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.

Compare the difference in these photos – the same gray suit jacket with two different color tops. Both give an equally professional image, and neither is more or less appropriate for business attire. But which look do you like the best? There is no right or wrong answer – which do you think is your style?

Changing the color of the top can change the look of a woman’s business suit. When you have selected a suit and you’re trying it on in the fitting room, try it on with several different tops. Find your own style.

There has been a lot of talk about what constitutes a power color, and what doesn’t. Check out Hillary Clinton in this red pant suit. People have been debating whether or not red belongs in the category of power colors for suit. But looking at this, how can one doubt it. Yes, red is definitely a power color. Notice how the top matches the jacket exactly. Many of Hillary’s pant suits have tops that go with them, in the exact shade of the suit. It seems to be her trade mark. Or perhaps she just simply likes the monochromatic look.

In this outfit she accessorized the suit with a silver necklace and earrings. They don’t match perfectly in a set, but that’s ok. A lot of her jewelry is actually in non-matching sets. Some people say that gold jewelry is the better metal for red oufits, but seeing this photo, I would say that silver may work just as well. It also depends on the color of your facial complexion, not just on the color fo the clothes.

Michelle Obama looks stylish in her pinstripe pant suit. She wears it with a turtle neck in the same tone as the stripe in the suit. If you look close you can see that it is well matched up. Choosing the right top to wear with pintripes makes a big different on your professional image as a whole. Michelle of course pulls it off, like usual. There is another blog post on the subject of what top to wear with pinstriped business suits for women, that was helpful to a lot of readers.

Click on this link to see more: Pinstripe Busnienss Suits Guide.

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.)

Break off the neutral colors with a strong color. Many women’s business suits are in neutral tones, like black, gray and brown. You can brighten them up with a strong, happy color for the top. See these examples of orange tops with the brown and gray pant suits.

Just how far do we go with the tops and blouses sticking out from underneath the suit jacket? When is it OK, and when is it not? Sometimes it looks good, sometimes it doesn’t. Here below are some guiding examples for women’s business fashion 2008:

  These two pant suits are OK with the blouse untucked. The amount that it sticks out is just right – not too long and it sits straight and neat. The orange top harmonizes with the brown suit, and almost becomes an accessory, of sorts. With the off white pant suit the print top breaks off in a pleasing contrast. It adds interest and it looks planned.

   This outfit does NOT look good with blouse hanging out. It’s too long for the jacket. It sticks out too much, and it just looks sloppy and unpolished.

   Compare these two images of the same gray business suit with a basic white blouse. Tucking it in definitely looks best. With this type of blouse it just looks like you left the house in a hurry when it is sticking out. The effect of the blouse sticking out under the suit jacket does not add anything of interest to the look, and it does not look planned (it just looks messy).

Would you dare wear this crazy top with a conservative business suit? Look at the gorgeous, brown bead work against the warm yellow. If the suit is conservative enough you can get away with unique and expressive tops that reflect your personality. Sometimes when you feel a little restricted by professional women’s wear, it is time to venture out with a really unique top that expresses your own personality. Don’t break the rule of the business suit itself, just experiment with your individual style in regards to the tops, blouses and camisoles once in a while. Dare to break the corporate dress code now and then - it’s just like jazz – first learn all the rules, then break them in cool ways.

How do you make a casual work outfit look more professional? With the right jacket.

When you are dressed down with casual pants and a casual top, it gives a much more professional look to the whole ensemble if you put on a short jacket, and keep it on the whole day. That cute, short, casual jacket, even though very informal, gives a much more organized impression. That’s how you can get away with wearing jeans and not looking too casual. Check out the photo above with the jeans and the white tank top – just because there is a nice jacket to complete the look, it takes away that dress-down feel and gives it a more professional image. Go through all the casual work outfits in your closet and plan out which jackets you are going to wear with them.

(These jackets from H & M, and White House Black Market.)

Silda Spitzer seems to be having a hard time right now, but the issue may not be as black and white as the media makes it seem. Having a political marriage doesn’t give people more right to gossip about you. Having trouble with your marriage is no fun, but when media and neighbors gossip about your marriage, it’s even worse. Let’s let Silda have some privacy with her family affairs and instead participate in a more harmless form of gossip – like what clothes she wears. 

In this photo Silda Spitzer wears a white pant suit with a black top.  The black top underneath makes a dramitic contrast. She accessorized it with a pearl necklace where the pearls are spaced on a delicate chain. Wearing all white can give a soft look, but contrasting the white with black changes it completely. Black and white together creates a much more dramatic presence.

Photo by DragonFlyEye

Wear a pair of nice professional slacks, and a casual top with a fun print for a more relaxed look. In an office where you don’t have to wear suits, you can wear colorful, comfortable tops. However, still make sure your slacks are well pressed. If the pants are wrinkly, it will look too casual.