The Business

By Marian on June 16th, 2008

The business wardrobe can be a nightmare to negotiate, both aesthetically and financially. There is a fine line between elegant simplicity and boring. And there is a fine line between interesting and inappropriate. If you’re in a nine to five black pants and v-neck jumper rut, I cannot recommend the dress enough. The right dress is feminine without being flouncy and they are so handy as there is no matching of tops and bottoms and jackets that you get with separates and suits. One good jacket or cardigan and a few dresses can add just enough va va voom to your wardrobe to keep the “black pants v-neck jumper” blues at bay.

My personal favourite for my shape (petite but curvy - more curvy on the bottom than top) is the Wallis wrap dress, I have two and at €55 each they were a bargain. They don’t have the ones I bought anymore, but this is the exact same shape. Any hourglass type figure will look good in this shape regardless of your size and with these shoes you’re set for any business event. The dress is £35 so that should be about €45 if you order online. (I’d suggest trying it on in Wallis first so that you know what size to order - it will be €55 in Wallis if you can’t wait for the delivery)

I have found that Next clothes do not suit my shape, but they suit my friends who are equally sized on top and bottom (regardless of the actual size). I have fallen in love with many jackets in Next and been so disappointed as my usual size is fine on the belly but huge on the shoulders and the size down is fine on the shoulders but wont close on me - if you are better proportioned than me you should try Next)

I like the red suit on this page a lot but I know that pencil skirts are not for me! The red takes the boring business look off this suit. And the shoes featured above would be perfect here too. This suit is less than €150 but the jacket could be worn over black, white or camel coloured bottoms, and the skirt could be worn on it’s own with a cardigan over it.