Here are some ideas on how to create work outfits with white pants (without using the obvious white suit jacket). First we have a casual, cute outfit, with a tomato red jacket over a black and white print top. That outfit could work very well with a black jacket, but the red adds some spunk. This outfit would be good for casual work clothes. Second we have a very formal business outfit, with a pair of flowy white dress slacks and a light gray plaid blazer. The gray blazer has a very slight shine to it, which makes it look even more formal. This is a good business attire combination to have in addition to the other matching formal suits in your professional wardrobe. The third pair of white slacks are worn with a simple gray blouse, that has a light luster to the fabric which makes it look more dressy. This work outfit could pass for either business casual, or professional business attire depending on what type of black suit jacket is put with it.

Leopard print shawl, necklace and purse.

Here are 4 rules for accessorizing a woman’s business suit with leopard print accessories:

1. The various leopard accessories have to match each other. Just because it’s all leopard print it doesn’t necessarily mean they will look good togehter. They don’t have to be a “set”, but compare the brown tones in between the spots of the leopard print and choose the accessories that harmonize.

2. Limit the amount of leopard accessories you wear at one time with your business suit to 3-4. If you wear too many, it may look like you escaped form the zoo. This type of “over accessorizing” is what makes people wonder if it’s a good idea or not, but it’s just fine as long as you stay away from over-kill.

3. You ought to have a few items in brown tones that match the browns in the leopard accessories. It’s not necessary to wear anything brown when you wear leopard (as in the example of the black power suit above), but it’s good to have handy in your professional wardrobe, as it gives you more flexibility in creating work outfits. For example, get a brown blouse, a brown belt, a brown scarf, etc. Note: It is much easier to select leopard accessories first, and then look for clothes that has a similar shade of brown, than first buying brown clothes and then trying to find a leopard print in that tone.

4. Experiment with gold. Try on a gold belt. If you wear leopard jewelry, try layering it with gold jewelry.

Here you can find some leopard jewelry at Macys: http://www1.macys.com/search/index.ognc?SearchTarget=*&Keyword=leopard+jewelry&KEYWORD_GO_BUTTON.x=15&KEYWORD_GO_BUTTON.y=15

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Here are four completely different examples of how to wear a cardigan with a work outfit. They are four different colors, four different styles, for four different women with different personalities. Which one is your personality?

1. The first is a long gray cardigan with a fun print top, over white pants. This will do well for a casual work wardrobe. It’s comfortable, but more dressy than jeans.

2. The second example is a little more formal, with a light purple cardigan over a nice blouse and brown pencil skirt.

3. And more formal still, the third example is very conservative, and you migth even say a bit of a strict look. A red cardigan and a crisp white blouse with the collar sticking up over it, over nice black slacks. This look will work well if you work in a very formal place.

4. And last, a very bold, unique look, that takes some personality to pull off – a very bright striking yellow cardigan, belted over a white top and black suit skirt. This look does fit within what one might call a professional wardrobe, it just takes some boldness to make a statement like that. But making statements is what fashion is all about – even business attire.

If you wear a cardigan with a business suit, make sure that it is not longer than the suit jacket – unlike blouses, it doesn’t look good if you see the cardigan sticking out under the jacket.

These outfits from: Banana Republic, Macy’s and Bloomingdales.

Howie Mandel was taken to the hospital for a heart problem while working on his new show “Howie Do It”, and we wish him speady recovery. Here is a photo of a model named Aubrie from the Howie Mandel show “Deal or No Deal”, showing another great look for a casual work clothes outfit. Abrie is wearing a crisp white blouse with a 3/4 sleeve. She wears her white blouse untucked over the jeans, with a quite wide contrasting brown belt. This is another way to make jeans work for an office outfit – it looks casual but professional at the same time. She doesn’t wear a necklace, her only accessories for this outfit are the belt and earrings. You can see more of Aubrie’s personal style here: http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal/photos/models/#cat=401&sec=1688

Can jeans be worn at work? If you don’t work in a very formal place where business suits are mandatory, then there is a way. It all depends on what you wear WITH those jeans, rather than the jeans themselves. Here is a look that makes jeans work very well – wear the jeans with a crisp white blouse, a black suit jacket and a classic pearl necklace. For business casual, turn jeans into an office outfit by pretending it is a business suit only that you exchanged the suit pants for the jeans. And if you put a pair of nice pumps and perfect nails with that, no-one can criticize you.

