Fashion trends for the office

My mom and I went to a style session workshop today at Westfield Eastgardens.  It was basically a big advertisement for the retailers in the centre.

 I must admit that Donny Galella was quite entertaining though and he really catered to women who were uncomfortable with their bodies.  Check out some of the makeovers on his page, most are amazing!  Unfortunately, he turns one poor teenage boy into a gay teen idol and one of the women looked like a man to start with and their wasn't much he could do about that.

Anyway, the event inspired me to pick out some of the Autumn/Winter season trends I'd like to try at the office.

     Camel Trench Coat
Camel is big this season, and a trench coat is the perfect way to warm up in the Autumn/Winter weather. I love this trench because it is so feminine and flirty. It's also relatively timeless. The one below is a pretty good price for a coat.

ASOS Pleated Skirt Mac $117.16 at ASOS.com

    Pussy Bow Blouse
The pussy bow blouse is in this season. Whoever thought of that name needs to re-think the whole idea. Wiktionary defines the word as "A large, floppy bow on an item of clothing." That doesn't make the phrase sound any more elegant. The one below is so expensive, but it's from the same fashion house as Kate Middleton's royal wedding dress. I can always think of an excuse to back up any purchase.

Alexander McQueen Houndstooth pussy-bow blouse approx $515 at Net-a-porter.com

     Nude Heels
Nude heels were all the rage at the royal wedding. They elongate the legs. Who doesn't want longer legs? The Tony Bianco shoes below are well-priced and I always find their shoes amazingly comfy.

Tony Bianco Jan $139.95 from tonybianco.com.au

   Maxi Skirts

Maxi Skirts are in, the maxi dress is out. I must admit that this nearly $500 skirt looks like it was picked up from St Vincent de Paul, so it's probably not worth the price. It's adorable though. I guess I'll be at Vinnie's tomorrow sorting through old clothes.

Shakuhachi Pleats Please Maxi Skirt $484.11 at ASOS.com

High heels in the office - prostitute or professional?

 "I've spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live. I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes" - Carrie

I am not a heel person, I mean I love heels, but I am just not very coordinated.  I am the girl who falls over on a night out before we've even had the first drink;  I even recently fell over at the gym when I was wearing "sensible" shoes.  Regardless, I still think heels are a must have in the office, even if I have to spend some time on the floor.

High heels in the office are a contentious issue. Personally, I think high heels are the most appropriate shoes for the corporate woman.  They are the finishing touch to any professional outfit.  One common question is how high can heels be before they transition from professional to prostitute?  I think that if you can walk comfortably in them and they don't have visible platforms, you have not yet crossed into the stripper zone.

My shoes live at the office and rarely see the streets. It's not like I'm walking to work in these shoes, they are purely inside the office shoes. I have so many shoes at work I could start a small shoe store.

I wear my havaianas to work. They keep my heels clean, and mean that if I'm running late to work I'm not teetering around in heels trying to navigate the city streets. With Winter coming, I'm going to start wearing my Hunter rainboots to work to keep my toes warm. I got them for $125 online at shopbop, and I love them. Jimmy Choo even made some of these boots (if that doesn't make you think they are fabulous, nothing will) which are shown below on one of the Olsens (no I can't tell them apart).

I cannot stand women who wear sneakers to the office. It's a quick way to look old and dowdy. I don't care how comfortable they are. Fashion comes before comfort, and this is not attractive.

I'm in desperate need of some new work shoes... OK, I just told you I had a whole shoe store worth of shoes at work, but a woman can never have enough!! I am lusting for these Louboutin Simple 70 leather pumps. They have a 3" heel. Just a shame they're about $500 and I would have to sell my first born child to afford them. I can already hear my credit card crying.

I got a kick out of this yahoo questions answer. Maybe 6" is the magical number where you begin to look like a prostitute.  As opposed to just feeling like a prostitute selling your soul to the Big Four.

"Whoever said that money doesn't buy happiness didn't know where to shop"

As a new graduate at work, I sometimes  feel like my manager is Blair Waldorf and I'm her doting minion.  I follow her around, she tells me to do things, I do her printing and I'm at her every beck and call.  It's gotten to the point where I'm subconsciously dressing like her, and I've started talking like her too.  This is how the corporate structure works, and this is the basis for my argument that Gossip Girl is educational for the corporate woman.

