This post was contributed by Cafe La Moda, the social space for fashion tips and beauty advice.
So Career Fashion Blog has posted a few times about bags that help accessorize your work outfit, and bring a touch of colour to your working day, but what about when your bag needs to mean business? Whether it’s client meetings, an interview, or business travel, sometimes the bag you carry with you is taken as part of your business attire, and it needs to be absolutely as well-thought-out as the rest of your outfit. You might just need a discrete clutch bag to stash your keys and cellphone, or you might also have to take a laptop, notebook or iPad with you, and dumping those things into any old laptop bag could ruin your carefully tailored look.
However, there’s no reason to worry, since bag makers are more than aware of the need for bags for business, and there is a huge range of sophisticated, businesslike bags available to you.
Covers and sleeves for iPads
If you’re lucky enough to have a work tablet that you take to meetings, don’t run the risk of it getting battered and don’t risk looking unprofessional with a shabby cover. Invest in a good black leather cover, perhaps picked out in an accent colour that matches your outfit: like this beautiful black leather sleeve with red leaf detail. Go to product
Laptop Tote Bags
If it’s a laptop you’re taking to your meeting, invest in a good quality laptop tote. Gone are the days when all laptop bags looked like school bags or briefcases, now it’s possible to choose a high quality laptop tote that’s beautifully designed to not only look elegant but also to make carrying a laptop a bit less of a chore: like this stylish Kerri Mack Albina Design bag. Go to product
Shoulder Bags
If you’ve only got to stash your cellphone and your keys somewhere that doesn’t ruin the line of your suit jacket, choose a small shoulder bag which doesn’t draw attention to itself. Go for a classic style if your bag needs to mean business, leave the tassles, zebra-print and flowers for another day, and pick something like this Guess Lina Top Handle Half-Flap bag, which is the perfect balance of elegant and businesslike. Go to product
Carry-on Bags
If you’re going further afield on business, the chances are you’ll need a travel or carry-on bag, and if you’re being met at the airport or at the hotel when you arrive, you might need to invest in a travel-size bag that’s all business. You don’t want to rumple your suit with a hefty shoulder bag, so go for a stylish rolling bag like this Glen Ellyn two-in-one. The rolling frame disconnects from the bag once you’ve arrived at your destination, leaving a stylish tote. Go to product
Wearing a beige woman’s business suit is a good choice for spring. I think it is a very good option to the white or off-white business suit, because it gives a similar impression of lightness, but it’s easier to keep clean. You don’t have to be quite as careful where you sit, and you can wear it a couple of more times before you have to dry clean it. Having several dark suits in your business attire is good, is good, but it’s good to also have at least one light one. But what top to wear with it?
The most obvious choice is a white blouse, which I have omitted because I am trying to look at it from a less classic viewpoint. The least obvious choice is beige-on-beige as in the first photo, creating a mono chromatic look (one color) with a beige top in a very similar shade of beige. Wearing a top in the same color as the business suit is not common, but it works with certain colors. The more common choices would be something with a contrasting color like the two tops in pinks and reds. The pink top against the beige business suit gives pop, and ideally could be followed up with accessories and jewelry with a pink hue (adding a pink scarf I think would be overdoing it). The last photo has a black top with the beige business suit and this bold contrast creates a dramatic look. This would be well accessorized with large gold pieces, perhaps large gold bangles. What statement are you in the mood to make with your business look today? Do you feel like subtly blending in and not drawing attention to yourself (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing), or do you feel like being bold and dramatic, getting people’s attention at a meeting?
Piping on a suit jacket (or on any other garment) is a thin strip of fabric inserted into a seam so that it sticks out a little bit. The piping fabric can be of the same color, or a different color for contrast. It can be of a different texture, it can be leather or even lace. Piping sewn into a seam on a garment creates sharper lines, and gives dimension to the garment. It can be a great design detail that makes a garment more interesting and less plain. It also shows that more effort and care was put into creating it.
Venture away from the standard woman’s business suit by selecting a suit jacket that has piping. This looks very conservative and business like, but it also makes your own business look seem a bit more personal when it has small design details, that make it a little different than the classic woman’s business suit that you would wear for business attire. The suit jacket you select could be part of a full business suit, or it can be a suit separates jacket wich you can combine with slacks or skirts from other suits you already have. Always keep in mind to ask yourself when you shop, if you already have pants or skirts that this will go with. Otherwise, it’s best to buy some on the same shopping trip, to avoid now having a great suit jacket in your wardrobe that you can’t wear due to lack of matching pants. The goal is to aqcuire at least two basic business suits first, and then venture out to find jackets and other pieces that are different – a professional business look that expresses your own personality.
