September 18, 2019
She spent most of the summer at the beach house; she had been allowed to work from home for years, so she was able to work while sitting on the balcony, looking out at the shore…
You’ll Have to Work in the Office…
Since the acquisition, she knew that things would change, but she hadn’t expected this. But they’re giving all of the staff who had been telecommuting a small bonus to re-establish their commute. (or their office wardrobe?)
So she reverts back to her favorite painting, and starts planning…
black sweater blazer – J.Crew; black cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; black washable wool pants – Lands’ End; black coated denim skirt – Jen7 by 7 For All Mankind
She knows that she will need some neutrals, so she gets a great cardigan blazer, some washable wool pants, and a really cool coated denim skirt! But she’s determined to include her favorite red and tan in her work wardrobe!
red cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; tan cardigan – L.L.Bean; tan pants – L.L.Bean; red ankle pants – Halogen
It’s kind of hard to know how dressy, or casual, the office is going to be…
black & white striped tee – Lands’ End; red & white striped tee – Lands’ End; black washable silk shirt – Banana Republic; turquoise silk top – Diane Von Furstenberg
She figures that she’s better to opt toward being prepared for a dressy office; casual is always easier to manage, isn’t it?
red blouse – J.Crew; white silk shirt – Banana Republic; black cashmere v-neck sweater – J.Crew; tweed skirt – J.Crew
She’s in a good spot for the first few months of work…
She figures that by Thanksgiving, she will have a better idea of what the “style” of the office is, and can adjust her wardrobe accordingly. In the meantime, she has enough outfits to get through anything!
Have you ever started a new job and had NO CLUE about what to wear to work? I remember one… I did some real panic shopping one weekend…
love,
Janice
p.s. 4 years ago I put together a summer travel wardrobe for a man…
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
I’m so glad you decided to revisit this painting! I loved the first grouping you did. Bright, saturated colors are my thing. Sigh… I’m sitting here staring at the collection you put together and thinking that I would LOVE to have these clothes! I would switch out the black for navy but the rest of it would work great for me. Love the dressy blouses and sweater blazer. I think I might have to add a top or sweater in that pretty daffodil yellow, too. And yes, I started my current job with no clue how to dress, other than being told that jeans were acceptable. Coming from a Business Casual (no jeans) environment, I felt very strange and out of place wearing jeans on my first day on the job!
That change up is hard! I went from 100% office to 100% home to 50% office. I make it a point to let any returning or new folks know the dress code, so no guess work.
I’ll say again how helpful the 4×4 wardrobe format is! This collection highlights several things I’ve been learning about the way I dress and the gaps I have. I really don’t like the tan sweater here, and I’ve realized recently that I don’t like tan on top, but I do like tan! So if I wear it, it needs to be classed as an accent rather than a neutral. Last week I filled out two 4×4 planning sheets for my own wardrobe for the next 6 weeks. It was a fantastic exercise. It’s hard to realize where your gaps are if you have a bunch of stuff that seems to go together. I found out that the top and bottom pieces on my neutral rows don’t always match and can’t always be worn together. I feel like I’ve finally found the key to focus on for the next year. Thank you! My favorite piece here is that black skirt. Fantastic.
I’ve always thought the 4×4 idea useful, but in practice had trouble making it work for me. I think you just revealed a critical point that I had been missing. The chosen color needs to be something that you would feel equally comfortable wearing on top or bottom. Yes, this is very obvious to me now but I was struggling with this concept before. Thanks for the insight!
I also enjoy and learn lots from these posts. I still struggle to figure out me. Everything from my color palette to dressiness. I live a rather casual lifestyle (no office or formal occasions), but I like to be “dressed.” I have children at home so I do need to be practical. It’s just difficult to find clothing that fits, is a nice color on me, and that I feel pretty wearing. Sigh… Practical and pretty.
Why don’t you start with your current favorite outfits? If you don’t know what they are, just choose your outfits each day for two to three weeks, and put the hangers backwards for the ones you wear. (I am assuming you hang your clothes on hangers. If not, you can fold them into an empty box or drawer and see which ones you used most). Then list the colors in those outfits. I did this and found I wore mainly my teal, black, dark gray and ivory white items, along with jeans. So this became my “core” for building my new capsule wardrobe.
