3 Tips for Rocking Business Casual

3 Tips for Rocking Business Casual

When people learn that I do personal styling, they sometimes think that I must be judging what they're wearing. And it's not true that I'm judging it, but I am always noticing what women around me wear. And sometimes, the outfits are just so damn good that I take mental notes to share with you what I'm seeing. Here are three ways that I've noticed women of all ages around me just rocking business casual. 

Bye-bye, navy cardigans and beige pencil skirts. Hello, personality! 

Left/Right.

Don't shy away from color. With black pants, the above left would be a bit of a sleeper, but those pants! Those pants! And her hair, of course, but I can't buy that. The pants, though, I can help you out there. Once you've got your basic black pants, try something brighter and just sub it into outfits where you'd normally wear black pants or even jeans. Jcrew has some great bright wools (in talls, too) this season, and Asos has brights in crepe and curve sizes, too.

Start with a great dress. What could be simpler than putting on a great dress with a classic shape? The obvious key here is to not wear anything too revealing. The not-as-obvious is to go for statement dresses. I think we can all default to neutrals because we think they're more wearable, but a printed dress can be worn a lot of different ways-and you can start to build your own personal style. I love Modcloth's dresses. 

 

Left/Right.

Wear a midi length skirt with something edgier like low boots or strappy shoes. The rest of the look should be really covered up (long sleeves, high neck) and then BAM! Fun shoes. I'd need to add tights underneath, but a midi length is really forgiving of all kinds of warm layers you might need to add. If you're looking for a neutral, wear-with-everything work appropriate knee length boot, these are incredible. If you live somewhere warmer or tend to switch into flats at work, I love this yellow. 

And I wrote about it before, but you have to check out this tumblr. Every time I look at it, I choose more fun outfits for at least the next few days!