Should you always strive to be in the middle ground? Are there fine lines of what is too casual, and what is too fancy for women’s business attire? Having to stay within such a margin can be really limiting and frustrating. If you are going to err, then always “err” on the side of being too fancy, than too casual. Rarealy will you get complaints regarding your work clothes for “looking too nice”.
Here are two examples. The flanel blouse is too casual of a work outfit even for casual friday. The silk blouse is ok, but could be too fancy in some situations. If you are dealing with a client who dresses very casual you can make her uncomfortable if you dress to formal.
But the rule of thumb for women’s business attire is that overedressed is usually better than under dressed.
Black pants is a standard ingredient in most womens work wardrobe. Of course, we have to have at least two pairs of well fitting black pants for work clothes. But let’s not get stuck in a pattern though. Take a work outfit that you normally wear with blank pants and try it with another pair of pants – like white pants for example. A turqoise suit jacket can be worn with both black and white pants. It creates a different mood. Try switching some of your different suit pants and suit jackets around to create different moods for your work outfits. But check yourself out in the mirror well before you decide to go with it, to make sure you are comfortable. You cold be the first one at your office srtart a trend.
Have ever looked for a suit at H & M? It’s kind of hit and miss. Sometimes you find good things there, sometimes not. However for a gal who is shopping for casual work clothes on a budget, it can be a place to find an extremly reasonable jacket that can be worn as suit separates. You have to start building your work clothes wardrobe somewhere, and if you can’t afford the expensive brands, this good be a decent place to start. If your business attire wardrobe budget is very limited, go to H & M and shop only for enough clothes there to get you through one week. Then wash you clothes every Sunday, and SET ASIDE what you can, and save up buy one nice piece at a time. Don’t spend more than you absolutely have to. Once you have one week covered, then save your budget to gradually aqcuire a business wardrobe one suit at a time (and if you can’t afford a whole suit, then buy one nice suit jacket and wear it with mix-and-match pants).
Alright, you’ve got the basic shoe colors covered (black shoes, gray shoes, tan shoes) – now get pink round toe shoes for you suit! Most women have too many black shoes in their closet. It’s true that we need them. But we can’t keep on buying ONLY black shoes. Add some color to your shoe collection. Especially if you wear business suits for work – then it is more important than ever to add some color to your professional attire. Match the color of the shoes up with the blouse, or purse, or other accessories like the necklace if you like (but don’t go TOO matchy-matchy).
These two women’s business outfits both use orange and brown. These outfits use the same ensemble concept of open suit jacket with a top, rahter than a blouse, underneath. Both make good suit separates. But one is very overstated and the other one is kind of understated. Which one you should wear, depends on your complexion and coloring – how much orange can you stand? The work outfit on the right has a very deep orange, and a very deep, rich brown. The left suit ensemble has an orange that would be more appropriately labeled coral, with a very soft brown suit jacket. It’s very light and sort of summery. All these items might also mix and match well to create more than one outfit.
Compare these two women’s business suits in light summer colors. One is rather casual and the other is more formal. They are of a similar colors scheme and follow pretty much the same formula – suit jacket with separate pants. What is it about them that makes one look like business casual and the other like formal business attire? Is one more expensive? No, not necessarily. The business casual outfit is made of fabric that wrinkles easily, and where the indentations of the wrinkles stay (until next time it is pressed). This doesn’t necessarily mean that it is less expensive – there are many women’s suits that are made of wrinkle-prone material that are high priced (often too high priced in my opinion).
The other suit, on the right is made of a fabric that wrinkles less, is less stiff, is more “flowy”, and has more “fall” as we call it. The fact that the fabric doesn’t wrinkle is the main thing that makes a business sut look more formal or casual. And this may or may not mean a big difference in price. You just need to check the fabric when you shop for your work cloths, and the way to check is to grab a handfull of fabric in your hand and squeeze it like an apple – then watch how much/little the wrinkles stay when you let go.
Notice the little bit of red in this black business suit? Formal business attire for women doesn’t necessarily have to completely dark. Your all black business suit doesn’t have to be “all black”. It doesn’t take much to perk it up. When you have a work blouse in a bright color that shows up just a tiny bit between the lapels, you get just a hint of color accent that almost acts like an accessory, even though its a blouse. All you need is a little “triangle of color” to show.
