So what's new in business casual lately?

I’ve just been informed that I must spend an entire week at the mother ship. This is actually a good thing, as I believe in periodically seeing my coworkers in person and all that. But they frown on wearing my standard work-at-home outfit of flannel pajama pants and dirty t-shirts, and it’s been long enough since I had to dress up for work that I literally have nothing except the aforementioned pajama pants, t-shirts, and jeans for when I actually have to leave the house.

I shudder at the thought of ill-fitting khakis, polo shirts, and the like. I’d also like to avoid skirts or anything that would involve me wearing heels, because I fall over in them. I’m good on shoes; I have nifty clogs that will double as work shoes just fine.

So what are the hip, happening people wearing to work nowadays? I’d like to pretend I’m one of you for a week.

The hip and happening are unemployed.

May I suggest khakis that do fit and a button-down with the sleeves rolled up?

I hope they’re nice clogs! I’d never wear clogs at work!

Look for darker flat front fitted pants with a boot cut or straight leg. You can pair that with a buttoned up blouse (long or short sleeve) and possibly a complimentary scarf. Or, you can wear a fitted shirt with a blazer. You don’t need to tuck it in, but it should not be longer then your blazer or longer then the bottom of the pockets of the pants. Do your hair with a blowdryer and/or curling iron and/or straightener. Make sure your socks match your clogs…or whatever shoes you wear.

This is business casual, as is this and this.

Really? By clogs I mean things similar to these, paired with some nice slacks. The only reason I mentioned them is that last time I had to do the dog-and-pony dance, someone I worked with wore the same pair that I owned, and I figgered they were good for the workplace.

And <sigh> all you people live in the real world, where things like well-fitting khakis are easily available. Seeing as they sprung this trip on me with next to no notice, I’m somewhat limited to what I can find to wear. We don’t have a lot of clothing stores around here, and I’m super busy between now and when I leave. Thus the semi-panic over trying to find some #!#!@ clothes.

And, btw, I will kill myself before I wear clothes like this. The other two links are semi-palatable. But in general, why the heck are business clothes so incredibly ugly?

Edit: I was wrong. I will kill myself before I wear anything looking like this, either.

I guess it depends where you work, tbh.

You could try a google image search for business casual and see if you can find any new ideas.

I’m never without black turtleneck sweaters–both thick and thin cotton ones. You can wear them under above-mentioned blazer, a cardigan sweater, a pullover sweater or even under a vest. They go with jeans, dress slacks, skirts.

And by “never without”, I mean I’ve been wearing various versions of black turtleneck sweaters since I was in high school. I’m 60 now. Oh yeah, unemployed–so I don’t have many work clothes now either. I get called in for an interview, I’m basically screwed… :smiley:

Sweater sets are the easiest thing ever.

Agreed. If you don’t like jackets, buy some cardigans with matching shells or even tshirts, and a couple of pairs of properly fitted black pants. That’ll take you just about anywhere.

I’m actually pretty good on the tops - I have a few button-up shirts that are still more or less in style and fit, and at least one other long sleeve dressy kind of thing.

I also found a pair of black knit pants that I forgot I had, will be trying those on to see if they still fit. But black pants = black shoes, right? Not sure I have black shoes anymore.

I’m going to try to run over to the consignment store later today and see if I can find any gems. It’s worked before, cross your fingers.

This is like calculus.

What color shoes do you have? The whole “shoes and pants must match” thing is negotiable, depending upon the color combination. I’ve been known to mix brightly colored shoes with pants of different colors, but the major idea is to coordinate, not be matchy-matchy. If all your shoes are generic brown, then you should probably stick with more earthy tones to go with them, or at least not black head to toe.

What do you have for stuff aside from button-up shirts? I think that, if you’re going for function with a tiny bit of form, a button-up shirt, some flat-front pants and a v-neck sweater/fitted vest over it should be fine. It’s a little “menswear nerd chic”, but a lot of people can pull it off and still look professional.

Shoes-wise, I have the aforementioned clogs, which are actually black with a little bit of red & blue trim, so I guess I lied about not having black shoes. And I have some slip on brown shoes. Also a pair of cowboy boot looking things, that would have been fine to wear to work in Colorado, as that kind of “Western” look is perpetually in style. I’ll be in the south. Not so sure it’ll work there.

Hmm. I guess I’ll have to go do more of an inventory of my shoes.

The button-up shirts I have are fitted women’s shirts, and I can wear them either just as shirts or open, over a nice t-shirt. I can’t tell for sure, but I think they’re similar style-wise to the shirt in this link. I have one in a melon color, and a couple other blue ones with pinstripes. Not really men’s shirts as they have defined waists and all that.

Sweaters aren’t going to work; I’ll be in the south, as mentioned above. Assuming the crazy cold weather they’re having now is gone by the time I get there, it’ll be in the 60s, and I’m a northern girl - a sweater when it’s 60 out would turn me into a sweaty stinky mess.

How much is cost an issue here? How old are you? What’s your body type?

I’d suggest thinking in terms of “wardrobe.” What basic items does a grown-up woman need in her wardrobe? This will vary from woman to woman, of course, but a few outfits that will work as business casual will be part of most womens’ wardrobes. Include shoes and accessories when thinking about this stuff.

Your crisis here is an example of why a woman needs to have a wardrobe. If you had some more basics in place, you’d just have to do a little fill-in instead of scrambling for lots of items.

Although the “shoes must match the pants” thing is not a hard and fast rule, when doing black pants, you pretty much ought to stick to black shoes. (Unless you’re a fashion-y type and know what you’re doing)

A plain-ish pair of black loafers will serve you well as part of your wardrobe.