Then I looked closer at those items: what shapes did they have in common (for example, my blouses and shirts were mainly no sleeve shells or full length sleeves, v-neck or scoop neck, skimmed the body, washable. I liked shirts, dresses, and blouses in wrapped/faux wrapped style with a tie at the side of the waist, or shirred/draped to the side of the waist. I liked defining my waist with a belt. I liked high waisted bootcut jeans without front pockets, and straight legged plain solid colored pants or pencil skirts. My sweaters were solid, classic cardigans. I liked shirts with button front collars that I left open to form a V-neck.) you, of course, will have a different list. These can then guide you on your body type, your coloring, and the rest of your wardrobe style. I look great in wrapped and neck styles: I am an hourglass, x or 8 body type. I look good in clear, bright colors, pure black, icy white, so I am a winter. Your results will be different.
Second, make a Pinterest board of outfits that you think are absolutely fantastic. This will also show you more about your style. What do these outfits have in common? What do you like/dislike? What would you change?
Third, what is your lifestyle? By a casual lifestyle, exactly what do you mean? Do you work on a farm doing heavy chores like running combines and working with livestock? Or are you a stay at home mother with small children in the city or suburbs? Do you have a home run business (such as selling Mary Kay cosmetics, running an Airbnb, or an online proofreading business) where you may present yourself in person or via webcam or teleconferencing? Be specific about what you do and what you need from your clothes: a mother with a newborn baby that has colic and spits up on her all day long has different needs from her clothes than a mother with children in their teens does. If your children are small, you need washability and durability in all your clothes and accessories, and definitely nothing that has small parts or parts that catches or dangles that a small child could choke on or get tangled in, like long chain necklaces, dangling long or hoop earrings, string ties, or lacy knits with lots of holes. However, this still leaves plenty of options in washable fabrics like denim, synthetics, washable wools and blends.
Go to a store and just try on a style. You are not buying: you are styling! You can hate it completely and it’s fine! If you are not sure what neckline looks good on you, just try on some plain cotton tank and t-shirts with only different necklines (v neck, crew, scoop, wrap). Just look at the neckline. What works best for you? Write it down!
Next time, try tees or shirts with your best neckline but in different sleeve lengths (sleeveless, cap, short, 3/4, long, etc.) in one of your solid colors. Now focus on how the sleeve length works for your body. This will help you determine the best sleeve lengths for you. You may also find you like a certain shape of sleeve (straight, batwing, dolman, capelet, split, puff, bell, bishop, etc.) or detail (set in sleeve versus dropped shoulder, cuffs versus no cuff, etc.) Just remember to write it down!
Each time, you check a type of clothing to see if it works for you or not. Just remember to write it down. Take a selfie with your phone of the item and how you look in it for review later if you want. This is how you learn what works best for You.
Good luck and have fun!
I love all these individual pieces and together – great wardrobe! Lise
I’m retired now so I dress as I please which is dressier than jeans & T’S. My clothes conundrum for a job was when I started teaching in the somewhat rural south as a d***New York Yankee”‘( where I had lived for 20 yrs & despite being a 4th generation Californian). It took me about 5 years to dress down a a little…even the consignment shop I found in Savannah had the high style I liked. Once I became a stay-at-home mom and did the sports, music, scouts thing I learned to be much more relaxed to my southern dressy casual. I’m back in CA now which requires much warmer dressing & a different vibe than the south.
Also, perfect timing on this for me. Thanks, Janice! I was just assembling my WTW and feeling something was missing, besides WK 13, which I peeked back to July overview, so I know what’s coming! I need another 1st core bottom. I have a silk/linen blend from summer and a wool for winter so maybe I will just make each them work part time for fall!
I went from 98% telecommuting to 100% in the office two years ago. It was hard on many levels. I’m just now figuring out what I want my business and my business casual styles to look like.
I love having a black silk/silky blouse – it goes from jeans to dress slacks beautifully. Also I have a black sweater blazer like the one shown – it’s probably at least 15 years old and timeless! – nancyo