If your work place requires traditional business attire, then don’t do it unless they have specifally said you can wear jeans on “casual Friday”. A professional wardrobe normally wouldn’t include jeans, but if you can wear casual work clothes, then the way to go is to dress them up with a suit jacket and a professional blouse.

Feeling bored with your conventional business suit? Then the thing to do is to put on a bright, colorful top. If you are in the mood, then put on a top that is almost oboxiously bright, like this orange one. If a women’s business suit is pretty conservative, you can balance that out by wearing a top that almost screams hello. Corporate dress codes tell you what business suits to wear, but not really what tops to wear. That is one area where you can choose your own style and express your mood. It does have to match the suit though, but staying within that limit, why don’t you push it a little and see what you can get away with (put not if you are brand new on the job).  Creating business attire outfits can be more creative than you think – it does have some rules, but you should still express YOU. A professional wardrobe should of course have a few basic blouses in it, but don’t stop there – go out and find at least one really bright top for each of your business suits. Who knows, you might cheer people up in the office.

Theses outfits from Bloomingdale’s.

Here is a good example of a gray pinstripe pant suit. Laura Bush is wearing a basic blouse in a very light shade of pink with her suit as she is picking out gold-rimmed china for the white house. Say what you will about politics, this is a good example of what type of blouse to pick for a pinstriped business suit. The pant suit is a light shade of gray, and the pinstripe is white. The easiest choice with this suit would be a basic white blouse, but you can also wear a very light blue blouse, or in Laura Bush’s case,  a basic pink blouse in a very subtle shade of pink.

Photos by: AP/ Manuel Balce Ceneta and AP/ Ron Edmands.

 Compare these two photos of the same black business suit accessorized in two different ways. This same classic black power suit with a basic white blouse, gets a new personality by changing to a new set of accessories. The key to good accessorizing is in sets. When you see a pair of shoes, or an accessory you like, look for other items to go with it to complete the set – that way it is quick to whip together a chic professional business outfit when your off to a meeting.

Some accessories are meant to go together, like the gray snake skin pointy toe pumps with the matching bag. We put them with a gray shawl that matches one of the gray tones in the animal print, and then added a silver necklace to the blouse. Black and gray are good basics for business attire.

Put the accessories in the set doesn’t have to be “matchy-match”. On the right we picked roomy purple leather bag, and we put a pair of purple round toe shoes with it. The shoes are in a slightly different shade of purple, but they are close enough that they look good together. And for jewelry, we put a striking purple necklace to contrast with the collar of the white blouse. You ought to have some color in your professional wardrobe.

(These accessories from Nine West, Bakers, and Bloomingdale’s.)

  Create an interesting casual work clothes look, by wearing black and white print tops. Choose a blouse or a top with a busy print pattern, and wear it with nice black dress slacks. You can wear a round, circular pattern (left), or a square, geometric pattern (right). The type of the pattern you wear depends on your personality. Black pants that fit well are accentuated with a black and white top. This is an easy office outfit that will make you look classy without having to think too much in the morning. A suggestion: organize your wardrobe so that the print tops and blouses hang together, and the solid blouses and tops hang together. This makes it faster to choose your outfit in the morning.

If you aren’t in a good mood, lift yourself  up with some color. Fall is here. It can be gloomy. Liven your self up with a color you like. If you had a bad day, go to the mall after work and try on some colors you usually don’t wear. Brighten up your business attire with a new color that no-one has seen you in. Get a new office outfit in a color you have never tried before. Go beyond the basics and select a nice top of color to add to your professional wardrobe.

Sarah Palin must have a quite large closet. The peach, off white, and red suit jackets she is wearing here is a great example of how you can create different professional outfits with jackets, once you have a pair of good, professional black slacks or black skirt that fit your body type well. Looking at a photo like this, we may get ideas about what bright colored jackets we could go out and shop for to add to our business attire. But women should keep in mind that, though the suit jackets look great, the black power suit the foundation here. Then a classic white blouse is added to it. And last, the bright colored suit jackets are added to the wardrobe for mix and matching. See below how to put together a Sarah Palin suits wardrobe.

