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.

Finding fashion deals on the web can be time consuming sometimes. We can take advanatage of the fact that there are some fashion blogs that devote most of their time to doing that. That’s not our primary mission here (our main thing is to write about fashion mostly as it applies to business attire, and getting a good work look). But occationally we come across other fashion blogs that write about particular items available at good prices. Like for example Mumba Fashion that had the skinny of this red cowl neck sweater that went on sale for $39.00. Unfortunatly I missed that sale, but I might have bought this sweater as it is a very nice item to just throw over a pair of black or gray basic slacks, for  a nice casual work outfit, when late for work. I am going to keep an eye on this blog to see if they’ll alert to more good sales.

New fashion blogs to check out

Here are some ideas of how to break up the all black business casual work outfits. Keep your most comfortable standard black slacks, and add tops or jackets in black and white. Keep it simple. Add a little bit of white. Or a lot of white. Lighten things up in your buisness casual outfits by putting together mix and match items in black and white.

Here are two dramatic examples of black business suits with red tops. The first one is a black pant suit with very wide lapels, and black top under neath that creates a dramatic contrast. The second is a business suit with a skirt and a suit jacket that has ruffled lapels. It is also contrasted with a red top that shows in the wide opening of the suit jacket. Both of these power suits have lapels that are unique.

When you shop for a woman’s business suit, think ahead and plan out what else you can wear it with. Perhaps you have other suit separates at home that your new wardrobe addition can be mix and matched with. If not, you could look around the mall for other business suits, or separate jackets that can be worn with it. Don’t just buy one piece of clothing because you like it, think of how it can be recombined to make as many work outfits as possible.

Here are some examples of women’s business suits and suit separates in red, gray and white that can be mix and matched and recombined into many various work outfits.

Why not wear a twin set with a pair of relaxed slacks for a business casual outfit? Get a twin set with matching top and cardigan. Wear the cardigan open and loose. Wear your twin set with your favorite pair of slacks, or with the pants from one of your business suits. Alternating it with a twin set, is one way to get yet another work outfit out of a woman’s business suit. However, this look is pretty relaxed and suitable for a business casual outfit only – if you have an important meeting that requires formal business attire, then wear the full business suit.

How about adding some green to your work wardrobe? Pep things up a bit with a bright green top or jacket. You can mix in a green top with business suits in black and white. Or brighten a brown women’s suit with a green silk top that has a very slight shine to it. What about creating a casual office outfit with a green separate suit jacket to wear with a blouse, and your favorite black or white slacks? Perhaps balance it with a subtle green bracelet.

Working women are buying a lot of business suits in light colors for summer. Work outfits with suits and separate slacks and jackets in white, cream, bone and taupe is the order of the day. Here are some examples of how to accessorize light colored business suits with coral and orange. Short necklaces with big coral stones contrasts nicely with a cream suit jacket. Career blouses and casual tops in organge and coral creates a lovely spring office look. Combining work outfits by alternating long gold necklaces, beige bags, big buckeled belts and a few bright orange or soft coral tops brings your light colored suits to life.

Plus size women can find some really nice styles for business outfits at Harper Greer in San Francisco. The Harper Greer collection ranges from size 12 10 size 26, and they use very pretty, high quality fabrics. Harper Greer is a great source for clothing in bright colors – they have a remarkable collection of materials and textures. This is a great store where plus size women can find some really unique and posh items to add to their professional wardrobe.

If you have a few women’s business suits in black or gray, you can find some nice career blouses and dressy tops here to make your suit reflect your personality. If you usually wear jeans to work with business casual outfits, you can find the popular jeans brand ”Not Your Daughters Jeans” here.  I recommend selecting a couple of tops in a slightly shiny material – it still feels comfortable, but looks  a little more dressy. Bring your favorit business suit to the Harper Greer boutique and spend the afternoon trying it on with a bunch of tops in different colors, and varied accessories. They are located at 522 Sutter Street, San Francisco CA. You can also order directly from them on-line here: HarperGreer.com

Some people get confused by what’s meant by “business casual”, and wonder if you can wear a t-shirt with a work outfit. Most people would say “no way”. But I say there are exceptions.  Here are what I consider to be the exceptions for t-shirts with your work clothes:

1. Silky material: If the material of the t-shirt has a slight silk-like shine to it, as many synthetic blends do, it will fit with your professional wardrobe.

2. Design details: It will work if there is some slight design detail, like the gathers and braided neckline in the t-shirt just below. 

3. Patterns: A pattern or texture in the fabric of the t-shirt will make it suitable for either business casual or formal business attire, depending on what you wear it with. 

4. Flowy material: Material that flows with a nice fall, makes a t-shirt or top look more dressy. (The kind of t-shirt that is not allowable has a stiff, wrinkly material.)

One might argue what should be called a “t-shirt”, and what should be called a “top”. What makes it a t-shirt is really how it is cut. The 100% cotton t-shirts you would typically wear with sweats are absolutely forbidden, no matter how nice the slacks are. And it’s even worse if it has something written on it. A plain, cheap, cotton t-shirt can’t be dressed up – not even if you iron it and wear it with pearls and a nice business suit.   Cotton t-shirts that you would work out in do not belong in your professional wardrobe – ever.

