Work Wardrobe

The back story

I work full-time in the State Government as an Executive Officer looking after a senior executive’s diary, meetings, travel and anything else she might require. My office is located in the CBD.

My style

I try to dress well. To me that means heels, earrings and a colour-coordinated professional look. Where possible I avoid wearing black and grey however there are exceptions to every rule – a nice tailored pair of black trousers, black fitted skirt or black structured dress are okay. However I believe that all black must be accompanied with a pop of colour.

A few years ago I was watching Gok Wan and he talked about how most city office workers wear predominantly black or grey and I started to notice that he was right. I was doing it too. Okay black and grey are slimming and easy to coordinate but enough is enough!!

My favourite brands

I don’t spend a lot on clothes but I do like to buy well-made, structured, classic pieces. I am rather fond of the sale rack in any store! The brands I am drawn to are Zara (yay they now have a store in Brisbane City), H&M (ditto that), Portmans, Events (they no longer have any stores in Queensland boo hoo), Target, Charlie Brown, Review, Forever New, Bardot, Witchery and Jacqui-E.

Shoes

I love shoes, who doesn't, but I don’t like to pay much for them so Novo is the place I mostly shop with a sprinkling from Sandler, Guess and Diana Ferrari (almost always on sale).  And in recent years I stopped buying black shoes and now I have the start of a fairly colourful shoe wardrobe.

I don’t wear super high heels but I do like to wear a medium heel. I prefer medium pumps especially ankle strap heels but I often wear chunky heels or wedges. I don’t however wear flats to work!! I have quite skinny lower legs and flats worn with a dress or skirt make my legs appear as though they absolutely have no shape. I do have a pair of flats at work for fire evacuation purposes (a necessity as I’m located on the top floor of our building).

My Signature Look

I am drawn to fitted clothes be that fitted tops, fitted skirts, fitted dresses, fitted jackets - get the idea. Oversized or loose clothes swim all over me and look drab. I lack natural curves so I need my wardrobe to help me in that regard. I try to mix up my work wardrobe with a dress one day, a skirt and shirt the next and occasionally trousers (but not too much in summer).

I have a very colourful wardrobe of cardigans and jackets. It's always super cold (year round) in our office so I always have a jacket or cardigan to slip on when I start to feel cool (which is most of the day).

My signature look is colour. In particular, bright warm colours. They are the most flattering on my skin tone. I wear so much colour that I don’t recognise myself if I don’t wear it.

Accessories

Whilst I don’t wear much jewellery on a daily basis, I would never leave home without earrings – no way!! (My daughter knows very well that I'll comment on a lack of earrings if I catch her leaving the house without them.) I try to coordinate my jewellery with my outfit by considering my shoes and belt.

My current bag was picked up from a boutique in Union Station in Washington DC. It's not branded but I like that it’s a structured bag that holds its shape.

The outside covering has silver glitter through it with a black gloss finish – lush. It also has a spotted silk scarf tied nicely on one side.  It’s just the right size and I’ll be super upset when it starts to fall apart on me.

Makeup

I make sure my lipstick and blush match my outfit colour. For instance, if I’m wearing a bright orange jacket I will wear a blush and lipstick with orange undertones, same goes for pink and for red. Wearing an orange jacket with a pink lip just seems to look all wrong on me.

Stylebook App

And because there’s an app for every obsession, I have used Stylebook on and off for the past few years.  

Stylebook is an app used to organise and track your wardrobe. You enter your individual items by including photos and other details such as colour, fabric, brand and cost.  The items are then categorised (see why I love it) by type i.e. skirts, trousers, jeans, jackets.  Then you create outfits by putting together looks.

Those looks can then be categorised as work looks or casual looks or evening looks etc. It also has some cool stats about how many times you wear a particular item and any items that have been neglected or not worn. I used the app to help me get as many looks as possible from the wardrobe.

So there it is.

Until next time xx