Fly by the Seat of Your Pants

My place of employ goes in for dress down Fridays. And while I have partaken of the joys of denim once or twice I have to confess that I have something of a mental block about dressing down at work. Annie and I used to prefer dress up Fridays. Which is very much a concept that I can subscribe to.

But where I am now the only way is casual. And I do see the appeal of being comfortable at work. Particularly at mine where I am up and down stairs and basically doing manual labour with all the heavy lifting.

And so I'm thinking compromise. Maybe not jeans, maybe a nice pair of trousers that I can dress up or down as necessary. The pair of work trousers that I bought from Wallis are so ugly I can barely look them in the face. But what about one of these pairs? Cute with a smartish top and a pair of white Converse or Superga plimsolls.

I know that would be the sensible option. So why am I craving this heavenly pair from Karen Millen. Equally cute with a plimsoll, but maybe not quite so practical, huh?

(Images via Jigsaw, Hobbs, Karen Millen)

Swap Shop

OK, so the Warehouse top has to go back. But like the idiot I am I forgot to check what the return period was and it's 14 days, not a month. Gah! I hate that shops do that. It is second only to shops that don't offer a refund in terms of things that irritate me about shopping.

So anyway, I have to exchange rather than refund. Here are some of the tops that are tickling my fancy.

Are any of them cute?

I am enjoying a sleeve and nothing too fitted for work at the moment.

So these fit the bill. But are they equally dull?

(Images via Warehouse)

Raise Your Skirt

Harrumph!

My trousers mission has officially failed.

My arse + trousers = happiness is not an equation that exists outside my vivid fantasy life, apparently.

So I'm hot footing it back to the safety of the land of skirts as fast as my chunky little legs can carry me.

(Images via Oasis, River Island, Topshop)

Maybe there are things that are worth sticking with. Even if it is the new year and I want to:

Eat more healthily

Lose some weight

Get fit

Be more organised...

All these things need to change but wearing skirts can stay the same.



Midnight at the Oasis

Wahay! I have broken the Oasis curse. Was desperately looking for suitable work tops but not desperate enough to go into Banana Republic (yawnsville). So I ventured in with terribly low expectations, but out I skipped with three lovely and perfectly respectable work tops.

I know I shouldn't say such things, because it is practically sacrilegeous, but there is really something to be said (particularly in these cooler months) for having a work outfit you can bung on and look reputable without trying too hard. Wouldn't you agree?

(Images via Oasis)

Top of the Pops

And if I am going to be wearing trousers more often I'll just have to have more tops. Obviously.

Nothing too tight or to garish.

That I can look smart enough in but that are also comfortable.

And nothing too fitted.

These are some of my thoughts.

This could work, right?

(Images via Asos, Topshop)

Flat Out

(Image via Clarks)

Jeez Louise! I know I wanted a job, but I don't think I was prepared for this.

I am so busy that I didn't even get an opportunity to eat my sanger at lunch today. And while I know that there is a huge amount of unemployment I'm not convinced that this is the job for me.

Not least because I have to wear flat shoes. I am up and down stairs all day with arms full of legal files. If I carry on wearing heels I'm going to go over on an ankle.

And I haven't been earning for a couple of months so I didn't want to splash out. So instead I went and spent £20 in the Clarks sale on these montstrosities. Aren't they hideous? Seriously, the things we do to earn an honest crust.

Working Girl

(Image via Phase Eight)

Question:

Can palazzo pants be suitable in a work-based situation?

The picture above suggests they can.

Another question:

But would that only be when worn with a jacket?

Third and final question:

Is it ok to buy from Phase Eight?

I really hope the answers are:

Hell yes!

Oh goodness me, no!

Shh, it's fine as long as you don't tell anyone... (Oops!)

Lie Low

First: Good news!

I've got a job! After two months out of work I am starting work on Monday. There is nothing like being unemployed to make you really want to get into work.

But then: Bad news.

The offices are in a Georgian town house in the centre of Bath. You know, a tall town house. With lots of stairs. My office is on the ground floor but my boss is a couple of floors up. And the job entails me being up and down those stairs multiple times throughout the day.

Recently, because I am so feeble, I have only really been wearing heels at work because I live in constant fear of going over on an ankle. But now my heel habit will be limited at work too.

There is no way that I can race up and down stairs all day in the height of heel that I'm used to. I'm going to have to go lower, or flat even (horrors!). How will I ever cope?

(Images via Asos, Kurt Geiger)

I quite like the thought of a wedge. Kep a bit of height but still stay sturdy.

I'm going to have to start wearing heels at home instead.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

(Via Daily Telegraph)

I'm really feeling the pencil combined with a sweater. Nice going Stella. I'm definitely going to rock this look. Plus the blue is super chic.

You Do Know How to Whistle, Don't You?

I know I shouldn't be thinking about it.



I know that I am deliberately taking a break from work to get my thoughts in order about what I want to do with my life.



But I can't seem to resist thinking about work. And what I might do in six months. And what I might wear... Aha! You shout. Of course! And you would be right, that would be the only acceptable way to contemplate work at this point, to think about it via the medium of fashion.



And specifically the skirt suit.

If I am going to whore myself out for the big mountain climbing enabling amounts of money I am going to have to up my game and smarten up.

And really the skirt suit is the only way to go. Trouser suits just make me think of Next. Shudder!



And in my mind the look has to be retro. Wouldn't you agree?



I mean, for god's sake, my body was made for this look.



Pencil skirt, nipped in waist... Job done! Now I just have to find one that I like. Gah!

Keep it Zipped

(Image via Handbag.com)

Is a full length zip up the front of a dress too suggestive/potentially perilous for work?

A Real Piece of Work

Sorry this took me so long. My finger was hovering over the 'post' button for about 20 minutes whilst I tried to figure out if I had slept PIECE correctly. (I hadn't.) But now I'm here and you know what darling? I actually love every single one of those little outfits. Particularly the Reiss number which surprises me. I usually LOATHE a Reiss on principal. And even though on the face of it the word CORPORATE strikes fears into our shared heart, a bit of a weekday uniform isn't such a bad thing. I very definitely have one - OK yeah, it still include bottom skimming frocks but they are DIFFERENT to the bottom skimmers I sling on of a weekend - and it makes life easier.

And I mean, remember Maggie. You can do it, and sister, you can make it WORK.

All Work And No Play Makes Lucinda a Dull, Dull Girl

I thought I was so clever. So damn clever. I thought I was getting away with it. But the inevitable has happened. They are on to me.


I know that my venture into the corporate world proved something of a surprise for many of mes amis. And I know the thing that scared me more than anything else was that I would have to wear some hideous skirt suit every day. And that I have managed to get away with murder by tripping into work in my cute (and decidedly uncorporate) outfits, which has surprised not a few people.

But that is all coming to an end. Having decided that redundancy is just so terribly passé I have sealed the deal on another six months of gainful employment. But it has come with conditions. In fact, just one condition. That I change the way I dress. I ask you! The very cheek of it!


I believe the pertinent words, ones that chill me to the very bone, were: CONSERVATIVE and CORPORATE. Gah! It makes me shudder and gag just to think of it. I feel that my very soul is being torn out of me. That I am being asked to compromise all that I hold dear.


And I am not just exaggerating for comic effect, either.


I think the smart office dress is the only way to go. So what do you think to these?

(Image via Oasis)

Actually please ignore this one - I went to try it on and the fabric is awful and the shape does nothing for me...

(Image via Marks and Spencer)

(Image via Topshop)

(Image via Reiss)

I have had second thoughts about this one too - it is too "Hey I'm not being too corporate corporate" if you get what I mean.