Blouses in black and white make a dramatic look. Wearing blouses with big bold prints make a more fun, playful look than wearing a blouse in a solid color. However, big prints in crazy colors can get a little too crazy sometimes. Wearing black and white prints with women’s professional attire works very well. You can choose a black woman’s business suit and make it just a bit more wild with a printed black and white top like thise. Also a taupe or beige business suit could work, possibly gray, but in that case it’s important to get the right shade. If you wear a blouse like this with just nice slacks and not a matching suit jacket, then this work outfit becomes more like business casual, rather than formal women’s business attire.
Do you feel restricted by having to wear a business suit for work every day? Well, if you are bound by business attire they way to express your very own fashion style is with jewelry. Accessorizing with your very own unique style of jewelry is where you can take license and be very creative. There are hardly any rules. Try to find your own style with a necklace that makes your suit pop.
Accessories is an important part of your professional image. They can make or break an outfit. They can make an old business suit look new. Someone said that the rule to have matching shoes and purse no longer have to be followed. It’s true – that isn’t a strict rule anymore at all. However, it still looks good. So if you see a pair of hot shoes with a cool matching purse – grab ‘em. Add some color to your professional wardrobe.
Here are some examples of simple but classic plus size dresses that would work really well with the “suit dress” look. These dresses have clean lines and simple cuts, and would make a great work outfit. Put a classic black suit jacket over this dress and you’ll have a really nice casual business look. Your business attire wardrobe should consist of casual work clothes as well as formal women’s business suits. And having a couple of simple but classic dresses like these to wear under a suit jacket, gives more options to what you can do with your business suit.
Some days you just don’t feel like wearing a conventional woman’s business suit. One alternative would be to wear a “suit dress”. Put on a straight, “pencil skirt type” dress, with a pair of smart pumps. If it comes with a matching suit jacket, then buy it too. If it doesn’t, then throw on a jacket from one of your standard woman’s business suits, and wear the jacket with the dress as suit separates. Black or charcoal gray suit jackets could be your reliable staple for this “suit dress look”. Accessorize with a pretty necklace and you are ready to go make things happen. This is a great way to vary your professional image.
Another version of this business look is the skirt with a long jacket (above).
You should get more skirt suits for your summer wardrobe. Don’t forget, a classic woman’s business suit can have either pants or a skirt. And for this season, why don’t you get a couple of gray skirt suits. If you work in a place where you have to maintain a very professional image, and stick to traditional women’s business attire, you can wear a charcoal gray skirt suit as an alternative to the classic black business suit. Personalize it with a bright, pretty necklace that expresses your personality, so you don’t loose your identity in the corporate business attire dress code. Add your own signature with an accessory.
Stay cool in the summer with women’s business suit in white or off white. Business attire in white gives a very crisp and clean look. A pant suit in white can be made more lively and chic with a blouse in a bright color, like chartreuse. Or if you want to stay within a little more conservative business attire, you can wear a striped black-and-white blouse. However, business attire for women is not as strict as for men, so you have a lot more licence with what colors you choose. Also, a woman’s business suit in white can be complemented with a separate jacket in a bright color, like coral or chartreuse. This way you can create a new look with the same white suit pants.
Make sure the buttons on the sleeve are neat, and have no loose threads hanging.
Inspect the general details and stitching, before buying the suit.
There are several things you should inspect when you buy a woman’s business suit. Just because the price tag is high, it may not be the best business attire for you. It goes with out saying that the suit should of course be fully lined. And super cheap quality lining will sooner or later rip, so stay away from that. Check the wrinkle factor of the suit material by grabbing a part of the suit with one hand and crunch it all up with your fist – when you let go and the fabric falls out of your hand, you will see how wrinkle prone the material is. (Wool blends don’t wrinkle much; linen wrinkles a lot.) Inspect the seams at the lapels and the pockets – if anything looks less then perfect, don’t buy it. If you see a loose thread, pull it and see what happens. If there are too many loose threads, don’t buy it. Check the suit’s seams for any puckers (especially around the shoulder). If there are any puckers at all, ask the sales associate to steam them out – but if the puckers can’t be steamed out easily, it means the stitching was not done right to begin with when it was sewn, so don’t buy it. Inspect the buttons at the bottom of the sleeve to make sure they are neat and straight. Last, when you wear the business suit, look and see that the lining doesn’t poke out lower than the hem line at the edge of the sleeves or at the bottom of the suit jacket.
