Lately I have been working lots, which I have been enjoying. I really do love my job. This week I have a few days off but then for the next 2 weeks I will be working full time at the library, which will be good experience for me. However, it also conjures up the work wear conundrum. The only rule in our library is that we can't wear jeans, but as I'm training to be a librarian and always want to make a good impression, I try to dress a bit smarter than what I could get away with really. Working a few days a week gives me the chance to catch up on washing my essentials, but I think I may have to invest in another blouse and another black skirt. However, I am so fussy when it comes to work skirts! It has to be not too tight, not too long, good quality and go with everything else in my wardrobe. This skirt is from Next and is slightly too big for me, but is my work wear staple. Then I wear different blouses, colourful cardigans and different tights, in order to jazz up the basics. In the first outfit, my blouse is from h&m and I really like it. It's slightly see through, but the pretty bow on it makes up for it. Do you like my polka dot cardigan in the 2nd outfit? you might remember it from my polka dots post, and I managed to score it for £15 in the sale from Dorothy Perkins! It's really good quality and makes a plain boring work outfit a bit more exciting.
What do you all wear for work? Personally, I love dressing smart, although it is difficult to find things that aren't too boring. I am thankful we don't have a uniform though!
Love your workwear looks. Unfortunately my office is a bit conservative and everyone but me wears a uniform (I just temp there when I'm home from uni) so I have to stick to boring trousers and shirt. Once I wore knee length shorts and the office was in a titter for a week so I can't imagine what they'd do if I wore my favourite coloured tights. Great looks though!
ReplyDeleteYou should turn up to work in hi-vis gear one day. That library-builder look is all the rage I hear
ReplyDeleteHave you got any you could lend me then Kev? Hehe
ReplyDeleteI love dressing up for work. I usually opt for pencil skirts, colourful high heels, cardigans and tights. Plus H&M blouses. They're cheap and lovely!
ReplyDeleteBasically I wear as much colour as I think I can get away with. My boss does give me the odd strange look sometimes.
You look great! x
I'm studying to be a lawyer so I think I know what you mean about dressing to impress. ;P
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, it was my first day of law school and I picked out a black-white-red colour scheme too! I think prints make the colours so much more fun.
Navy blue! It's great to mix and match and has a bit more pop than black. I recommend.
A from A + B in the Sea
Damn you, Helen, you keep stealing blog posts out of my brain! I've been thinking of doing a 'week of workwear' outfit post for ages!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm totally the same. I love dressing for work - casual Fridays are the bane of my life because I never wear jeans! You look so cute though! I wish I could pull off red tights (they're relegated to my fancy dress box). And I'm jealous of that polka dot cardi, it's adorable.
My workwear is "smart casual" which means I get away with wearing violently coloured tights and colourful whatever as long as it looks neat.
ReplyDeleteLucky for me that means I never have to buy clothes specifically for work as soon as I don't wear jeans anyway.
I love your work wear style Helen :) So wonderfully colourful and quirky. The cardi was a fab bargain!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you perk things up with bright red! I do like your spotty cardigan. As for me, I'm a full-time student and don't work, but I'm worried about what to wear when I enter the workforce!
ReplyDeleteah I wish I could wear my own clothes for work, but as a nurse I must wear an uniform of course :/
ReplyDeletei love the blouse on your first outfit, is terrific! also that skirt is a perfect work wear item for a librarian! :)
Your work outfits are so cute! I work for myself so can get away with anything, but I try to dress up a bit to get me in the work mode.
ReplyDeleteyour outfits are both lovely and very librarian-like, which is super cute and sophisticated!! keep up the good work, love your blog!
ReplyDeletethecommonsuspect.blogspot.com
Really cute!
ReplyDeleteI'm a uniform :(
Aren't you always wearing something red? :)
ReplyDeleteThese outfits are great, I love the blouse in the first pic. You're so lucky you can be creative with your work uniform. I do enjoy looking smart and dressing the part, but my work has such a strict uniform policy and I can only wear black trousers and a black top - I'm not even allowed to wear a skirt!
ReplyDeleteSuch cute outfits, I love the polka dot cardigan! I am a polka dot fiend...
