wearing today.

I don't have a massive budget, but I could do with a few new things I could rotate over my 4 day working week. Actually, it's 3 days smart dress and 1 day "dress down".

Can anyone help?

Oh and I am a size 10, 5 foot 2, dark hair.

I am the same size as you and recently did an office stint instead of working from home. Was quite a trauma but solved it with three long cardigans in different colours from Kew here that I wear over trousers and tops - either shirts or smart tshirts. I also find that accessories make ordinary stuff look smarter - a belt, decent shoes and appropriate necklace. Yes it's all a bit samey but who cares? I looked the part!

I've started wearing dresses to work, with good accessories.

I gave myself a budget and booked a session with a personal shopper at John Lewis, and came away with a couple of outfits that could be mixed and matched for work. I ended up buying a few things that I wouldn't even have tried on in the shop.

The dresses were from Phase Eight and don't need to be ironed if they are hung up straight away, and I do feel a bit more pulled together than when I wear my usual trousers and t shirt combo.

dresses all the way, john lewis have some lovely shift dresses that look very smart and can be dressed up with necklaces, scarves, coloured shoes etc.
also pretty printed dresses with a jacket over the top look smart too. i find good old faithfuls for work in shops such as marks and spencer, john lewis, hobbs and linea at house of fraser.
i work in a fairly conservative office so nothing too outlandish or ultra trendy for me for work.

OOh what's your budget?

I would advise the following kind of thing:

cropped trousers in the summer in black or beige

also wideish/straight leg cotton trousers from somewhere like Gap- they're pretty good basics for summer

and they'd look great teamed with some smart tops like this or this or this and this shirt won't crease as stretchy

and aside from that I love dresses for the summer, I think they can really look very smart because there's no mismatching etc. Knee length is your friend. Dresses for example, another, lots here or eg/eg

I would say, personally, avoid linen on the whole as it always creases and looks ropey as soon as you've sat down

I also like pencil skirts in charcoal grey (I have a great one from paul smith black last year) with a variety of this0

and breton stripe tops could work with wide leg trousers for a relatively smart but not overdressed vibe.

If you're quite happy with clothes but feel a bit scruffy otherwise, a haircut always makes me feel more presentable and a smarter bag than usual has the same effect

whoops link went mad, try kew for basic but good quality jersey tops that look quite smart

Oops, been off for a few days, lovely bank holiday!

My total budget is probably about £100, so while crumpette's suggestions are gorgeous, I have to squeeza a whole wardrobe out of one of those lovely LK Bennet blouses!

Maybe I should just get a couple of new tops and another pair of trousers? Anyone know where I can find some smartish t-shirt type tops?

Could you wait another month or so and go sales shopping? M+S will be doing a half price sale, so if you sign up for their newsletter and get online early doors you could get a load for your £100.

These are all gorgeous:

www.marksandspencer.com/Linen-Short-Sleeve-Origami-Blouse/dp/B0030JMFGA?pos=PDP_cwviv_1/9_image

www.marksandspencer.com/Autograph-Weekend-Short-Sleeve-Stripe/dp/B003EB2EAQ?ie=UTF8&qid=1275482993&c ategoryNodeID=42967030&ref=sr124&page=2&node=54191031&sr=1-24&mnSBrand=core&_encoding=UTF8&rh=n%3A 54191031

www.marksandspencer.com/Scoop-Short-Sleeve-Embellished-Tunic/dp/B003FCNE2Q?ie=UTF8&qid=1275483018&ca tegoryNodeID=42967030&ref=sr122&page=2&node=54191031&sr=1-22&mnSBrand=core&_encoding=UTF8&rh=n%3A5 4191031

www.marksandspencer.com/Autograph-Short-Sleeve-Brush-Belted/dp/B003C8MHPI?ie=UTF8&qid=1275483048&cat egoryNodeID=42967030&ref=sr120&page=2&node=54191031&sr=1-20&mnSBrand=core&_encoding=UTF8&rh=n%3A54 191031

Blouse:

www.marksandspencer.com/Spot-Print-Short-Sleeve-Shirt/dp/B003FCY9U2?ie=UTF8&qid=1275483176&categoryN odeID=42967030&ref=sr19&page=&node=70070031&sr=1-9&mnSBrand=core&_encoding=UTF8&rh=

Do consider a few jersey dresses. I'm back at work a couple of months and have lived in them - pull 1 thing over your head in the morning, rather than scratching your head wondering if x blouse will go with y trouser.

Ah dresses sound good too... aren't they a bit clingy though?

ah I don't have a link but I cannot recommend 'nougat' jersey dresses enough, I have a black one and a grey one and they don't cling at all- just go over your head. Size 2 is a 10-12, I got them in the sale in a department store for £35 each.

Also, I do recommend some cropped trousers for summer in an office. So easy to get all flustered about wearing normal trousers and overheating/looking out of place and wearing skirts but then wondering about tights/footwear etc.