Above Left: This t-shirt is made of a material with a silky shine, and has design details that make it dressy. It will look good in a work outfit.

Above Right: This t-shirt looks just like a plain t-shirt in the cut, though it is made of a thick nice silky material that has a flow to it. Worn with nice dress slacks, this will work with a comfortable work outfit. 

Above: three are Armani t-shirts with prints and textured material. We could call them tops, but the cut is like a t-shirt. They would look good either with a woman’s business suit or with a casual work outfit.

While wandering around the malls yesterday, I noticed a color combination for suit separates that I haven’t tried before: orange, navy and beige. In two different stores I saw mannequins dressed in business outfits combining these three colors. I think it’s doable for a casual work outfit, and I might try it myself – it had never occured to me before to try orange and navy together. In the left photo we have a orange suit jacket, beige pants with a navy top. In the right photo we have a beige suit jacket, navy slacks with an oragne top, accessorized with a two layer silver necklace. This may not work for a super formal business meeting in which you have to wear strict business attire, but I think it would be a fun and spunky casual office outfit.

What should you wear to create a work outfit with brown pants? With pants in a warm brown tone, like in the first photo, you can wear a rich golden orange suit jacket. This suit jacket has a slight silky sheen to it, which gives this outfit a formal look.

With pants in a cool brown tone, as in the second photo, why not wear a purple blouse and a long off-white jacket. This makes a nice casual work outfit.

In the last two photos, we have the same pair of brown pants: once with ruffle blouse in a white and brown hound’s tooth design, accentuated with a bold brown belt. And again with a brown top and a casual off-white suit jacket. These last two are comfortable office outfits that can be mix and matched. A pair of brown pants that fit you well is a good basic, that creates a solid foundation for your professional wardrobe.

Some professional women don’t wear jewelry or accessories with sweaters because the bulkyness of the sweater can make the necklace disapear. The solution is to accessorize with long necklaces. For both casual work outfits and business attire, use necklaces that are at least 24” long, but perhaps up to 34″. If the sweater is thinner and has a tailored fit, you can use thinner necklaces, like chains. But if it is a thick sweater, like in these photos, you should use necklaces with big chunky beads or pearls. The size of the necklace should balance with the size of the sweater.

These necklaces from Ann Taylor and White House Black Market.

Here a 4 ideas on how you can use blouses and tops to create several looks for the same business suit. I have taken a classic black suit from Ann Tayor and put it with a few different blouses and a lace top to give you some ideas. For your professional wardrobe for 2009, why don’t you keep the same suits, and revamp your image by simply getting a few new blouses and tops.

Black suit with a basic red blouse. Red and black make a dramatic impression.

Black suit with a blouse with a fun print. Spunk things up with a lively design.

Black suit with a classic white blouse. This classic look is very professional.

Black suit with a lace top. Add pizazz by having a lace camisole show between the jacket lapels. (But keep the suit jacket on the whole day when you wear sleeveless.)

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.

Check out the these two examples of a woman’s business suit in black: one is formal and the other is casual. Which do you think would be a better work outfit for where you work? The first one is a very traditional and formal black skirt suit, worn with a purple top (from Bloomingdales). This is definitely a power suit, and is a great piece of business attire.

The second photo is a black skirt suit, worn with an Argyle sweater over a basic white blouse (from Benetton). This suit, although also a black skirt suit, is pretty casual and would not be a power suit. There are subtleties in these two work outfits that make a difference.  Both of them would be good for a professional wardrobe. The second one is a very cute, youthful and energetic look, which would work very well for business casual attire.

These classic gray women’s business suits are brightened up with tops in bold colors, like pink and purple. Contrasting a gray suit jacket with a top in a bright color, like purple, is a great way to lift your mood if you are in a funk. You might cheer people up in the office with this type of work outfit. Pink and purple tops work well if the gray suit has an undertone of blue in the gray, but if the gray has an undertone of green, it might not. Match up the top with your business suit in the day light, if possible.

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.

Purposely buying business suits and work clothes where several pieces are interchangeable, and can be re-combined into new office outfits, is a clever way to plan a professional wardrobe. Here is an example of 8 garments found at Macy’s, which are all interchangeable, and can be mix and matched in many ways. These 3 suit jackets and 3 bottoms can all be worn together. And the 2 tops can be worn with all of the suit combinations. The trick is to not buy one piece of clothing at a time when you shop – instead you can save the money you would have spent on those single items, and go buy 8 coordinated items at the same time. Some stores purposely plan their collections to make it easy to mix and match items. By shopping for several pieces of work clothes at the same time, you are more likely to end up with a professional wardrobe where many of the garments re-combine into new business suits easily.

Here’s math riddle for you – how many work outfits can you create by mix and matching the pieces in the above photo?

Are you cold in the office? Wear a turtle neck sweater under your suit jacket. Next time you’re at the mall, pick up a turtle neck or two. Pick out some basic colors that go with more than one of your suits. During the winter, getting the right sweaters become part of professional wardrobe planning. Choose one that is warm but this, so that it doesn’t look bulky under your business suit. Accessorize your turtle neck sweater with a long necklace. Your regular necklaces may be too short for this, so try on a long one to go specifically with this office outfit.

  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.

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.