Finding the Work/Life Balance in your Wardrobe
Once upon a time, not so long ago, women in the workforce followed a certain status quo when it came to dressing the part. Suits, tailored jackets and lined knee-length skirts were the go-to attire, and our creative flair for fashion was stifled.
2018 is seeing lots of change when it comes to what we wear to the office. Women are embracing a new casual creativity when it comes to their wardrobe choices, sharing a sense of style and self with their daily get-ups at work.
We no longer feel the need to dress entirely in stiff suits that crease during the commute. We can now mix comfort with fashion, practical with gorgeous and professional with personal. But where is the line between weekend casual, and office chic?
Let’s discuss the three basic rules to owning your personal style in the office, while still looking the part.
1. Business Casual
The simplest way to define business casual is to find the happy medium between the tailored pant suit you’d don for an interview and the sweet strappy dress you’d wear to a barbeque. You can certainly mix elements of both styles, which can essentially double the looks in your wardrobe. Try adding your cute navy blazer with a fitted pair of pants and a white tee, or adding a chunky belt or cute sweater with your favourite knee length sundress.
It is a wise idea to use neutral colours as the base for your business attire; greys, navy, black, whites and beige all mix really well with a multitude of colours, and will benefit from the added pop of highlighted accents like jewellery or a handbag. You should consider adding pattern and texture to your outfit too, by adding plaids, pastels or striped tops and blouses to your solid colour pants or skirt; this is where you can really have fun with your personal style and avoid presenting a perpetually boring look.
2. Hair and Makeup
It is important to consider whether you are ‘dressing up’ a casual outfit, or ‘dressing down’ a business outfit. By deciphering which category your particular look of the day falls into, you can easily use this style guide to compliment your look with appropriate hair and makeup.
If your wardrobe choice is a ‘casualised’ business look, try wearing your hair in a loose braid pulled to the side or a casual messy bun. You can punctuate this casual chic look with natural foundation, a nude lip and light liner and mascara. You’ll look gorgeously made up, without even trying.
If you are dressing up a favourite casual dress or fitted jean/blazer combo, adopt a more formal approach to your hair and face. Try a styled outdo, a neat high bun or a pulled back ponytail. You can brighten your look with a gorgeous defined lip, a winged eye and a little highlighter on your cheeks to really define your amazing bone structure.
3. Shoes, Glorious Shoes
We love high heels. Like, really, really LOVE them. There is something about what a heel does to elongate our legs and accentuate our calf muscles that no girl can deny. But we hear you; wearing heels every day for the 9-5 just really isn’t sustainable, especially if your job requires you to be on your feet a lot. The new casual business style guide has empowered women to make their shoe more a matter of personal choice than an expected part of our work wear. Have an outfit that looks killer paired with heels? Go rock that look sister! Fancy giving your little tootsies a break throughout the week? Try wearing a pair of gorgeous ballet flats or a strappy sandal that will compliment your wardrobe without giving you blisters! The key to choosing a flat shoe that will still scream ‘I’m amazing’ in the office is to opt for a great quality material and a colour that you can match with more than one outfit. We recommend something like Cammino’s Urbana or Alba for a stylish shoe that will look the part, feel comfortable and adapt to loads of wardrobe choices for you this year at work.
Whether you are full time, part time, a working mum or just an outright superstar, you can certainly show off your true personal style while dressing appropriately for the office with a little advice, some experimentation and a whole lot of fun!