What to buy to make a killer professional wardrobe:

1. A black women’s business suit, that comes with both a skirt and pants. (If it doesn’t, then buy a black pant suit plus a separate black skirt that matches). (talbots.com  bananarepublic.com)

2. A classic white blouse. This can be worn with almost any business suit, and always looks professional. (BasicBlouse.com)

3. Buy three different suit jackets that you can mix and match with the black pants and skirt from the first suit. (Get one suit jacket in a neutral color, and two in bright colors – red, for example is a great power color.) (anntaylor.com  macys.com)

(photo credits: Agia Presser, Carlos Barria, Tom LeGro, Dana Edelson)

While scouting the mall today, I saw three things: purple, gray and black. In several stores I saw the same thing: business suits, fall jackets, dresses, slacks in these three colors. Even black boots, gray boots and purple boots. It’s only September, but we are seeing some business fashion for fall already.

When planning a professional wardrobe it is a good idea, in general, to stick to 3-4 colors that all go with each other. This way you’ll end up with work outfits that match, where you can change around the gray slacks with a purple blouse, a purple coat with a gray dress, black pants with purple suit jacket, etc. Always think about how you can mix and match things together when you shop. Don’t be afraid to put color in your business attire. You can use neutrals like black and gray power suits, then add one bright color to the outfits – like purple for example.

See the triangle of colored lace with this suit jacket? Barely noticable. But it’s there. Wearing a lace top in a contrasting color is an interesting way to enhance a classic pant suit. It’s an alternative to wearing a blouse or solid top. The texture of the lace lends a different feel to the suit, than the more common tops do. It’s almost like adding an accessory of sorts. Women’s business fashion has changed over the years, and you may not have seen people wearing a lace top with office outfits 20 years ago. But nowadays lace and other camis are ok, as long as you keep the jacket of the pant suit on the whole time. That goes for anything sleeveless.  The lace top shouldn’t over power the suit, you wear it so that just a little bit of it showes between the lapels – like a triangle. You don’t have to wear the classic career blouse every day – you can really change the look of the business suit by changing the top you wear with it. Add some variety to your professional wardrobe, by getting some new lace tops for in 3-4 different colors. (However, be careful with black lace because it can make you look like you’re wearing lingerie.)

Gray pant suit with burgondy lace top.

Above: A stylish neutral gray pant suit with a splash of burgundy lace showing between the lapels. It doesn’t draw your attention. It just adds an interesting accent. Below: A black power suit brightened up by a touch of blue lace. Black suits, in particular, can be given a different life with a bright, contrasting color.

Black power suit with blue lace top.

Here is another classy lady in a red suit. Sarah Palin is more often seen in a blak pant suit with a red blouse, but here she is seen in a red business suit with a black sweater. Red and black are definitely power colors. We should keep an eye on this lady’s style, considering she was Miss Wasilla in 1984.

It seems to be a recurring theme in her style – a black pant suit with a red basic blouse. We have been watching Sarah Palin’s style a bit. Considering she was once a model and won the Miss Wasilla in 1984, we should probably pay attention. She often wears red and black – power colors indeed. Sometimes she wears her black women’s business suit with a colorful blouse to make it less dark, and sometimes she wears it just plain black. Both look good, it depends on the mood. However, wearing a bright colored blouse under he black suit jacket is a great way to brighten up a pant suit. Notice how in one of the photos she wears the red blouse folded under the suit jacket, and in the other photo she wears it with the blouse collar folded up and over the lapels of the jacket. There are many ways to wear a basic blouse with a business suit.                                  (Photo by Bob Butcher)

Do you ever feel restricted by having to follow a corporate dress code? Sometimes we all do. One way to express yourself with fashion, even though wearing professional attire, is to go wild with the jewelry. In jewelry, the rules are so gray, the rights and wrongs are not very fixed at all. If you feel like a woman’s business suit kills your creativity sometimes, why don’t you take the opportunity to express your individuality with a necklace? Go out of your way to find unique necklaces that no-one else in your work place wears with their office outfits. Keep the suit and the blouse nice and sharp, but choose a jewelry set with thick layers of pearls and a beautiful shell as with this pink suit jacket; or big, chunky black beads as with this crisp white blouse; or a thick, red choker necklace as with Hillary Clinton’s brown pant suit.             Photo: Rubia Morua

What to wear when it is so hot? Dying of heat stroke in a business suit, is not a price a professional woman should have to pay, for looking good. Choosing a summer outfit for the office is hard without crossing the line of casual work attire. We have to face it – it is almost impossible to follow formal business attire if we are going to stay cool. There is no easy way around it. When the temperature goes over 90, the pant suit will have to go. For a few days anyway.

