Don’t interpret this title wrong ladies. When I say ‘Dressing the Part’, I don’t mean the part they want you to play. This is your ship, you are the captain, and your uniform is entirely up to you. Of course, there are some restrictions, but I will walk you through my recipe: how to nail the perfect work outfit without too much thought and of course, without buying pieces that you will only wear at work. Do not fret, this isn’t another article about a capsule wardrobe…nothing about my style can be encapsulated.
As trendy chicks, we will want to push the boundaries. Redefining your role in the workplace, in your Golden Girl’s humble opinion, can be done by way of wearing ‘unconventional’ outfits. Let’s delineate what that means. When you think of women in the workplace, this is probably what comes to mind, stock images showing women wearing knee length skirts, heels, blouses and overly tailored blazers from Banana Republic.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t hate towards the women who decided to wear these clothes, but I do promise you these women spent a decent part of their salary on these pieces they will probably never wear on other occasions. That is the issue. On a related but unrelated note, I also do think BR is making a comeback and is truly channeling Ralph Lauren vibes. We think that we need to be someone we inherently aren’t in ‘real’ life at work to be taken seriously. But if your work product is what they expect and then some, why should it matter if, all while remaining professional, you choose to be trendy or ‘stylé’?
I, outside of my working hours, enjoy going to ballet class…any sport with cute clothing am I right?! As we all know, ‘ballet core’ is one of the most popular trends at the moment. If you ask me, I don’t think it’s a trend, I think it’s classic, but you could certainly add your trendy twist to it. Another trend is the ‘school girl’ uniform. Sandy Liang has truly mastered mixing the two. So how do you wear that to work? Please see below:
Replace the skirt with a pair of pants. These hit above my ankles, perfect to put emphasis on my Miu Miu flats!
Replace your funky ballet flats (for example the Miu Miu ones with the laces) with a pair of more conventional ballet flats. In this case, these Chanel ones, and throw your hair up. I could’ve layered a tailored shirt under this dress but I preferred the look of the oversized collar to create balance and add femininity. This dress is JCrew but it was really giving school girl energy and Sandy Liang dupe!
Finally here we have a fun take on more conventional work attire. The tailored shirt, in this case oversized. The pencil skirt and kitten heels, in this case idem and the leg warmers which add more coverage to the leg while also adding a fun twist, make this outfit ‘me’. None of these pieces were purchased with the intent of wearing to work. I actually bought this shirt because Loewe has as very similar one that Lilly Sisto was rocking, turns out it is actually the Loewe employee uniform, this one is Gap Petite. Girl math says, if I wear it to work, the cost cancels out because now I suddenly can’t work without it. And if I can’t work, how will I live…You get my point.
Stay chic…
Xoxo, Taty