Hunt for Work Clothes Part 1

Job search accomplished! I officially join the workforce as a business analyst in a management consultancy. I know, the title is a mouth full but honestly, as always, the title is the only glamorous thing, not the job itself.

But ah, this leads me to a completely new wardrobe change. =D Anything new for the wardrobe is a good thing. Granted I have been living in baggy shirts over leggings with Converse while hunting for a job with my weapon of choice, the laptop and internet, I can now shake off the laziness and go look at pretty things!

One problem. Work clothes are tough. 1) They can easily become uniform-y 2) There just ain't enough creativity in the field of professionals that allow colours, trend and style to go pass that business meeting. All of which I predict will come true after slogging six months in the office with no desire to do anything but sleep/watch tv once you get home.

There is however a preventive measure. Buy items that fall into the smart category but also enable you to look different from the sea of black suits. Unconventionally smart. And I believe the answers lie in blouses, accesories and blazers.

I've found a few examples to show you.

Note: Some of the following outfit photos are not suitable for the workplace. I am only interested in the single piece items when paired with the usual pants and pencil skirt. haha just in case.

Plain white shirt with a twist. Mandarin collar-esque shirt with a slightly poofy 3/4 sleeve.

It actually looks boring alone but look what you can do with it! I love how it has been styled with a scarf and the belt definitely accentuates the waist.

I'd probably wouldn't pair it with a red cardigan though. I would prefer it if it was in navy blue. And ooo, I like the bag! But I digress. I think the amazing thing about this top is that I can see myself wearing it out of work. It can be easily turned into a shirt dess with a skinny brown belt paired with leggings and heels. Awesome right? I love it when you can get your money's worth!

Second example. Probably a dress I would never buy if I saw hung on the rack. Looks rather dull and a bit too 40 year old-ish. Plus the buttons down the side make me go 'Huh?'

But look what happens!

It's amazing what scarves can do to clothes. It immediately glams up the whole outfit and makes it more presentable. I am telling myself now to overlook first impressions and just think of what you can do to the outfit, especially if you find a dress like that on the sales rack. I would definitely have not even give it another glance before realising this.

Next is just a shirt. It looks like a normal work shirt but look at the details on the puffy sleeve! Subtle details like the folds on dresses/sleeves does give the outfit an extra edge. Not to forget pussy bows and ruffles.

And if the details are too subtle for you, throw on a cute little blazer and voila you're ready for that Monday morning power meeting. I would obviously highly recommend that you go in long pants instead of shorts.

Last but not least, blouses! They are one of they ways to add colour your dull work life. Versatile and pleasing to the eye, what more can one want? Although I may think of toning it down a bit by not pairing it with pencil skirts as it may appear less professional., depending on how the blouse looks like. That 's what I currently think anyway. Again, it can be easily styled out of the workplace.

Another shoutout to blazers! Instantly ups your professional look points.

Another lovely find is this interesting sailor top. It's too cute!

So yes, I am now on the hunt for clothes as versatile as the alphabet. Obviously for work clothes, go for quality and this time I'm going to probably splash out a bit. You need to look polished at work and a little extra quality in the materials you choose will definitely make you look more professional. And remember to also take cues from observing what your colleagues wear. The individual pieces above may be slighly too informal for a strict workplace but the idea is there.

This hunt is going to be mighty hard though so stay tuned to see what I manage to find!

- Sue

Zen's Oxfam picks

I enjoy my Oxfam online browse of an evening -- there's always the chance that you might find something exciting, like gold Repetto flats (too small for me, alas) or a glorious sequined skirt (too big). The clothes are cheaper than Asos, giving the illusion of attainability, and they don't even charge for postage anymore!

I think Sam would look good in these button-rich 3/4-length trousers. The slightly poofy legs add just the right amount of whimsy. I for one would enjoy wearing something by a brand called Olga de Polga.