And don’t think you have to wear heels with a skirt! A long-ish skirt is great with flats!
A few suggestions for sources for business casual basics:

–Macy’s. I hate shopping at Macy’s, but they do tend to have a good selection of basic pieces, and often very good sales. Lord & Taylor does too.

–Talbots. Yawn, right? But again, good quality classic basics.

–Lands’ End Business Outfitters. (Not regular Lands’ End.) Nerd chic, as nashiitashii would say, but seems good for more casual stuff. It’s all in one place and they have a big range of sizes.

–Travelsmith. Lots of items that would work as business casual, and you’ve gotta love all the wrinkle-resistant machine washable stuff.
On preview: The shirt looks fine. Get the loafers. A light short-sleeve cotton sweater might be a good choice, but you probably would have to wear some bolder jewelry.

I hate spending money on clothes, so the cheaper the better. I’m 40. Body type… hmm… who knows? I’m around a size 10 in jeans. I work out, not overweight but not a stick either. Curvy.

If I needed these kinds of clothes more than once every 3 years, I’d agree with you. Even if I went out now and bought this “wardrobe”, by the time I needed it again, it’d either not fit or be outdated. I really don’t need these kinds of clothes around at all - I will never wear them except in the once-in-3-years business trip.

Good to know. Thanks.

Once-in-3-years. I’m not dropping $50 on a pair of shoes that will be lost, damaged, or out of style by the time I need to wear them again. And black loafers will not be worn as part of my normal wardrobe, ever, they are just not my style.

HAHAHAHHAHAHA! I like your sense of humor. I think the nearest Macy’s is 150 miles away. Talbots? Same thing.

We have a Penney’s, and a Target, a resale shop, and a few locally owned stores. No time to order things in before I leave. I’m heading out to the resale shop in a few minutes, will let everyone know how I make out!

150 miles? Wow! I’m totally spoiled living in the middle of New Jersey.

You can find some stuff you could get away with at Target, and I assume Penney’s would have a fairly good selection.

What do you wear normally? When you leave the house, I mean? What do people around you wear? I can’t imagine living in a world where black loafers (or some sort of equivalent) are a once-in-three year item.* But I’ll take your word for it.

What do you wear if you have to go to a funeral? This is all very interesting!

  • I’m now imagining that movie announcer guy…“In a world…where a woman…doesn’t need a pair of black loafers…”

Okay, so, based on that, I’m going to see what I can do with shapes from the Target website. Sounds like you probably want a tiny bit of layering, but not much since it’s going to be warm-- a tank top/shell/tee* under the button-downs works, and that’d go well with slacks or a tailored skirt. You could also add in one or two tops that can be worn on their own or with something that buttons up (cardigan/blazer/etc.). There are a lot of options, but the one thing that is going to dress up your wardrobe pieces is to add some bold jewelry. My suggestion: if your build can handle it, a chunky necklace works wonders-- delicate jewelry tends to get lost and make things look a little too prissy.

Depending upon what your flats look like, you can get away with button-ups and knee-length skirts. My two suggestions on shape: fitted/pencil or an a-line/flare with some tailoring to it. No floaty fabrics, and no stretchy fabrics-- they’re too casual; go for something that has some weight to the fabric, so the shape falls well-- a “khaki pants twill” is never amiss.

ETA: *I love these shirts, and have bought many of them over the past 5 years. I work in an environment where it’s almost always business casual, and I find that they’re comfortable, great for layering, and are practical for jobs that require a lot of movement but not a ton of heavy lifting.

OK, I’m back from my first foray into the scary world of businesswear. I scored a pair of these which actually fit really well, are comfortable, look nice, and I might even wear sometime other than on business trips. Unfortunately the store only had one pair in my size, in an off-white “sand” color, but Amazon came to my rescue with a pair of navy ones, and another style that I got in “black coffee” color. I don’t know exactly what that is, but I figure it’ll be good for when I inevitably spill coffee on myself.

(As an aside, I had no clue that clothes came in food colors. From now on, everything I buy must be “coffee”, “red wine” or “beer” colors. I will never have to wash clothes again if the colors are accurate.)

I actually own many of those Target T-shirts, and am planning on layering them with the button up shirts. I’ll check out those other links as well. Thanks!

When I leave the house, I wear jeans and long sleeve t-shirts and sweaters in the winter. In the summer, it’s shorts and t-shirts. On my feet, boots or clogs or hiking shoes in the winter, sandals in the summer.

Remember - I work from home. When I had an office job, I had more office-y clothes that I was able to order from catalogs or pick up when I went out of town. Unfortunately it’s been long enough since I had an office job that I got rid of all my old office clothes because they were out of style and/or they don’t fit anymore. If I had more time before having to leave on this business trip, this whole thing would be easier because I could order from catalogs.

I don’t think I’ve ever owned a pair of black loafers. They look like old lady shoes to me. Funeral… hmm… I think I usually wear dresses to funerals, but I go to funerals even less than I go on business trips so I’d probably be in the same boat if someone died!

Thanks for answering my questions. Those pants look great, and the colors you picked out sound very versatile.

A light cardigan (not a thick, heavy one, but maybe a 3/4 length sleeve and a thin knit) with a tank top over it wouldn’t be too hot. I wear similar clothes inside the office and it’s 70 in the building… so no sweaty stinky mess.

I live in sweaters from about October to April. I have some button downs, but they’re usually paired with a sweatervest. I’m a dork.

Do you really never go anywhere you can’t wear jeans? Not to pick at you, but even if I didn’t work, I’d still sometimes go places where jeans aren’t appropriate but neither are evening gowns. Parties, restaurants, concerts, etc?