High Street to Classy Work Wear: 5 Fashion Tips
How You can Revamp your UK High Street Image to Sleek Working Girl
Aug 3, 2008
High-street style constantly seduces young students, as well as the mature, because of its large selection of stores and constant whirl of ideas. Whether you are an avid shopper of TopShop, New Look, Miss Selfridge or River Island, there are always colourful bright and shiny options to perk up your day with and reflect your moods.
Office wear can be daunting for those just entering the workforce, with its rules and restrictions. How can a high-street girl make the same kind of fashion choices yet still inspire respect in the office? Though some companies are more relaxed with dress code these days, a polished fashion image goes a long way, helping you to ‘raise your status’ in the office for that promotion or pay raise you dream about. Have no fear ladies, you can still make fashion choices for work wear, without losing your style or sense of fun!
- Fabric Counts Familiar scenario for high-street diehards: you go out shopping for work wear, only to come home with a bag full of T-shirt blouses and bling-bling dresses suitable only for weekends and evenings. The first step to great work wear (yes great, not so-so) is to step back and think. Thinking and having a plan, or better still visualising and finding pictures you like, helps you to narrow down your choices and make your shopping trip fruitful. The quickest way to ‘upgrade’ your wardrobe is to select clothes in good fabric. Choose silk over cotton, rayon over polyester, linen over denim, lace over distressed. It’s easy: just touch the fabric and judge. If it feels good to you, if you can imagine Donatella Versace or Sharon Stone wearing it, you are on your way to high-class style.
- Shops that Offer Good Work Wear To make it easier for you, for starters, visit the stores that sell predominantly work wear. Warehouse, Marks & Spencers, Zara, Debenhams, Oasis, Dorothy Perkins...Once your eye is accustomed to good fabric and well-cut clothes, you will find it easier to make the right choices. At the beginning these clothes may look bland, even boring to you, but search carefully and you will start to see the gems.
- Re-creating your Style Work wear is not fun unless you make it so! And to do this requires a new mindset. When you pick up a magazine, remember the working women fashion styles that attract you. If you are tall and lean, white linen trousers and a breezy orange blouse may appeal, as it reflects your loose and comfortable style on weekends. If you are a party girl who likes her bling bling, a well-cut satin blouse and a pencil skirt are sexy and grown-up. Petite girls can swop cotton cut-offs for pinstripe cut-offs, or get a nice fitting shift dress. Once you start seeing yourself in this new light, you won’t want to stop!
- Basic Pieces, Basic Colours Of course there is method to this madness. Decide on your basic colours, not one but at least two, and get a few basic pieces in these shades. For instance, black is a perennial favourite, but you might want a nude shade like blush to lighten black up. Or you may like dark blue, with pastel creamy shades to offset it. Charcoal or dark grey can be flattering if you pick good fabrics with sheen, and you can add dusty pink or light tan shades as the second basic colour. Deep blue green is also a wonderful basic colour. Start by buying a pair of trousers, a skirt and a shirt and build from there.
- Accent Colours Accent colours reflect your personality. When you let loose and have fun, what colour gives you the most confidence? Are you a true red girl, who loves pillarbox red lipstick? Or a soft-hearted frothy pink girl? Perhaps a turquoise or bright blue makes you come alive, or cool minty green is more you. Whatever makes you happy is the best accent colour to start with. Be bold! Pick a dress in this colour, something you can throw on easily on days you feel blue. Add a top to your basic trouser/skirt combination, and get another top with dabs of this accent colour. You can even pick your jacket and shoes in this colour.
Once selecting polished work wear is second nature to you, you can ditch the boring and visit the high-street shops again for much-needed inspiration! See second part of article for this.
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