Lawyer returning to work - need new work clothes - HELP!!

[MamaBee1]

Im going back to work in the city soon, but I gained quite a lot of weight in my pregnancy and havent lost much. Im hoping once Im back at work the weight will drop off. So im desperate for some formal workwear thats gonna be a little flexible, but Im dreading the thought of having to hunt around. Can anyone recommend somewhere that has appropriate professional workwear for this duration?

hobbs
jigsaw
LK bennett

When I went back to my city form after maternity leave, I noticed that women were wearing more informal things than they were before I left. or maybe I hadn't paid much attention when I was pregnant and wearing the same handful of things every day!

Anyway - I think women are wearing fewer suits, and more dressses/skirts and cardis, which will give you more options. I have bought a few dresses in places like Phase Eight (the more sedate end of their line, rather than the wedding/races/occasion things they have a lot of), and cardis/shrugs in similar colours.

What about some jersey wrap dresses? Lots of those in the Phase Eight sale on at the moment (last few days!).

Yep - lawyers def wearing more informal clothes (and more fashionable i think..). Suits for meetings obviously. I reckon a nice relatively plain work dress from one of the places mentioned above or try Next/asos for cheaper alternatives(or even Boden - well this is mumsnet!). A dress should hide your tummy and you can get a bigger size for now and then wear a belt to cinch it in when you lose weight so not wasted. You can dress it up with jacket to be more formal or down with cardie and then go bare arms if go out for drink after work! If its plain coloured you can wear it with any colour cardie or shoes so takes the hassle out of trying to look co-ordinated!

Sorry forgot to mention good old M&S who have a whole section called "work dresses" on their website. Oh and Zara.
Getting over excited now - gave up my lawyering to be SAHM so don't get much opportunity to wear dresses these days

Ooooh, I am in sort of the same boat and am going back to a smaller firm in the regions - have gone for the shift dress/cardie look and actually feel overdressed!

weaselbudge, I wonder if I know you - am also ex lawyer SAHM soon to be lawyer again in the South West. 'Tis a smallish world.

Don't know many lawyers down here - only moved here last May from London commuter-ville. Well done with new job. Is it full time? Alas part time employment law jobs seem few and far between and my CV continues to get out of date :(

Law can still be quite conservative, so I'd say suits or tailored dresses with a jacket. John Lewis is always worth a look.

If you are up to that price range, is Issey Miyake still doing his Pleats Please range, which are designed to look nice on all sizes? (I think it was Miyake.)

This article might help too.

Good luck back at work!

weaselbudge have you looked in-house or for local government employment law positions? They seem to be much more set up for flexible working. Yes, I found the holy grail of a 3 day a week job but only because I scaled down on the size/calibre of firm so could negotiate.

I am in the same boat, planning to do the jersey wrap dress 'thing' and pray for weight-loss miracles in the interim.....

I am going to trail around the local outlet village (which has a Phase Eight, LK Bennett, Dune etc) and try not to spend too much as obviously I am going to be a teeny size six any minute now......

I just went for one black cheap (but not shiny) machine washable trouser suit from Debenhams and a grey skirt suit from M&S. I don't look amazing but I look smart enough, especially as I don't see many clients but instead spend hours on the phone to them. I was like you in that I hadn't lost much weight on mat leave but was hoping going back to work would make that change. It did and I've had to go and get both the trousers and the skirt from the suit in the next size down. It was good to be able to do that pretty cheaply. The machine washable factor has been a godsend - one morning DD vomited all over me just as I was about to leave for work and yesterday she ran up to give me a hug when I got home and it was only as she was hugging me that I noticed she had some banana in her hand which she was smearing all over me. I also bought half a dozen tops which go with both suits which helps when I'm getting ready in the dark when I don't want to disturb DP in the mornings - or DD on the nights she's ended up in our room.

I agree with the other posters that the dress seems much more informal than I remember but a suit is easy and I don't feel so mumsy & unfashionable as I would if I was trying to dress in non-obviously work clothes like the young, trendy,slim women in the office are able to.

I would second the suit and shirts combo. I tend to leave my jacket at the office and just add a cardigan/jumper for the commute (and in the office if no client meetings). Banana Republic does great work clothes (and more generous American sizes!).

Hello, I'm going back to work in June (accountant). As a women I think you can get away with not wearing a suit.

I have started to look for Jersey dresses. You could try Bravissimo which has not been mentioned on previous threads. They cater for curvy women. I also recently noticed that John Lewis sell Hobbs and Phase Eight and has free delivery on orders over £30.