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Summer Workwear

Wednesday 10 July 2013




Shopping for work clothes can be so dull. You hit the workwear section of most big shops and it's like drowning in a sea of black, grey and navy polyester. Not an area I ever find myself drawn to when I'm wombling around the shops. I'm much more of a magpie for pretty colours, patterns and fabrics. You can find them in the shops, you just need to cast your net a little wider. Look around a bit, try some different places and buy what you like rather than defaulting to the obvious option.  I've been hitting the nicer shops like Hobbs recently, where the products are a lot more interesting and much better quality.



A work dress doesn't have to be a shift dress, especially if that style doesn't suit you. They don't work on me - I look all stomach and hips and I'm sure you'll agree that that's not a particularly fetching look. I like something with a fuller skirt and as long as it's not revealing too much in the way of legs or cleavage, I class it as totally acceptable womens workwear.  And unless you work somewhere super traditional and straitlaced, you don't have to spend your life in sombre colours. Classic is fine (and I'm permanently on the hunt for a brilliant tweed frock or skirt) but colour is fun.



If it's a bit of a summery frock like this one and a cardi seems too casual an accompaniment, on goes the blazer to smarten things up. I have black ones, floral ones, vintage ones and, finally getting its first airing, I have my stripy summer blazer (aka the Mary Poppins blazer). Isn't it just the cutest thing you ever did see? This is how I do summer workwear: smart and pretty.





Dress & rings - Dorothy Perkins sale
Blazer - Hobbs sale
Shoes - Irregular Choice Baby Beauty (present from the awesome Team Norbury girls)

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9 comments:

  1. Um, make the perfect tweed dress using your perfect dress pattern!
    I really struggle to get excited about workwear as well.

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  2. aaaaw your birthday shoes :) shift dresses just don't suit me either, sigh.

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  3. If you ever catch me wearing navy polyester, you have full permission to do me harm. My work wear luckily can be quite relaxed, but definitely take a colourful dress over something from a 'workwear' section any day- so long as it covers boobs and bum, I'm good.

    Love the pastels on you, still envious of your ability to pull off yellow.

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  4. you have chosen some very pretty workwear pieces that look very stylish as well as appropriate. Really love that jacket x

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  5. Work wear, yuck! I love your blazer, my tweed blazer is one that I took me ages to decide to buy, I dithered like a dithering man's dithery bits and now I'm so glad I bought it - it gets worn so much. A blazer is a definite wardrobe must have!

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  6. What a lovely and well-put-together outfit! It matches the colour scheme of your blog too! Simply loooovely! x

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  7. You look gorgeous here, I really love that blazer and those shoes look amazing on you! I do like shift dresses (I just have to breathe in!) but Hobbs do have some beautiful clothes!

    Maria xxx

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  8. Ah the workwear section in Next freaks me out and that's just walking by it, not even looking! I don't work just now and previously had uniforms to wear so have never had to venture into the grey suit territory thankfully.

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