Business casual dress is a style of professional clothing that gives women more options than ever before. It’s a dress code that is relaxed and comfortable, appropriate for an office environment, and allows you to creatively mix and match items in your wardrobe. Take a look at the following tips to land the perfect business casual style.
Elevate Basic Black with Color and Charisma
Black is a go-to basic color for a business casual dress. It’s a classic color that is a staple in any wardrobe and creates a blank canvas for different looks. It is also a color that is associated with authority and credibility. But it needs help. Take a look at three ways to elevate basic black with color and charisma.
The classic LBD (Little Black Dress): Pop on a colorful cardigan, denim jacket, or patterned scarf with an everyday black sheath dress. Team with a strand of pearls and matching earrings for a simple, timeless look. Or opt for bigger, bolder jewelry for a fashion-forward flair. Flattering kitten heels or leather slip-ons complete the look.
Basic Black Slacks: Elevate a pair of basic black slacks with a crisp cream, ivory or white blouse for an instant professional, business casual look. Select a ruffled or tie blouse for a feminine touch. Accessorize with small drop earrings and your favorite pendant. Wear comfortable flats or booties, an elegant belt and the look is complete.
Black Blouse: Create a fun and whimsical look by wearing a classic black blouse, pullover, or turtleneck with a skirt or pair of slacks featuring a colorful pattern. Think pinstripes, hounds tooth, floral, tweed, or multicolored geometric shapes like squares and checks. Match the bottom colors with the accessories like colorful beads in ties, necklaces, and teardrop earrings for the finishing touches. Colorful slip-ons add one more pop of color.
Black Denim: For a dress-down day, or any day in some organizations, black denim designer jeans are a perfect compromise when worn with the proper ensemble. They look more like well- fitting trousers than jeans, and you can pair them with more formal pieces for the office. A tailored blouse or structured top and blazer or cardigan complements black jeans perfectly. A classic pair of high-heel pumps will dress up this 9 to 5 look. To dress down the image, a comfortable pair of black chunky sneakers provides an unexpectedly casual vibe.
Dare To Ditch the Coordinating Suit
The traditional matching structured suit has always had a place in the boardroom. Think lawyers and CEOs of days gone by. Today’s suit is more comfortable and crafted from fabrics that are breathable and less structured.Â
Mix and Match: Get all your suits out of the closet and split the top away from the bottom half to rethink their potential. Experiment with the pieces that could coordinate if they are not obviously married to the bottom half. Longer jackets will look best with slimmer trousers; shorter jackets match wider trousers. Add a sweater vest with a skirt and wear a blazer over a dress. Mixed accessories will take your outfit even further. As long as the styles, colors and fabrics create one style story, you can add several more outfits and expand your wardrobe without spending a cent.Â
Feminine touches. Look for jackets that accent your shape and hug your curves. Men-inspired trousers that feature wider legs and ankle length hemlines update the look and put the spotlight on your shoes. Skirts of all lengths are accepted for work, from a mini, just above the knee, to a maxi, just below the calf. It’s the entire outfit that counts, including color when you are suiting up. Pull out the solid colors like navy, cream, dark brown, black, and gray. These neutrals are not only timeless but are easy to coordinate. A simple, yet effective mix and match outfit is a column of color with skirt or trousers in the same or similar color to the top. Pop a colorful jacket such as red, yellow, orange, or bright blue on top. Checks and patterned jackets also look great over an internal silhouette of basic neutrals. The whole ensemble will feel new again.
Tie One On: Now blouses are back, especially for work, think twice when it comes to neck adornment. Many blouses already come with a softly tied, feminine bow. However, the shirt and simple collared blouses might need something more at the neck to jazz up the look. Of course, you can slot in traditional bows, scarves, and broaches. But have you thought of neckties? Select one from your favorite guy’s closet or head to the thrift shop where you’ll find an array of colors, patterns, and styles. There are more than ways than one to put this professional men’s workhorse to pep up your outfit. Tie like the traditional men’s tie and adorn with a broach, tie around your waist like a sash if the outfit needs a splash of color. Create a loose choker by wrapping it multiple times around your neck. Ties are also perfect hair accessories. Experiment and have fun with this unexpected suit accessory.
Play with Color: Although the go-to classics, black, brown, navy, gray, and cream are safe colors for your business casual wardrobe, color can have a place at the office. When you are confident with what is accepted in your workplace, start to play with colors and shades of colors. Start slow with accessories and shoes and then go for it and wear any color you crave to create a confident, professional style.
Let’s Talk Seasonal Business Casual and Color
Summer
Consider wearing colors inspired by the seasonal flowers like reds, blues, pinks, yellows, greens, and purples, and their many shades. Prints, florals, leaf, and botanical patterns lend lots of color to your outfit. Select a dress to wear alone or a colorful top and team it with neutral slacks, cardigan, shrug or blazer, and a colorful shoe.Â
Spring
Paler colors like peach, baby blue, light pink, lime green and other pastels are perfect for this season of rebirth. Prints with combinations of colors are delightfully energizing to warm up your wardrobe and help you spring into a brand-new season.
Fall
This is a fabulous month to combine colors that are rich and radiant. Rusts, browns, olive, golds, yellows, greens, dark blues, and rich oranges take center stage and complement your wardrobe staples. Layer everything including colors for a more is more style… clothing, jewelry, and accessories.
Winter
This is the season for anything, and any color goes. But don’t always think black! Warm up your outfit with happy colors like red, rose, aquamarine, and any color that will cheer you and your colleagues up.Â
To learn about style, figure, and color analysis and all the levels of professional dress for men and women, contact London Image Institute today about our upcoming courses.