Vintage Olga de Polga trousers, £35

I'm a little dubious about the fit of this dress -- I don't like the way it hangs on the mannequin -- but the sari fabric is gorgeous. Why don't people use this type of fabric more in Western-style fashion?

Handmade restyled for Oxfam dress, £19.99

Oxfam online tends to have a decent number of French Connection pieces, but they're all really boring jeans and T-shirts that look like they've got faded in the wash. I always look because I dream of the day I will find one of their gorgeous embellished dresses for a steal.

Until that glorious day, this decidedly unembellished white linen dress would provide some consolation ...

FCUK cream linen dress, £15.99

A small-built person with interesting dresses trudged down to her local Oxfam recently. If I were Sue-sized I would be tempted by one of these.

Vintage apple green dress, £15.99

I like how they've put ruffles on the hem of this green dress. It somehow makes it more interesting than if it was only ruffled at the bodice.

Vintage magenta dress, £15.99

Though either the lighting in these photos is whack, or the person who did the descriptions didn't have a colour wheel at hand, 'cos those shades don't look anything like apple green or magenta to me.

The purple one is clearly more absurd, but it is also a little more special. I like them both, though. I would wear them with little shoes with low block heels and maybe a happy hat.

Zen approves

And suspects Sam will as well!

Seen at style is style; picture originally from calivintage

Serendipity

I was going discreetly to refrain from posting about this so soon after documenting my last bout of extravagance, but since an early birthday visit to Sam revealed my lapse, I suppose I might as well tell the other Lemm ... and anyone else reading this blog, whoever they may be.

I was wandering around Covent Garden the other night, wondering what to do, when I saw a sale sign in the Oasis shop window and decided to pop in. And discovered that the Rosalind Kemp trompe l'oeil collection I squealed about last year was on sale!

I am ridiculously pleased because the original prices were, er, ridiculous -- or at least far beyond my touch. I wouldn't actually pay £30 for a tank dress no matter how cute, but £10 I don't mind stretching to.



It was interesting seeing the pieces in the flesh (or fabric, as the case may be) as opposed to only in pictures. It become obvious, for example, that the T-shirt dress pretending to be a trenchcoat is too short for me to feel comfortable wearing it as a dress.


It's not a complete disappointment, however -- it does indeed have pockets, as I suspected!

I am wondering whether I could wear it with shorts, or whether it would look funny or as if I wasn't wearing anything underneath it. Sadly I left all my shorts at home and have yet to find a worthy substitute here ...

These knit shorts I tried on in Zara probably aren't it.

Grey & white polka dot cardigan - Marks & Spencer; owl necklace - gift from sister; white lace T-shirt - TK Maxx; teal tights - Dorothy Perkins; white oxfords with lilac ribbon laces - Robert Clergerie; amazing knit shorts - Zara

Though they are kinda cute! But how often could you wear horizontal-striped high-waisted knit shorts? No. I will keep looking.

- Zen

Catching up

Being a working woman is bad for my wardrobe ... and I mean "bad for my wardrobe" in a "the engines cannae take it, captain!" kind of way, not in a "my wardrobe is too empty" kind of way.

But after a week of being all :|-faced in the office, you do feel the need for some whimsy. Polka dots and bright tights are the themes of my weekends.

Navy blue polka dot dress - New Look; purple jade necklace - gift from parents; grey and white polka dot cardigan + mauve tights - Marks & Spencer; white shoes with lavender ribbon ties - Robert Clergerie

Ruffle cardigan - Avellini; white lace T-shirt - Nic and Jess; deceptively worn-looking denim shorts - Quiksilver (all via TK Maxx)

This second set of photos is somewhat deceptive; besides the postbox-red tights, I wasn't actually wearing any of these clothes while going around this weekend. I was just trying them on in TK Maxx. I only bought the lace T-shirt in the end, though I suspect the outfit only looked nice because the lace T-shirt looked nice with the grunginess of the shorts. I've been wanting shorts but these were too big for me around the waist. Bye bye, shorts!