Spring is here and it’s time to update your professional wardrobe with something white. Get a new crisp white woman’s business suit for your business attire. If you live in a warm climate, like Florida or Southern California, then you could get a suit with a short sleeved suit jacket. A white skirt suit will keep you cool, and looking good. Accessorize it with silver or gold jewelry.
For women who don’t look good in starch white, a beige skirt suit may be an option. Like this suit below:
Finding the good, reliable basics for your professional wardrobe is important. These classic, black or gray women’s business suits, are the first things anyone building a stylish work wardrobe should buy. But even for us who have many of these suits as our business attire “building blocks” – they do wear out sometimes, and we have to get new ones every now and then. If your get black business suits with jackets, pants and skirts that are interchangeable, then you can create more work outfits with the same pieces. And if just the jacket wears out, then you will be able to wear the pants or the skirt with another one of your suit jackets instead of having to toss out the entire suit. You actually save money by purchasing more than one suit at a time – the total amount of that purchase is higher, but you end up spending less on your professional wardrobe budget annually, if you plan it that way.
I recently found a good on-line source for women’s business suits called JKL Clothing. They offer a wide range of women’s business suits, leisurewear and also embroidered clothing. I thought it might be a good idea to try getting a white blouse embroidered with my initials for example. It has been a thing that men do with their shirts, but I think I may try it with two or three blouses for myself.
While browsing around Nordstrom’s we found a couple of examples of nice casual work outfits in plus sizes that are very accessorized well. For plus size outfits we recommend long necklaces as accessories.
TOP: This work outfit consists of a staple black skirt, with a casual cardigan over a classic white blouse. This ensemble would have worked well by itself, but accessorized with the lime green multi string necklace it gets a completely different feel to it. Don’t under estimate how just one accessory can change the look of a professional attire outfit.
BOTTOM: The blue cardigan set is rather plain by itself, even though good quality. In this image it is the necklace and the purse that makes this work outfit what it is. Accessorize a plain work outfit with two accessories that don’t necessarily match, but that add spunk and class. When using un-matching accessories limit them to 2 – if you use 3 or more un-matching accessories, it will look messy.
Adding cardigans to your professional wardrobe is a good idea. It’s very simple to add a cardigan to a woman’s business suit. Cardigans are usually not so bulky that it looks weird wearing it under a suit jacket. One of the most chic ways to wear a cardigan is to have a basic, white blouse under the cardigan, with the collar sticking up and folded over it. A basic blouse, in traditional white or other color, gives a classy feel to any work outfit. In normal weather, you may have your classic business suit with a white blouse, but in chilly weather you just add a cardigan over the blouse, and it looks quite polished while keeping you warm at the same time. And in order to get maximum warmth, get a wool blend. If the cardigan is going to be thin, so as to not bulk under the suit jacket, it should be as warm as possible and then your best bet is wool. Or cashmere.
Here’s in interesting task – how do we take advantage of a subtle hue in a plaid fabric? In the first photo we have a argyle print stockings with a very thin mustard yellow stripe. The skirt is is in the same shade of yellow as in the stockings, and it’s worn with a traditional black suit jacket and black shoes. The second photo is gray plaid skirt with a very slight line of mustard yellow. That subtle hue is matched up with a suit jacket in the same color. This could be worn with black stockings and black pumps, or perhaps tall black boots. If you have the colors carefully planned out, you can create some good work outfits by mix-and-matching suit separates. Any other suggestions on picking up hues from the readers ?
No tights with business attire, please. Puh-leeaas! I don’t care how popular they are right now, you can NOT wear tights to work. On the mannequin in this photo somebody made an effort to make these tights look more formal and dressy by putting them with a blazer. No way. That just does not work. Maybe for a party, but not for a work outfit. It doesn’t matter if you try to turn a pair of tights into a business casual outfit by wearing them with a suit jacket. It looks terrible. (I seldom use blogs to simply rant, but today I couldn’t hold it back.)
No tights with business attire, please. Puh-leeaas! I don’t care how popular they are right now, you can NOT wear tights to work. On the mannequin in this photo somebody made an effort to make these tights look more formal and dressy by putting them with a blazer. No way. That just does not work. Maybe for a party, but not for a work outfit. It doesn’t matter if you try to turn a pair of tights into a business casual outfit by wearing them with a suit jacket. It looks terrible. (I seldom use blogs to simply rant, but today I couldn’t hold it back.)
