Summer is great for socialising; the sun’s up till late, we don’t all have the overwhelming urge to crawl under the blankets and ice cold drinks go down really smoothly. With this renewed urge to socialise and generally just be out-and-about come a slew of invitations, some of them to places that require some dressing up.
Deciding on a look that will be both office appropriate and hit-the-town fabulous can be stress inducing because, and let’s be honest with ourselves, we’ve waited until the morning of to decide what on earth to wear, there usually isn’t any time to run home and change after the office and who really wants to be lugging around a bag with a second outfit. Also, nobody wants to do the laundry for multiple mid-week outfit changes.
At this point I should dispense some advice along the lines of telling you that the best way to solve these styling problems is to know what your social calendar is looking like and plan ahead. But is anybody going to follow that piece of advice? No, of course not, not even I am. So now that we’ve gotten the useless advice out of the way let’s look at some (hopefully) more useful tips on what to wear to the office when you know you’re heading to the office party after work.
1. A tote is your best friend.
The key to office-to-out dressing are your accessories. Versatile clothing pieces that are both fun and professional can be transformed from one look and feel to another with a simple change of accessories and shoes. And this is where a great big tote bag comes in handy; loads of room to store a second pair of shoes, a change of jewellery and a fun little bag. And still there’ll be room for your keys, wallet, phone, a lipstick or five and all the other every day “essentials”.
2. A blazer or suit jacket.
Whether as a separate piece or as part of that most corporate of outfits, the pants suit, the blazer is an incredibly versatile piece of clothing. If you’re wondering how I could possibly recommend a pants suit of all things as a fun night out look, I promise there is method to the madness. The trick to transforming the humble pants suit into a fun look lies not in what you’ll add to the look to spruce it up, but it what you’ll subtract from it.
Take off your shirt. That shirt, blouse or top that you paired with your jacket looked great in the office but if you want to transform your look from sleek and smart to sleek, smart and sexy, take it off and button your jacket for the night. For an added punch you can belt your jacket with one of the season’s must-have accessories, a waist bag.
3. High waist trousers and crop top.
If you’re wearing a pants and jacket combo and would rather ditch the jacket than your shirt, there are some styling tips that would work for this scenario as well. Firstly, if your pants are high waisted (which they obviously would be because you’re fashionably on-point), teaming them with a crop top creates a fresh new silhouette for the season. Undoing the first few buttons of a buttoned-front top or blouse will also allow you to pull of one of summer’s accessory styling tricks: layering multiple necklaces.
4. Wrap dresses.
Wrap dresses are one of those wardrobe essentials that require very minimal effort in order to look good in just about any situation. If you’d like to elevate your wrap dress to another level of fashionabilty, try pairing it with big, almost brash, earrings. The classic style of the dress allows for a bit more daring in your accessory choices.
5. Navy Blue.
While bold colour choices are always a winner for a night out, they’re not always that great for unobtrusively slipping out of the office for another iced mocha. Instead opt for some navy blue. Many a daring silhouette was made office ready when made in navy blue. The colour is also a great base for more daring footwear and accessories choices. If you want to add some pops of bright colour, navy blue pairs well with red or orange while metallic accents, especially gold, will be a definite winner.
6. Jumpsuits.
The jumpsuit makes a great alternative to both the dress and the pants suit. If you’re looking for a more fun version that’s still corporate ready, wear one in a print you’d usually find in the corporate world like men’s suiting or shirt stripes. A strapless jumpsuit can be made office appropriate by the simple addition of a blazer, which can then be very easily discarded after hours.
7. The power of black and white.
The LBD makes it onto just about every “what to wear” list for very good reason, it is a foolproof option when you need to smarten it up for any occasion. But let’s put the LBD aside for just a little while and instead focus on another summer must-have, the white dress. While a white dress usually evokes a cool, casual and decidedly summer feeling adding black accessories to your white dress elevates it to a modern, minimalist and sophisticated feel.
