Question - with slacks, what do you wear under your shoes? Knee-highs, or trouser socks? With a shoe that covers up the whole foot, I’ve been wearing trouser socks, and I figure a shoe that shows most of your foot’s top should probably be worn with knee-highs, but what about shoes that fall about halfway between?
You’re really going to have to suck it up and either learn to iron, or send stuff out to be laundered. Really, you can get stuff done pretty inexpensively, and it will make a huge difference in how things look.
Secondly, make sure your clothes fit PERFECTLY - if that means getting them tailored, so be it. Ordinary clothes will look 10 times better if they fit you perfectly, and don’t pull or bunch or bulge.
Thirdly, forget about buying a bunch of cheap clothing and trying to look professional. Get yourself some quality garments that will last you for years. Take care of them and dressing will be no problem. You can just pull a few things out of the closet, throw them on and look great, rather than having pilling fabrics, or pulled seams, or bits of clothing flaking off.
Finally, get a decent hair cut if you don’t already have one, and speak to someone about your make up to make sure it’s up to date. Nothing makes a woman look worse than wearing nasty, out of date make up. It can make a pretty woman look like a real dog, and for an average looking woman, you may as well not even get out of bed.
May I suggest a slightly different look?
A jersey wrap dress and ballet pump style shoes. It’s a style of dress which suits most figures, and looks chic and professional- it’s also a great look with heels for a business lunch or dinner, or even if you’re going out with friends after work.
I’d go for something with sleeves, and wear a pretty camisole underneath if the neck was too low for the office. If you go for a patterned dress you make a statement, a plain block colour and you can change your shoes, camisole and accessories more easily to give you different looks, from the subtle and understated, to big beads and bright colours- whatever suits you.
The dress should be machine washable, and probably won’t need ironed if you don’t tumble-dry it- there should be plenty of options in your local stores to suit your budget. the most important thing is to have good, seamless underwear- jersey skims, rather than clings, but it can be a little unforgiving for VPL.
For make-up, if you have good skin, mascara, blusher and lipgloss is enough to look professional, without taking ages to do or looking too heavy. If your hair is longer than shoulder length, consider wearing it up in a chignon or french pleat.
I like your style, irishgirl. I am about to order several jersey wrap dresses.
Tabby
That’s what I was going to say. A couple or three blazers in various neutral colors (gray, black, brown, khaki, whatever suits you) can dress up an outfit without a lot of effort.
This is especially true if you pair a blazer with some tasteful accesories. Scarves are a fun addition – there are a zillion styles and many ways to tie them so they don’t look frumpy. Start looking at brooches as well – a nice pin in your lapel makes an impact in about two seconds.
knits and jackets. Little mock t’s in a knit (requires no ironing), jacket (will require dry cleaning, but unless you sweat a lot or are a slob, probably only every few months).
Check out Chico’s. Then repeat the look by shopping sales racks, consignment, Marshalls, T.J. Max, etc. I like Christopher and Banks - which has decent quality
I agree that ironing a button down shirt and wearing a suit is much more professional, but if you are getting by with Old Navy and Target - this is a step. Plus, the tailored professional look is not always appropriate (overkill in my workplace).
I wear a lot of Enzo Liberty flats. You’ll need trouser socks, but you won’t need nylons.
I second Penney’s. They have some great pant suit sets that are inexpensive, come in a large range of sizes, and many of them are washable. Just check the description. If you dry them with a warm (not hot) dryer and take them out right away, or line dry, you won’t have to iron anything.
I second the blazer. Everything looks more professional if you put a jacket over it. You can put them over a long flowy dress with 1 1/2" heel shoes and some basic jewelry and you’ll look 100% better than khakis and a polo shirt.
As can I :dubious:
We’re getting at the difference between “perfect” and “sufficient”. This will vary widely depending on the occupation.
Thanks for a lot of good advice. It looks like I’ll have to rethink my ironing and dry cleaning stance. I’ll start phasing in some blazers and button-down shirts. I’ll schedule a haircut too. It was cute when I first got it done and I would spend time curling it under in the morning but now it is just kind of grown out and shaggy. I think that is part of what is making me feel icky. I’ll check out JC Penney and Chico’s too.
Scarfs and cheap costume jewelry also go a long way in spiffing up a look.
Personally, I disagree with everybody who’s all about the button downs. I wear mostly sweaters - light in summer, heavier in winter. They need less maintenance, although they do need dry cleaned. I think they’re more versatile, and if you buy twin sets then you can add a lot of variety to your wardrobe. I’ve got maybe two button down shirts and probably twenty sweaters around the year in heavy rotation. They can look so much more tailored with less effort, IMHO.