My suggestions is to simply wear a nice skirt, with a crisp white blouse. It’s simple and good. Easy to put together, and looks very proper and chic. If you want to, you can also wear a sleeveless dress with a conservative cut. Some companies don’t allow sleeveless at work, so check first. And don’t wear a low neckline. These work outfits in the photo to the left from Ann Taylor, are some examples of what you can wear in the office in the summer when it’s hot. (And they easily convert to winter work outfits, by wearing them with a black suit jacket or blazer, thicker stockings and boots.) A note of caution though – don’t wear skirts that are too short, or casual spagetti strap dresses to the office.)

A pair of gray pants is a standard in your closet, just like the black pants. It’s a basic, a staple, and it can save you when you don’t know what to wear. In some very formal business situations it is considered inappropriate to wear bold or “happy” colors. Professional attire doesn’t always have to stick to basic colors – far from it – but certain situations require a rather conservative look. You can get gray pants as part of a business pant suit, but also get a pair or two of separate gray pants. They match up with almost everything, but do pay attention to the fact there can be a slight blue, green or brown tone to the gray fabric. (It’s imporatant to keep that in mind when selecting the top.) Gray slacks can be worn with a classy white blouse, for example. Or with a stylish black top, as in the above photos. (These outfits seen at Banana Republic.)

Here Katie Holmes wears a nicely pressed navy suit blouse with gray slacks. This photo is from when she had a bob cut, recently she changed her hair style to a pixie cut. This type of basic blouse is so comfortable and easy to wear. It’s classy and never goes out of style. It goes with so many things – slacks, skirts, jeans. It can be dressed up with business attire, or it can be dressed down with jeans or casual work clothes. It can let you escape and be right in the middle when you can’t decide what you want to be (dressed up or down). This is a mainstay and a staple which every woman should have several of – at least a cuple of white blouses and then two or three in colors. They form, of sorts, a foundation in your wardrobe.

These gray slacks are also a staple that form the basic foundation in your wardrobe. Most women have at least one pair of black slacks to match up with various tops. But you should also have a pair of gray separate pants that come in handy, as they are a neutral that can be worn with almost everything, but not quite so black, if you know what I mean. Black pants is the first basic, gray pants is the second basic. Having these as a part of your wardrobe foundation, you can then get creative and build on with other unique garments. And doesn’t she look great?

(photo from davidouss Series-blog.fr)

This is a navy women’s business suit with a small light blue pinstripe (a power color). It is worn with a light blue blouse that matches the color of the pinstripe. Some stores have blouses that match their suits, they planned it into their collection. But sometimes you have to go to another store to find nice blouses that match the pinstripe. It is worth the trip. Hold the blouse close to the business suit to match it up. (This suit from Georgiou.)

Here we have a black business suit with a wide pinstripe in a purple tone. Here we have chosen a purple blouse in a shade darker than the pinstripe – and also a lavender blouse in a shade lighter than the stripe in the suit. Both work. If you can’t find the exact shade, just play around with blouses in shades that are close enough to the pinstripe color. Some business women just wear white blouses with everything, and while that doesn’t look bad, it will enhance your professional attire if you can find a blouse in a color that matches the pinstripe. (This suit from BCBG.)

Belts are often an underestimated accessory. Adding a belt to your outfit changes the look. Those extra little details create a more polished impression. Accessories like belts, scarves, purses and jewelry may not be the thing that strikes you first when you look at a business woman walking down the street. But if she didn’t wear them, you would notice that something was different without knowing why. Those extra little details can turn an other wise plain business suit into a highly individualized outfit, expressing who you feel you are.

In the left photo the mannequin wears a wide belt that markedly separates the classic white blouse from the posh pencil skirt. I slightly dramatic style. In the right photo the mannequin wears a thin blet, casually resting on top of the white suit jacket. This accent is adds just a very subtle touch to the pant suit. Both of these belts sit rather high, pretty much right on the waist. The fashion rule of always placing the belt resting low on the hip is no longer a fast rule. (The hip belt is not out of style, but the waist belt is comming back.) These ensembles from Banana Republic.

What colors are best for women’s business suits? It depends on what impression you are trying to make. Lighter colors are often said to be more approachable, but darker colors give more of an impression of strength and authority. The main power colors are traditionally navy and black. Here is an example of two sharp looking navy pant suits for women. One suit is accessorized with a gray choker necklace, the ohter is worn plain with a basic white blouse. Both of these business outfits gives an unmistakable professional look. The navy business suit should be a mainstay in the closet of a woman who has to wear professional attire.