It’s hot. How do we survive the heat wave while still looking like stylish professional women? One option is to go with a short sleeved suit. There are many women’s business suits in the stores right now, that have short sleeve jackets, but still look very classy. You can definately get away with this and still stay within the formal business dress code, if the weather is killing you. However, you do need to make sure the skirt or slacks, the accessories, and the rest of the outfits stay a bit conservative.
If the other women at the office are melting away in long sleeved suit jackets, you need to start the trend. Don’t be afraid to be the first one to show up in a short sleeved jacket. Get a couple of other women to do it as well, and the rest may follow. Start the trend and save those poor women from having heat strokes in their business pant suits.
Accessorize your business suit with a belt. Put the belt over the jacket, whether it needs it or not, just to dress it up. Select a belt that harmonizes in tone with either the suit or the other accessories, so that it doesn’t break it off with too much of a contrast. Pull it slightly tight, but not so tight that it ruins the shape of the jacket. If you have an old suit that you haven’t worn for a while, take it out of the closet and re-invent it with new ways of accessorizing it, for example with a belt. If you feel a pant suit looks a little too plain for you, you can express more of your own individuality by putting on a belt that you feel is really your style. This, of course, works for skirt suits as well.
(These suits from Banana Republic and Nordstrom.)
Be a smart girl and get the most mix and match outfits for your shopping money. Think ahead. Don’t just jump on one lovely garment, that you just must have. Look around and see what else goes with it. Sometimes the designers make it easy for us by purposely creating outfits that that meant to be re-combined, like these classy ensembles of dresses with suit jackets from St. John. But other times we have to search around the store to match our business suits up. Do bother the sales staff to help you match things up – they usually enjoy helping shoppers creating outfits.
Summer is here. The weather is warm – but you still have to wear a full pant suit for work. What do you do?
Stay away from dark colors unless you don’t ever have to leave your cool, air-conditioned office. Go look for women’s business suits in light colors, like white, cream, taupe, light brown or light gray. It will make you feel much, much better. Wear light colored tops with them. Or short sleeved blouses. It’s defiantely OK to wear a short sleeved blouse in a professional situation in the summer. And last, wear open-toe shoes with your pant suit. (Not slingbacks or sandals, though.) The open-toe shoe can be worn with business attire these days, and especially in the summer nobody can complain about it. If you feel bored, put on an anklet as well. Summer is short - enjoy the dress code flexibility that summer brings, while it lasts.
(These suits from Macy’s.)
YvesSaint Laurent passed two days ago, away leaving us a legacy of great fashion. He really changed the world he left behind, with his ideas. Among other things, he is credited with popularizing the pant suit for women. Yves was a pioneer in giving men’s clothing a feminin elegant cut. He defyed the rules of fashion by designing classy pant suits, which define how today’s busniness women dress. Alot of the trends we still follow for women’s bussiness attire were set by Yves in the early 60′ies.
Does Hillary Clinton think of Yves Saint Laurent as she gets dressed in the morning? Well, the pant suit concept that defines much of her style was brought to us by Yves.
