Work wear with personality!

Written By Wendy Mak

Maybe you're a creative, in sales or a small business owner. Or maybe you work with lots of corporates but you're not actually working FOR one.

Either way, YOU aren't "typical". And you certainly don't want your outfits to look boring & stuffy.

But you still want to be taken seriously. You want your outfits to say "I'm fun and interesting, but I'm also smart, savvy and totes going to turn this project into a million-dollar success". (OK, maybe without the "totes"!)

And I get that - as a personal stylist I'm meeting companies & people in business to pitch myself as a speaker, and I feel a need to channel my personality but still look professional. You know - outfits that are JUST that little bit left of centre but not too far left (I wouldn't want to be getting too close to North West now!)

1. Simple base + dashes of colour

This formula is an easy one for anyone to adopt.

Look for a basic colour as the base, then sprinkle on fun coloured accents, like in this dress. While in essence it's a black dress, it comes with a whole lot of oomph with the blue detail. AND as an added bonus the blue detail creates elongating lines which help to slim & lengthen (got to love that!!!).

If you want to inject more of your individuality into it, use accessories in a contrasting colour, instead of predictable black.

(Not sure what colour will be a good match in terms of contrast? Re-visit my post on how to combine colour here).

13 07 02 Business work wear Using accent colours in a dress

Dress from Diana FerrariBag from ASOSShoes from ASOS(Note: if you can, get shoes in a better colour match with the bag as they're a little on the redder side of orange) 

2. Use the unexpected

Unexpected "non-traditional" touches like contrasting textures / fabrics, or leather, suede and even fur (but only in the tiniest of amounts!! I repeat. Fur only in TINY amounts), can lend big personality to your work outfits.

If you're unsure about introducing them into your daytime wardrobe, then wear them for after-5 work events like networking events, functions, client dinners or office parties.

The key is to keep everything else really clean & un-fussy, so that there isn't too much going on all at once.

13 07 02 After hours work event outfit

Top from SheikeCigarette trousers from Next DirectBag from Colette Hayman

 3. Bring your weekend style to work

Integrating your weekend look into work wear can be tricky - casual fabrics like jersey and cotton can run the risk of making you look too casual and not professional enough.

So if you do want to do a left-of-centre piece like this ruched jersey skirt (or anything in a casual fabric like the tee), then pair it back with something more tailored like a lovely blazer and a structured tote bag.

13 07 02 Business casual outfit cotton skirt tee

Skirt from WitcheryBag & necklace from Colette HaymanTee from Marcs

I hope that gives you some inspiration on how to keep the "YOU" in your business style.

If you have enjoyed this please share it and tell me in the comments below, what's the one piece / thing you do to keep the "YOU" in your business outfits? I'd love to know!!!

Until next week, stay stylish & successful!

Wendy