Work That

UncategorizedTags: Alexander McQueen, Ann Taylor, Lanvin, Lee, Shoshanna

Here’s the situation. You have to go to your 9 to 5 job, but you don’t want to look lame-o and boring. You’re tired of Ann Taylor. Believe me, so am I, Honey! You want to look professional, no doubt, but you want to add some flavor. That’s where I come in.

Right now, I’m loving dresses for work. Suits are great, but there are usually at least 3 pieces involved – jacket, pants (or skirt), and some kind of shirt or camisole to wear under. Not that complicated, but when you compare suit dressing to throwing on a dress, there’s no comparison.

I’ve picked a few dresses out for you that are fun, but proper enough for the office. Check it out:

My rules for office dresses are as follows: 1. No low cut necklines; 2. No skirts above the knee; and 3. No shiny fabrics that are supposed to be worn at night. This dress by Lee, above, does push the envelope a tiny bit with the design, but I don’t think it is inappropriate for a business casual environment. It’s not too tight, not to low, and not too short, and it gives your coworkers something interesting to look at other than their cubicles. Do your homeys a favor.

Next, we have a fabulous basic black long sleeve dress by Shoshanna with long sleeves, a modest cut and some interesting beading on the yoke. The sleeves have a cute print, too.

It follows all of my “rules” above and is not bland.

Next, we have this ultra-sophisticated gathered dress by Lanvin. I love the beautiful draping at the neckline. Wow. Just wow.

In a perfect world, I would wear this (Alexander McQueen) to work:

But then I would be dressed better than my bosses.    Not sure that would work.

In conclusion:  Step away from Ann Taylor, please, once in a while. (It’s great for basics, don’t get me wrong, but basics get boring after a while.)  These dresses prove that it is definitely possible to dress appropriately for work, while still maintaining an element of individual style.  Work it!