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky I work at Topshop because it means you can wear anything you like. Some staff have taken this too literally in the past, including one girl who wore a lace body with NO BRA! She got told off. Haha. It's times like that I do yearn for a bit of formality!
i love the looks. the touches of red are cute :)
ReplyDeleteYou are the perfect modern librarian! I love your cute and colourful 50s look.
ReplyDeleteI can get away with pretty much anything at work - jeans, shorts, dresses, probably even trackie bottoms, although I'd never wear such things! x
I am always on the lookout for great workwear inspiration, I love these outfits, fun yet professional is a difficult balance to strike and I think you do it very well.
ReplyDeleteI wear a lot of dresses, and I have a couple of suits as well for when I have to be a bit more dressed up.
If I had a job, I would probably trousers that were tapered at the ankles or cute skirts
ReplyDeleteAnd to answer your question, the medals were from my chorus banquet. The actual medal ones were from making superiors in states and districts with my show choir group and the other one was from being in chorus for a year.
Really like the first outfit, but the are both really cute!
ReplyDeleteReally like the first outfit, but the are both really cute!
ReplyDeleteYou look lovely! I'm really not a skirts person, and my summer job right now is working in the Grand Canyon. Really, most of what I wear are polos, men's button-ups with vests, blazers, work slacks, brown vans and fun socks. I much more often sway to the menswear side of things.
ReplyDeleteThe second outfit is my favourite! The red tights look so good on you.
ReplyDeleteOh you look so so cute in work chic!! I work at Forever21 and we don't really have a dress code other than "be fashionable and be appropriate" haha I usually just wear things I'd normally wear unless they're too short or revealing! Also, it's freezing in our store so I wear tights and cardigans but it gets annoying when you walk outside into the blistering heat! haha
ReplyDeletexo,
http://owl-wings.blogspot.com
Cute! I love your staple work skirt :)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until I can dress smart at work and no longer have to wear a uniform!!
eep, i haven't been here in a while - google reader hasn't been keeping me updated!
ReplyDeleteanyway i love your workwear look, you would bring a big smile to my face if i saw you working in the library, it says so much about your personality whilst being work safe.
oasis is great for work skirts and trousers that can be jazzed up with your own touch. and they have sale stuff in now.
x
You are my go-to girl for work inspiration, when I'm employed again. How adorable are these outfits! Love the skirt, perfect staple. And your flats and cardigans are a dream!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on inbugsdrawers.blogspot.com
Those outfits are lovely, even tough i find the skirts way too long and big (but they are supposed to be used for working, so it's ok). In my case I'm lucky enough to be allowed to wear almost anything (ok no bikini but almost ha!) So most of the times I end up choosing depending on the mood and the weather but always always always skirts and dresses. I love being too femenine (compared to what other girls here wear)
ReplyDeleteI love your work wear. I actually went to the library today and couldn't help admiring the outfit of the librarian. She wore some bright tights, which matched her top, and some cute boots. Do all librarians look so chic??
ReplyDeleteI used to be an admin person and I loved dressing for work. Sometimes it would be a routine of clothes, but that was only part of the time. I used to have lots of skirts. I bought a *stunning* suit once, but it cost so much money and was so dressy I hardly wore it and I really need to resell it on. I should have bought the skirt for the suit and not the pants. Now, I work in a cafe/bakery and the dress code is black with black and black. I hardly ever wear black outside work now. But, I have embroidered my aprons with little flowers and stars ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love your work outfits! In my office we are allowed to wear jeans and recently I've found myself slipping into that a little too much. I am like you in wanting to dress that little bit nicer than usual: most of the time!;)
ReplyDeleteLove your outfits, you have librarian chic down!
Oh I love that cardigan and bowtie blouse!
ReplyDeleteFor the bookstore I wear the most boring crap imaginable because it'll just get dusty anyway-- I can't wait until I have a library job later and can actually dress up for work again!
dressing for work is so hard. balancing "office appropriate" and personal style is always a challenge for me. you look great though!
ReplyDeleteI have had the most nightmare-ish time trying to sort out my summer wardrobe for work. You need to be weather appropriate but smart and functional. Then you go and get everything sorted to see you through those long balmy days of summer and you realise that you live in Britain and its pooring down outside!!
ReplyDeletelove your blog!! Your adorable. I will following for sure......xxx
ReplyDeleteI love the shirt with the bow. I have an obsession with bows.
ReplyDeletewhimsical-wardrobe.blogspot.com