It's no secret that Blair Waldorf is one of my work-wear fashion icons.  Blair understands my fashion-sense and she epitomizes it, albeit in clothing that's worth more than a lifetime supply of Justin Bieber's hair.  

For a start, she understands how to wear a tie without accidentally looking like a lesbian (not that there's anything wrong with that).

She can wear a neck scarf without looking like a girl scout or a flight attendant. 

She knows how to dress classically, without looking old and frumpy

Best of all, she doesn't dress like Jenny Humphrey, which is a sure fire way to get fired and/or get invited to "after work drinks" in the "partner's bar". 

What's shaped like a vagina and holds tampons?

Sometimes I feel the need to buy "Fashion Police" stickers and walk around the city sticking them to people dressed atrociously.  One of the worst fashion crimes in Sydney is women who wear ugly or cheap looking bags.  A bag can ruin an entire outfit; and if you're wondering why I'm throwing up on the bus to work, it's not motion sickness, it's your hideous bag.

I understand the idea that a bag should be practical and not just fashionable, but in my opinion it needs to be both.  You don't see me wearing my practical pajamas to work. My point is, practical is just one part of the accessory story.

On the topic of practicality, a work bag should be able to fit A4 paper and a pair of shoes in it. I recently purchased an Oroton briefcase which I personally think is perfect.  It can fit a laptop and some A4 shaped items, and its structured.

I was once told that your work bag should reflect your work. A structured bag reflects an organised, strong person; a slouchy hobo reflects a slouchy hobo person.

I do love hobos though (the bags!!), I've been lusting for the Marc Jacobs Classic Q Hillier Hobo.  I think it's got just enough structure for me to pass off as an organised person who dislikes hobos, but secretly enjoys watching bum fights.

\

 And work bags don't need to be black, although it seriously helps when you look at your leather bags and wallets and realize you somehow managed to get blue pen marks on every single one of them, and then when you try to remove the marks with leather cleaner it removes the leather but NOT the blue pen!!!!! AARGH. 

Anyway, I thought I'd leave you with some vomit-inducing handbags for you to consider. 

   "Marc by Marc Jacobs Pretty Nylon Tote"

Marc, I know you tried to fool me into buying this by putting your name on it, but it's not working.  I can't work out if this bag is made of a quilt, or it's a giant nappy bag. Or is it a sleeping bag?  Whatever it is, I'm not paying $198 for it

   I don't even know what this bag is
Katherine Heigl, I'm sure I don't have to remind you that you are a celebrity and you are setting a bad example for young women across the world.  If anybody knows where this bag is from, I'd love to hear from you.

   Louis Vuitton Tribute Patchwork bag 
OMG girls!! Only 24 of these bags were made evarrrr!!! and with a price tag of only about $40,000 why wouldn't everyone want one!!!  The fact there are only 24 of these bags actually makes me happy that I am not likely to ever be subjected to seeing one in real life. It's like some kid in a sweatshop sewed all the half-made Louis Vuitton bags together when he ran out of material.

    The vag bag
I thought I'd throw this one in for a laugh.  I dare someone to actually wear it to work.  I've previously seen this on the web labelled "What's shaped like a vagina and holds tampons?"

   and just so you don't think I'm sexist...

Should women wear ponytails in the office?

This image has been going around the interwebs for a while now, and I'm hoping there is no truth to it.  I tend to wear my hair to work in a high ponytail everyday at the moment.  As far as I can tell, it's currently in fashion; consider the top knot and braided top knot that are in vogue at the moment.  I personally feel like high ponytails are cute (especially on younger women) and professional (as they sweep the hair off the face as opposed to wearing it down and messy)

The ponytail is also easy.  Wearing your hair down requires it to be sitting well, to be clean and for it to not be wet (which can all be miraculous feats in the morning before work).  In fact, I have a few pet hates I'd like to share:

   Women who wear their hair down when its greasy.  This is disgusting, it makes me want to puke.

   Women who wear their hair down when it looks like a rats nest.  You could do so much better with a tidy updo.

   Women who wear their hair down when its wet.  I am guilty of this on the weekend! It looks horrible, and the hair never dries well, it always ends up looking like you did nothing to it.  This is not what you want to look like at work.

