Chic dresses for the office

Office dressing is a hard thing to get right. Depending on the culture and style of the office in question, you might feel like a round peg in a square hole. Or you might wear clothes that don't suit you in order to feel part of the tribe, or give yourself more gravitas.

I recently shared a photo of me for Nancy and Shelbee's Bad Buys Book, where they feature outfits that just didn't work.  For me it was a plain navy blue dress , the type that many of us wear in the office when we need to impress. Everything about that dreary dress makes me despair. I knew I could have added bright pink accessories, but I also knew it would still look like that boring navy blue dress. View that post here.

For me, office wear needs to be a little quirky and "me." In the hi-tech multinational world I'm used to, men are still the majority and they have adopted a uniform of sorts by mostly wearing unfashionable jeans and t-shirts or polo shirts with logos - and not fashionable logos, usually logos of suppliers or their own company.

The women either wear what they like or adopt a similar uniform.

I like to wear knee-length print skirts (usually from Boden) with tops that have some interest - a Peter Pan collar or fancy buttons - and a jacket for customer meetings or a cropped cashmere cardi for normal work days, with some interesting jewellery and wedge or block heeled shoes.

Sometimes, if it's a very early start, I might pull on a plain black outfit - trousers or jeans and a top - and add some accessories: a statement necklace, metallic belt or boots.  And occasionally, a dress is called for: particularly when I am going to an agency meeting in central London,  and most of the women at the ad or PR agency are millennials.

A dress like "the dreary" would not be at all appropriate:  I want a quirky dress, something with little details that made it a bit fun:  buttons, collar, a splash of colour.

This contrasting edge button skater dress from Marks and Spencer ticks all the boxes. It looks a little quirky, it's a flattering shape and it's red, a colour that instantly gives you confidence. It goes nicely with my red car for an extra touch of "wham!" I like the gold buttons on the shoulder and the "pocket" detail on the waist. I don't feel I need to add much in the way of accessories.

Meanwhile this dress from Next appeals because of the coloured panels in the skirt. These give the dress a little uniqueness and present several opportunities for different colours of accessories. I opted for a yellow felt flower corsage and yellow and white bag to pick out the yellow stripes, but there are also red , white and blue.

The dress is the wrong shape for me unless I cinch the waist. Shapeless shift shapes do nothing for me and tend to make me look wider unless I add a belt. It's perhaps a little shorter than I like, but lately I've been thinking that slightly above the knee is hardly a felony is it?

Details of the Outfits 

Red dress, Marks and Spencer, £39.50. Also in blue and black. Crystal block heeled sandals, Dune, last year
Black pleat panel dress, Next, £50 (sold out). Yellow flower felt brooch, Crafty Jo Designs at Etsy. Bag, Marks and Spencer, last year. Silver belt, Madeleine (old).

Disclosure: no items were gifted.

For more office wear, visit my posts here,  here and here.

This Week on Is This Mutton?

Wednesday: Mutton's Choice Cuts

Friday: Lose weight with the Diet Plate

Monday (17 July): Styling a floral skirt

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