Office Wardrobe On A Budget...6 Must Haves

[admin]

What should you wear to work? Do you wonder every day what outfit you should wear to the office? Are you on a budget? You can solve this problem by designing your office wardrobe around six items of clothing and create a big variety of outfits on a small budget. You will need a plain dress, a long sleeve jacket, a pair of black pants, a plain blouse, a straight skirt, and a patterned blouse. These six items, together with accessories, will complete your working wardrobe.

1. A Plain Colored Dress
A plain colored dress, without a collar, is ideal to wear to work. A dress without a collar looks smart under a jacket. Choose either a dark colored dress such as black, or a neutral color such as grey. Dark colors and neutral colors always look smart and are easy to accessorise. You can alter the appearance of your dress by wearing a patterned scarf around your neck. Alternatively, wear a loose fitting chain belt around your waist.

You can wear your plain dress straight from the office to a dinner date or a party. All you need to do is change into a pair of high-heeled pumps or sandals, and you are ready to go.

2. A Long Sleeve Jacket
On cooler days, wear a jacket over your dress. Wearing a jacket that matches the color of your dress will give the impression that you are wearing a suit. A black jacket will team with any colored dress, except navy. A grey colored jacket will look lovely with every dress color.

3. A Plain Colored Blouse
Choose a blouse with either no sleeves or short sleeves. Your blouse will fit more easily under a jacket if it has no sleeves or short sleeves. It is best to choose a blouse without a collar, so that it looks smart under a jacket that has a collar. Wear a patterned scarf around your neck to create a different look.

4. A Pair of Black Pants
Team your black pants with your plain colored blouse. Wear a variety of colored belts with your pants, or thread a scarf through the belt loops instead of wearing a belt. Wear black shoes or shoes that match the color of your belt or blouse.

Wear your pants with a jacket on cooler days. Either wear your outfit with a blouse showing underneath, or wear a scarf under your jacket to create a different look.

You can blend in the colors of your jacket and pants by wearing a patterned scarf. For example, team black trousers with a red belt and a grey jacket. Complete the outfit by wearing a black, white, grey, and red patterned scarf.

5. A Straight Skirt
Choose a skirt color that will combine well with the color of your jacket and your plain blouse. You can wear your blouse over the top of your skirt, or for variety, tuck your blouse into your skirt and wear a wide belt. Wear a pair of shoes in the same color toning as your skirt, or wear a pair of shoes the same color as your belt. Add a plain scarf that matches your belt to complete your outfit.

6. A Patterned Blouse
Choose a patterned blouse that buttons up the front. Wear your patterned blouse unbuttoned over your dress, or over your plain blouse instead of wearing a jacket. For variety, wear your patterned blouse buttoned up and wear it with your skirt or pants.

Choose Your Accessories Carefully
Wear medium-heeled or low-heeled pumps to the office. Ideally, you should have at least two pairs of shoes. One pair of shoes should be black to match your pants and one pair should be a color that combines well with your other clothing. You can choose a contrast color, such as red and blend in your red shoes with all of your outfits by adding red toned jewelery, red handbag, plain red or red patterned scarf, and a red belt.

By wearing scarfs, belts, and a variety of shoes, you can create many different looks with your basic six-piece wardrobe. You will always look well dressed and ready for work.


By Gail Gill

[Frank Gomez]

Great suggestions. I would also recommend get a second pair of black pants. That way you always have a spare available if one is at the cleaners.