Bleugh. Anyway, there's a bigger issue here which is: Should women wear ponytails in the office?  Are they too schoolgirl/child-like?   Does the ponytail angle of attack affect your perceptions of a woman?

My hair motto is that work hair should always look like you put some effort into it, whether its straightened or curled hair bobbing about the shoulders, or a ponytail with a cute clip.

Here's a hairstyle I've been considering, in the style of Lady Gaga (this fact may or may not ruin it for me):

Here's a tutorial on attempting to achieve the look, also... I'm not sure how this will go down in the office.

Cue - What other options do Sydney women have for workwear?

We've got a fashion crisis going on at work. All the young women shop at Cue, and we all have the same clothes. It's getting to the point where I'm considering smsing everyone in the morning to make sure we aren't wearing the same thing. In fact, if my workmates and I put our wardrobes together we could probably open a Cue store, and still have Cue clothes leftover to sell on Ebay.

That's another thing, Cue clothes are all over Ebay and they sell for good money. You can fetch $100 or so for a  suit skirt/jacket combo or a dress you don't want anymore. God knows I need to sell some of my clothes to finance my shopping habit.

I do love Cue. The clothes have some sort of style to them, they are for young women so they don't look dowdy and they fit my size 14 frame. However, the hems often come down on their clothes, some of their ideas of what is "fashionable" are just atrocious, and it has been noted that their size 6 is a vanity size 6, and that anyone who is actually a size 6 is too small to shop here.

Here are just a few of Cue's current laughable creations from their designer Dion Lee collaboration. I could totally wear these to work if they weren't so short and non-office like...

So, is there anything else out there for us Sydney-siders and our fellow Australian women to wear to work? Here is my current suggestion, but I guess I'll decide when I get the clothes in the mail.

  ASOS - http://www.asos.com/
ASOS provides free international shipping on orders. They have their own label "ASOS" which has cheapish clothing (especially when they're on sale), and they also have a few more expensive designers. They are not exclusively workwear, but I just bought a bunch of blouses from here. They have a good range of sizes, and you can see how the garment moves (albeit on a perfect size 6 model) using their "catwalk" option.

Where are your favourite places to shop when you don't want to be a Cue clone?

Can women wear ties in the workplace?

A couple of Friday's ago, I wore a tie to work, and I didn't wear it like I was impersonating Avril Lavigne and the emo kids.  I see the tie as a corporate accessory rather than a male noose.

I have to admit, I like to cause a bit of a stir, but the corporate world is not always the best place for being different.  Perhaps I was hoping it would be a little intimidating to men.  The reactions I got in response to my tie were both positive and negative.

I am a very "feminine" dresser, look in my wardrobe and you will see it is full of bows, dresses and ribbons, with not a pair of pants in sight. I think women can wear a tie without looking like a man.  I like to wear a tie with a very feminine outfit, such as under a sleeveless dress with a shirt, or under a vest or v-neck jumper with a shirt and skirt.

On this particular Friday I was wearing a tie with a long sleeve striped shirt, a black sleeveless tunic dress and heels.  Here are the points of view I learnt from the experience:

  The more conservative a person, the less likely they are to enjoy your tie.
Remember that whole struggle where women weren't allowed to wear pants?  You might insult some men and women who still follow some of these traditional ideals.  It's probably best not to wear a tie to a job interview, just in case, but in all other cases, women's equality should mean fashion equality.  (I don't mind if the guys want to start wearing dresses, skirts, heels and stockings...  that is there problem).

  The tie can seem a little feminist.
Now I don't consider myself a feminist at all,  I'm a modern woman,  but after going to an all girls school for 13 years I never want to analyse anything from the feminist perspective ever again!  Some might feel the tie is your attempt to assert your "girl power"

  The tie comes in and out of mainstream fashion.
Masculine clothes for women come in and out of vogue like high waisted pants.  Some people might not wear it out of fear it will look stupid on them, but that's what being a fashionista is about, taking risks in the name of fashion.  Hopefully, risks that don't jeopardize your corporate career.

  The tie can make you look butch.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, but you don't want to be conveying the wrong impression to those conservative people mentioned above.

  Maybe I've been scarred from wearing a tie to school (I have attached a photo of the uniform for reference), but what do you think?