Corporate Wear Etiquette

When it comes time to make a great impression at work, the pressure can really be on. Thankfully, the right wardrobe choices make it that much easier to enjoy corporate work wear without stifling your sense of style. Pinstripe and Pearls is your one stop shop for all your ambitious dressing needs.

Keep Things on the Straight and Narrow

One thing to remember when dressing for a corporate setting is that clean, straight lines will always communicate a more professional and business-like persona. This doesn’t mean that all your  business dresses have to be drab and grey, but it does help to avoid bulky clothing. Select outfits that match up well with your physical type and do what you can to build a modest, yet fashionable work wardrobe. Skirts and tops should fit the contours of your body nicely, and it’s a good idea to avoid things like excessive accessories so that your work wear isn’t too much of a distraction.

Avoid Going Extra Girly

Showing your feminine side is great, but it can seem a bit inappropriate or out-of-place to wear extra girly things when you’re at work. Avoid business dresses with noisy, girly designs. Pink polka dots aren’t going to convince anyone that you’re the professional business machine that you are. It helps to keep things a bit conservative, but this doesn’t have to come at the cost of your ability to express your femininity. It’s great to look like a lady in the workplace, so long as your clothes aren’t distracting anybody or giving off the wrong message about your professionalism.

Business Doesn’t Have to Be Boring

Just because it’s not a smart idea to wear dress covered in frills and polka dots doesn’t mean your work wardrobe has to display a complete absence of personality. There are tons of ways to seasonally spice up your outfits. Business dresses shouldn’t be extravagant and distracting with their colours and/or patterns, but it’s always a great idea to add some colour to the mix. Avoid using more than three colours per outfit, and it’s always good to make sure that your colours don’t clash. When wearing patterns, it’s smart to make sure that your patterned item is the only thing you’re wearing of its type. Having multiple patterns can be extremely distracting, and fairly unpleasant to the eye.

How to Layer Properly

When it starts to get a little colder about, layers are the name of the game when it comes to dressing for the workplace. Business dresses aren’t always warm enough to cut it, which is why it helps to know how to layer the right way. This is easiest to do when you’ve got a good collection of workplace basics. Try to keep basic, unobtrusive pieces on the bottom. One great way to layer your outfit is with a simple top underneath a more colourful blazer. Not only is this idea simple and easy to execute, but it’ll have you looking professional and keeping warm at the very same time.

Dressing for the office doesn’t have to be a chore. These few tips can help you transform your business dresses into a fun and exciting workplace wardrobe that excites you day after day.

By Laura Tilley