Now some of you may not be reading this post until evening time or the weekend because you've been busy bees working all week, and as many of you are aware Thursdays are a working day. This leads handily onto to this weeks blog topic, the wonderful world of work wear.
Ever since I picked up my first TeenVOGUE at the age of about 12 (I was very age restricted, I didn't watch my first 12 rated film until I was in fact 12 so this was pretty outrageous for me, reading a teen magazine and not officially being a teen) I have been OBSESSED with what women wear to work. I have dreamt of the day that I can actually look at ELLE's work wear spread and consider buying something without looking like a pretentious idiot, no one likes someone who works in an ice cream parlour to dress like a white collar worker.
(Miranda Priestly, the Queen of work wear wonder, despite being fictional)
My fascination with smart dressing probably explains my fierce loyalty to shops like Reiss and why perhaps one friend of mine describes my style as 'someone who's about to meet the Queen.' I live in the country side and I am quite partial to wearing a low heel on a day to day basis.
You can therefore imagine my joy when I am finally given the opportunity to dress like a pretentious, crease free working girl, I will be giving Emily Blunt a run for her money I can assure you of that. This September I will be work placing away in, can you believe it, London with an SW6 postcode, not quite SW3 but who's complaining! This has then lead to over addiction of pinterest creating a 'work wear board' and squirrelling away outfit ideas. (I'm not buying anything yet, because I will have obviously have lost at least 5 stone before September so my dress size will have altered.)
(I do hope that I can give her a run for her money, she is terribly well dressed)
Anyway, so what do you wear to work? In this blog I'm going to assume that you are all working in high class jobs that require Reiss' complete a/w collection (to be honest I probably went into my line of work purely for the outfit perks) and that you're female. So away we go after that terribly long introduction...
1. Trousers
It is well known that trousers symbolise authority, 'who wears the trousers' and all that so they will go down well in office. Like Melanie Griffith in working girl but without the bad hair. And with pyjama dressing on the up you can just role out of bed in the morning and jump on the tube, and let's face it your hair probably will look like Melanie Griffith. Here are the pick of the best.
If you're like me, you'll appreciate the importance of a good dress. I like to have several that I can rely on to make me look like I've made an effort when really I've made none at all. One with a sophisticated print and a nice fit that might detract from the fact that you've been up all night drinking (I have several of these on reserve for when I have to pretend to my mum that I'm not hungover.) It also adds a little bit of fresh air and femininity to the office.
(The shoes will do nicely too)
3. Shirt
An obvious choice, for both the female and male genders, or in between, we're so PC here. There is a way of getting it right though, and I think Gok would agree with me here. Too, too many women think that wondering blindly through Marks and Sparks and grabbing the first fitted pin stripe shirt they see is enough. It is my pet hate. Go for a softer shirt, fitted makes you look cheap and masculine and has that school girl feel about it, I'm sorry but it does. Pair it with the perfect trouser and you've got easy breezy work wear chic.
(The entirety of the Prada s/s 2000 collection is my work wear ambition)
4. Shoes
The delight of a new job brings with it the excuse for more shoes. I have just bought a further 2 pairs! When it comes to work you need to be practical but pretty, shoes are one of the few areas where you have free reign, but don't go for anything too extravagant because you need them to go with a lot of outfits. We can thank Miuccia Prada for giving us the perfect work shoe. Her s/s 12 collection saw the rebirth of the court shoe and made it socially acceptable to wear them again. Formally on a similar no-no par to the fitted striped shirt the court shoe is the perfect work foot wear as it provides enough height to be smart, but not too high so that you want to kill yourself by the end of the working day.
(Pair o' these will see you right)
5. Accessories
Now this is where you can get creative you lucky things. In an ideal world I would be purchasing a Hermes Birkin, but come on this is only a placement for Christ's sake! But you can go a bit mad otherwise. I don't suggest that you go to an interview donning your finest ear cuff but once you've got the job give your outfit a bit of personality. Metal collars and interesting hosiery are winners with me.
(Ombre tights with a black allover outfit= weekday winner)
6. Coats
Now this isn't a huge aspect of the working wardrobe because you can pretty much wear any coat bar perhaps denim. Yes I should mention that actually, denim is pretty much forbidden in the workplace unless you're a painter or a builder. But I wanted to purely highlight my desire for a feather gilet. A Chanel-Esq jacket will go down equally well, though it might suggest that you are in the money which therefore might discourage a pay rise (or any pay at all in my case!)
(Celine a/w 12- work wear heaven)
And that's your lot. I was going to mention skirts but they follow similar rules to the dress, just don't do a Bridget Jones and go too short, no one wants to be the office slut. I also realise that buying an entire new wardrobe for a work placement is perhaps a bit excessive, especially as I am already Reiss' loyalist customer. Now all that is left to say is take it away Dolly Parton!
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