Friday, May 14, 2010

What's your weekday uniform?

I don't literally mean uniform here. Rather, we all have a style that we follow on working days, at least as far as I have noticed. The fact that most of us have a predefined work day style has probably, less to do with detailed thought and more to do with convenience. The advantages for me are: I already know what goes with what (or most of the separates pair up easily), the whole set has been washed and laundered over the weekend and when an item of clothing gets worn out it, just takes me about half an hour to pop into a familiar shop and replace it. The obvious disadvantage (in the eyes of some) is monotony, which most of us combat with variety in accessories, shoes and bags (if you have the time to set a new one). So having discussed the pros and cons of having a fixed weekday wardrobe, here's mine.

Before I had my baby and when was working in a corporate environment, I used to dress pretty formally. Outfit type one was trousers in black, grey, tan or pinstripes paired with formal shirts in colours ranging from shades of white and cream, to pastels and the occasional bright pink or blue. Outfit type two was similar to one except that trousers were replaced with skirts - pencil, long, slightly flared (but always an inch below the knee) - usually in pastels shades with an almost invisible self print and the odd black one. Shoes were obviously closed and formal in black, brown and grey.

Today, post baby and with a business to run, my uniforms are a bit different. I need to be able to transition from a meeting with my operations team, to one with the auditors and move straight on to a site inspection where I meet with the builders (one can come away from these covered with quite a bit of dust). So there are a couple of considerations, nothing too girly (though a touch of femininity is nice), should survive long hours without wrinkling, should be easy to dust off. So this is the uniform I came up with: jeans in dark colours - think indigo, navy and black - for a formal look and button down shirts or tunics in black, whites and pastels, with the occasional red. For shoes I generally opt for formal looking ballerinas (don't want to fall down a flight of unfinished stairs) in black with some pretty detailing.

So what's your weekday uniform, or are you one of those people who actually make an effort to look different everyday? Any ideas for me to dress up my outfits?

5 comments:

  1. Ugh! Fashion is my area at all! I've found that accessories help me look different, even if I'm wearing my "uniform."

    Most days, you'll find me in black pants or jeans. Sometimes, I venture into grey pants. Original, huh?

    Cute, non-black ballet flats help give the outfit something interesting, so does scarves and interesting jewelery.

    Good luck!

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  2. Scarves....hmmmm....i like that, have never tried them....I guess the it's difficult to experiment too much with our trousers and skirts, especially if we get comfortable with a certain fit......thanks for visiting

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  3. I've been working from home mostly since the boys were born, so I'm afraid I live in jeans and a t-shirt these days. When I do occasionally go for a meeting, it feels like a real treat to dress up - I would normally wear a skirt, boots, and a nice but not too formal top. But then I usually work with the creative industries, so it's really OK to dress down if you want to.

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  4. This winter I've been wearing pretty much the same clothes every day, whether or not I have to go to university - jeans, boots, and then a pink or purple jumper. And, as you say, mixing it up a bit with some different jewellery. I'm hoping we'll get into summer dress season soon!

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  5. Nappy Valley Girl: I feel the same way about dressing for a formal meeting, it is a treat...a justification to spend some time on clothes, when you actually have a hundred other things claiming your attention....does this make us sad or just busy modern women!
    Rachel Cotterill: We are having cyclonic rains here right now, so am seriously waiting to wear light fun summer clothing, at least on the weekends (though I did sneak in a skirt for dinner last night)
    Thanks for dropping by, feels great to hear from all of you

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I love hearing from all of you....thanks for letting me know what you think