The other thing I bought at TK Maxx were evidence of a certain optimism on my part.



I've never been especially keen on the look of Birks, but they are pretty comfy, and I found the almost-apple-green shade of these attractive. (They are not quite Granny Smith green. Maybe they are pistachio?) They make me think of summer and shorts in pale colours. I then got quite concerned that I wouldn't know what to wear them with, since pale colours and shorts are pretty much the opposite of what predominates my wardrobe at the moment (lots of black and Srs Bzness clothes). A quick search on Wardrobe Remix and Lookbook.nu turned up the following hints.

1. The best accessories for Birkenstocks are sunshine and bare legs.

meligrosa @ Wardrobe Remix

Sheng Mae L.@ lookbook (incidentally I am in awe of how cool and comfortable this girl looks, considering this photo was taken in Malaysia!)

2. Simplicity is key. It spoils it if you look like it took ages to think of what to put on; Birks are a "throw 'em on and go" kind of shoe.

Hartkor @ lookbook

Henry Browncoat @ Wardrobe Remix

3. If you've got to break the bare legs rule, make sure you show a bit of ankle at least.

meligrosa again!

Jessy Y. @ lookbook

4. Nerd it up! Birkenstocks are not cool shoes. The sooner you embrace that fact, the better for all concerned.

Tree T. @ lookbook

Inspiring stuff! I'm all excited now. Forget the spring season -- roll on summer!

- Zen

Bibbidi bobbidi shoes

P and I went to the Macmillan Cancer Support vintage sale in Oxford. I was looking forward to some shopping, but once I was in there I didn't really feel like it. You know the feeling? It wasn't oppressively crowded, but there was a fair number of people, enough that you felt embarrassed to be standing in front of a rack for too long. Not so much Angels sale, but quite a lot like Marble Arch Primark on a Thursday night.

I didn't want to buy anything black, and I didn't want to buy anything too experimental -- working seems to have revived my interest in simplicity. I didn't want to have to try anything on because the fitting rooms were basically a part of the room sectioned off by screens where people tried things on -- not that semi-public same-gender nudity bothers me so much; it was more that there probably weren't any hooks for me to hang my coat on while I was at it. And when it came down to it, it just seemed like it would be nicer strolling around in the sunny, blue-skied outdoors than fighting off some mum to get to a vintage Jaegaer dress.

(One thing that was nice about the sale was that there was a good range in terms of ages. I have a feeling that if it'd taken place in London it would have been way more hipsters in their twenties and thirties, and way fewer mums and grannies stocking up on cheap clothes.)

So it was really good luck that I saw what I wanted within the first five minutes.

White oxfords with lilac ribbon ties! I love how they have this twee ballerina colour scheme, smacked onto the no-nonsense long-toed shape of a men's shoe. They definitely scratch the itch for masculine shoes in sweet colours that I've been having ever since seeing these pink Irregular Choice brogues on Susie Bubble.

I really like the idea of satin ribbons as shoelaces, too.

They've certainly had better days -- they don't seem to have been worn much, if at all, because before I got them they didn't have the horizontal creases along the front that happen when you walk in oxfords. But they're a bit grimy, and the leather on the tips of the toes is flaking off. But hey, I figured a bit of wear wasn't a big deal for £5.

And the best part? Actually, the best part is just that the shoes make me smile, but it does add to the smugness factor that I saw this on the sole when I picked them up:

This is the second time I've scored a Branded Item for £5 without hardly trying! 5 must be my magic number or something.

(If you haven't heard of Robert Clergerie, don't worry; I wasn't sure what he was either. I suspected he was expensive, though, and it turns out I was right.)

- Zen

Enter the Tiger!

Happy New Year from the Lemms (: Tiger-year perfect = Tiger-blazers no?
To my Lemms: Thanks for all the glam and unglam-ness! All the best for this year. Raaaaaaaaar!