Business dress for women
Business dress for women doesn’t have to be boring!
Business dress for women can sometimes be a little dull, so recently I invited an image consultant to be a guest speaker at a women’s start-up business club that I run.
As soon as everyone arrived, I realised that I was the only one sitting in my regimental black. I know they say you should never wear black, but it is such an easy fail-safe colour to choose, especially for work. I have black skirts, tops, trousers and dresses that I wear almost daily to work. I accessorise with my usual silver jewellery but it tends to stop there.
So often women are afraid of going to a style/image/colour consultant as they think that after the session they will have to buy a whole new wardrobe, but that is not the case.
First off, the consultant decided that in all her 20 years of working in the business, she had never found anyone so difficult as me to colour match and eventually gave up saying I would need a one to one session with her for a few hours. Well, I like to be an individual I guess! But the inability to correctly colour match me turned into my advantage. Whilst others tried on different colour clothes that they didn’t already own, I stayed in my black dress but started playing around with the accessories and colour swatches to hand.
Accessories update a boring outfit
In the day-to-day routine of life, I had completely forgotten how much a few simple accessories can completely transform an outfit. I was wearing a simple v-neck black wool dress with a simple star-shaped silver necklace. By removing the necklace and putting on the most chunky leopard print design necklace worthy of Cleopatra, I suddenly transformed my simple look into one of style and wow. I felt fantastic.
Next came the scarves. By being shown how to tie a scarf properly (more research on this soon) I could change my dress into a zingy fun outfit with lime green, or sophisticated luxury with a silvery sheen little number.
So when I got up this morning and automatically put on a black top, skirt and black boots, I suddenly stopped before leaving my dressing room and started to look around. I found a beautiful topaz blue necklace and earrings which I put on instead of my usual understated silver. Suddenly my look was more interesting and I felt more interesting.
I then took this off and played around with different coloured belts and reminded myself that such a simple and cost-effective accessory could completely transform my outfit.
I really must make more effort, and have more fun when dressing.
So here are my top 5 accessories for chopping and changing to transform your look and to illustrate how business dress for women doesn’t have to be dull.
Simple ways to transform an outfit
One dress, many outfits
Scarves
Remember they don’t have to be tied around your neck. Use them as a belt or tie to the handle of a handbag for added interest
Jewellery
Whether a necklace, earrings or bangles, jewellery can instantly give you a different look. With costume jewellery being so inexpensive, you can play with different colours, designs, shapes and sizes dependent on the look you want.
Belts
Again, different colours, shapes and designs can transform your outfit in an inexpensive way.
Shoes
My passion of course! Take a black dress and add a red pair of shoes and a statement is instantly made. Swap the red for leopard skin. Change the heel height from flat to stiletto. The possibilities are endless.
Bags
If you are on an evening out or shopping during the day, a bag can be a simple way of transforming your outfit in just the same way as other accessories. A simple small clutch for sophistication. An oversized shopper for casual elegance. A decent handbag can be expensive but go hunting in the charity shops. It is amazing what you can find.
Business dress for women doesn’t need to be dull. Utilise some of these ideas to transform your business attire and let your personality shine through.
