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.

Rainy wheather is comming, we know it. Be prepared this season and get a pair of rubber boots that are not just practical, but stylish looking. Get a big purse to match it, and you have your out doors look ready. Make sure your purse is big enough for your indoor pumps and a plastic bag. When you arrive at the office take your rain boots off and keep them in a plastic bag under your desk, and put on your black standard pump that goes with your buisness suit.

Don’t miss your chance to wear open toe shoes with your business suit. For is who like to show our toes, now is the chance to squeeze the last bit of fun out of summer. Wear your open toe shoes while you can, soon it will be too cold for that. If your black power suit need some spice, then wear a pair of bright turquise pumps. and perhaps with a matching shawl or scarf.

Choose a trouser sock in a neutral tone with a subtle design for your pant suit.

DO NOT wear bright colored trouser socks with your pant suit.

When you wear pant suits and flat shoes, like loafers, etc. there are many options for your trouser socks and knee highs. You can wear socks in neutral colors that have subtle patterns or designs on them. This gives an individual touch to a woman’s business suit. It’s sort of like viewing the sock as an accessory. If you wear trouser socks or knee highs in a color, it should be the same color and hue as either the slacks or the shoes. Never wear socks in a contrasting, bright color with your business suit - that breaks up your leg into three segments – and also it draws attention in a unnecessary way. The idea is to add something subtle to your business attire that makes your look more individual. For short women, it could give the optical illusion of having a longer leg if the socks or nylons are the same color as the pants. You can also wear textures socks or knee highs with pumps and high heels if the sock is about as thin as a nylon.

A tip: Before I throw my socks in the washer, I fasten the pairs together with a safety pin. That solves the problem of ending up with ONE stylish sock whose mate is missing.

Brighten up the drizzly weather with some color accessories. If you don’t want to buy new business suits, then renew them with splashing shoes and purse sets. Why not urge Spring to return early by putting on a pair of hot pink peep toe heals and matching pink purse, with your black power suit? Or if hot pink scares you – why not a big, roomy medium blue bag with matching blue pointy toe heels in a fun animal print, like subtle snake skin? Either of these sets would accessorize a woman’s business suit in a new and fun way. Wear the hot pink or lime green shoes for casual work clothes, and the olive or blue pointy toes for more formal business attire. (And the rules about no open toe shoes with work clothes have been cancelled, in case anyone is wondering.)

The accessories from: Nine West and Bakers

By: Danielle Gonzalez

When looking in a woman’s closet, most likely, it is filled with black; black sweaters, black blouses, black dresses, and black suits.  And though black does go with nearly everything and is a simple solution to most wardrobe questions, adding a couple colorful suits is a fresh way to add dimension and more outfit choices to mix and match with your professional wardrobe.  Shades of red are always a popular choice for business suits in the spring, don’t be afraid to find the right tone for you; coral, pink, and even peach are soft colors with a lot of professional appeal.  Navy is common also in the spring,  and should you be more daring, a softer blue can also be a lovely choice for a young woman.  But if you are more conservative when it comes to suiting colors, grey tones in tweed are an excellent choice.  When it comes to colorful women’s suits, make sure that you’re picking strong shoes in a color at least two shades darker than the suit, the idea is to look bold, not matchie-matchie. 

These suits from: Chadwicks and Barry Pace

 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.)

Enough about Sarah Palin suits – what about her shoes? Is anyone really paying attention to her feet? Well, I had a look and discovered quite an array of shoe wear. She doesn’t only stick the basic black high heel, but also wears a surprising amount of red shoes. The plain red high-heeled shoes that she wears in the photo below with her daughter, is a great mate to the basic black. A black business suit with red pumps makes a great contrast.

The dark gray high-heeled shoe, lined with a thin stripe of black accent, is really great for business attire. It can go with almost every thing, and looks very formal. However, those sandals she wears – the red sandals, and the black and white sandals, are not formal at all. But she pulls the sandal look off quite well with her skirt suits. Some real estate agents I know wear sandals like that with their professional attire, because they have to take their shoes off a lot when they show a home.

Then we have the black medium heel shoes, with the buckle on the front, that she wears with the brown business suit below. If you look closely at the close-up photo of that shoe, you can see that it’s actually a sling back. In an earlier blog post about shoes I wrote that sling backs weren’t appropriate for office outfits, I guess that trend has changed now.

My personal favorite is her red high heel open toe shoes, with the buckle in front. They are imitation snake skin in patent leather, and worn with that black skirt, they make a major fashion statement if I ever saw one.

So, apparently there are very few rules on what pumps can be worn with the Sarah Palin suit. Hope this gives you some ideas of what shoes to add to your professional wardrobe. What I’d really like to see is Sarah Palin in some animal print shoes! Please comment on which of her shoes do you like the best.

Add some pizzazz to your business suit with edgy shoes. Don’t be shy. Be original. Seek out some shoes with some flash, and wear them with your professional attire. These animal pointy toe shoes will make your work outfit anything but boring. Sure, we must have our basic tan and black business shoes. But we can’t wear them every day. Some days we have to wear some spice.

Feeling bored? Put on a pair of animal print pointy toe shoes with your business attire. Or a pair of square toe shoe leopard print (though they are harder to find). Does it work? Absolutely. We don’t all have to look the same even though we wear professional black business suits. Find a pair of animal print shoes that suits your style and incorporate them into your professional wardrobe. A pair of edgy shoes can add a little pizzazz to your business attire. What’s your style? Snake skin pointy toe, giraff pointy toe, leopard pointy toe? (Most of these shoes from Nine West.)

Pointy toe professional shoes: black shoes, brown shoes, and then burgundy shoes!

Pointy toe professional shoes: black shoes, brown shoes, and then blue shoes!

Of course everyone needs to have black business shoes with their standard women’s business attire. And brown, too. The black pump is a basic, a staple, a reliable must have. But that’s not where your shoe collection should end; that’s where it begins. Surley most women feel they have too many black and brown shoes. When your basic blackand brown shoes are covered, then seek out appropriate colors. Like blue shoes, burgundy shoes – possibly red. Wearing a pair of color shoes to your formal business suit, can really change the look. Especially if it’s a black suit, or a suit in a neutral color. Wear a purse that matches the shoes, if you like.

These photos are examples of almost the same pointy toe shoe first in black and brown, then the same pointy toe shoe in burgondy and blue. Cover the basic black and brown first, then go for color. New shoes can give new life to an old suit. (These pointy toes from Nine West.)

Is it ok to wear open toe shoes with business attire? Yes, it is! Some years ago that would have been considered inappropriate, however, times are changing. The open toe shoe is really in right now (like the round toe shoe) and if the rest of the outfit is business-like and suitably accessorized, it is acceptable even in a pretty conservative work situations. If you are in doubt, try the shoe on with the suit itself, because sometimes you won’t get the full impression of how the shoe will work with a professional women’s business suit until you see them together. It’s all about the complete look.

Slingback shoes are pushing it, though. (The slingbacks are in the last photo.) Don’t wear them if you are meeting a client for the first time. And don’t forget to do your pedicure before you introduce your toes to the world.

 (These shoes from Nine West.)

Round toe is definitely in now. There are some pointy toes around. But the square toe is definitely out. Personally, I’m sad to see it go because I think it looks cool, and it is so comfortable for my feet. But the round toe also does have a great deal of toe room. And the trick with the pointy toe shoes is to get a pair that has a slightly longer point, so that there is room for your toes leaving the tip part of the point as empty space.