This is all IMO, and is generalized:
On fabrics: I don’t disagree with what anyone else has said, but IMO the downside to “wash’n’wear” “wrinkle-free” synthetic clothing is that it’s synthetic. Polyester looks like polyester. Natural fiber clothing – wool, cotton, linen, silk – is almost never “wrinkle free.” (That said, they are making some really nice clothing in synthetic-natural blends.) I dry-clean my suits (too hard to wash and to iron really well) and my few silk shirts (too easy to ruin), and I don’t wear 100% linen because it is so darn wrinkly. Everything else I wash at home and, yes, iron. IME, you can keep the necessary ironing to a minimum by taking the clothes out of the dryer promptly and hanging them up right away. And if you’re careful with your nicer clothes (don’t spill stuff on them, don’t get all hot and sweaty, hang the clothes back up as soon as you take them off), you should be able to get 2-4 wearings out of each piece before you throw them back in the laundry.
On looking “professional”: IMO, khakis and Docker-style pants are not really professional-looking. Trousers are. Trousers are worn with trouser socks or knee-high nylons. Knee-high nylons are never worn with open-toed shoes – especially the kind of knee-highs with reinforced toes. Open-toed shoes are only marginally professional anyway, maybe you can get away with them depending on season and profession. Flip-flops, no matter how dressed-up or decorated, are not professional. Trousers are not white or cream unless you’re a nurse. Skirts are generally considered “more professional” than pants, but may not be appropriate in every profession or time of year. My profession is too conservative/formal for skirts to be worn bare-legged, and it is WAAAY too hot for panty-hose, so I’m wearing trousers every day. Collared shirts are generally “more professional” than shirts without collars. Jackets/blazers are generally more professional than a lack of same. Twin-sets can look professional, but have to be paired with stuff that makes them look more so. Pink twin-set with navy trousers and navy closed-toe low-heel pumps = office; same pink twin-set with floral skirt and open-toed sandals = garden party. Jewelry and make-up is understated; no Tammy-Faye spackle foundation and no hanging-chandelier earrings.
But all of that is just based on my own tastes and experience in my own field, which may nto be – probably isn’t – the same as yours. Honestly, if you want to know how a professional woman in your particular field dresses, my best advice is to find a successful woman who is about two levels above you in the company or field, and take notes on how she dresses.
Also, it would very much help us to advise you if we knew your field - I’m a librarian, and I can wear bare legs and open toed shoes and be perfectly professional. A lawyer can’t. There’s a huge range of dress in various industries.
H&M. A lot of designer knock-offs, and their prices are reasonable. If you have a nice pair of pants (most there are $30), you can wear anything from a lace camisole with a cardigan and plasticky beads to a kimono-style top and look put together. You can always go for button-up shirts and khakis, but after a while, you need to femme it up some and get fierce.
I hate to iron but my trick is to wait until things come out of the dryer and lay them flat under something heavy, like a towel. Then if I have to touch up, it’s not one tenth as bad as letting the clothes go cold in the dryer.
Downy’s wrinkle release works wonders for cardigans and sweaters, which are iffy to iron.
Eddie Bauer also has a great line of wrinkle-resistant button-down shirts (I’m wearing one right now) and they’re coming out with wrinkle-reisistant pants, too. I love 'em.
Will you do low heels? You can get great pointy shoes (that are in right now and therefore look professional) that have 1"-1.5" heels, so you won’t be as likely to break your ankles.
I second watching “What Not to Wear” on TLC, or buy their book – lots of great tips and ideas.
As far as makeup goes, you may or may not like to wear makeup, but you should know that you don’t need to wear makeup to look professional. Unless you’re a stage actor. Or a hooker.
I stopped wearing makeup a few years back, after wearing it every day including weekends, and now that I don’t wear it anymore I notice how many professional women who appear on the news don’t wear makeup. Not the news readers, but the women who have real jobs who do things and make news.
I work in social services. Not a very snazzy field. I don’t mind high heels, but I am 5’7" so they’re not really necessary and my chiropractor recommended not wearing them (unless they’re extra cute). I hate the pointy toe shoes though because my feet are size 10s and I just can’t add on an extra inch of shoe to my already big feet.
I’ve never heard of H&M but I will google them and I will also check out the local Eddie Bauer (outlet). I like the idea of all these wrinkle-free options!
Misconception alert! Pointy shoes do NOT make your feet look bigger precisely because they’re exaggerated. They do, however, make your legs look longer and more elegant. Try some on, you will be astonished at how quickly your preconceptions will fall over as people start going on about your cute shoes, where did you get them, did you get TALLER?, etc. Square and round toed shoes tend to draw attention to the length of your feet, because there’s no denying where the end of them is! Pointy shoes, especially pointy boots, good…
I think this is going to be more a matter of personal preference and opinion. I tend to think pointy shoes look ridiculous, and don’t do much to flatter the legs at all! I can’t help but imagine them curled up with a little bell on the end.