The Monday Meeting: Workplace Fashion (1)
Welcome to a new sub-series of the Monday Meeting: Workplace Fashion.
Lately, whenever I’m shopping I’m on the lookout for great pieces that I could wear to work AND dress-down for the weekends and fun. I thought it would be fun to start a series that features different bloggers and their favourite work outfits.
Today I have a few lovely participants who have sent me photos of themselves in outfits they typically wear in to the office. This series will be running every few weeks and the best part? It’s going to have themes!
The next time we do this the theme will be Work Appropriate Summer Dresses. So, if you want to participate, send me some pictures in your summer dresses that you wear to work and I’ll post this series again when I have enough submissions 
If you are interested in participating please email me a photo of yourself in your work attire and in the email state the following:
1. First name or blogging nickname
2. URL (if applicable)
3. Where you got the outfit
4. Business or industry that you work in
5. Your thoughts on workplace fashion
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Here are some of the workplace fashion photos for this week.
Olivia from Blissful Runner:
Olivia works in the construction industry as a Marketing and Business Development Coordinator and she believes that, “sometimes our first impression is the only one we will ever make – so make it count.”
Nora from Walking with Nora:
Nora works as an Events and Marketing Manager for a small business. Her top is from Ann Taylor Loft, her pants are from Gap, her shoes are from Macy’s, her earrings are from Etsy and her ring is from Disney, by Macy’s.
Finally, here are three of the outfits I wore to work last week!
I hope you enjoyed the first post of this new series! I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with for workplace dresses!
So, tell me, what’s the dress code in your office? Is it business-casual, super dressy or super laidback? What’s your typical work outfit?
You can usually find me in some variation of the above outfits all week: Nice pants, nice blouse? Done!
Our dress code (for the marketing department only) is not that strict compared to the brokers we work for. I’m glad though because I like how I can wear some tops I have that I sometime wear on the weekends… but just mix it up with some professional pants or capri pants. Sometimes we get to wear jeans on Fridays before a Holiday.
One thing I hate about work life, is that I feel like I don’t have enough of an opportunity to wear my casual clothes anymore. All week I wear work clothes and then on the weekends I wear yoga pants unless I have something in particular to do haha.
Since I teach kindergarten I try not to wear anything TOO nice to work, and to always be comfortable. I never know when someone who is going to turn their green marker around on me (as happened last week!). I’m a big fan of dresses to work in the warm weather because they are comfortable and cool (we have no AC), so I’ll look take some pictures and send them your way
Ooh, I love this series! I work in a government building so it’s pretty conservative dress-wise, and since I’m a contractor I need to always look put together for the client (who I work with daily).
Love it! Everyone looks so good! I love the fun shoes. We don’t have clients in our office ever, so we can actually wear jeans every day (which is a huge change from wearing business suits & dresses every day at my last job!). I don’t wear jeans every day, though. I usually wear a dress a couple of times a week. So I should try to get a picture of myself for that series of posts! I just just at self photography, though!!
Love this new series! This summer, the dress code is much more relaxed than last summer. I can even wear jeans! Though I usually don’t because I’m the intern and want to look professional/older.
I am with Kelly on the not wearing anything too nice. I pretty much can’t wear anything I don’t mind snot, paint, crayons, marker, dirty faces on! I mean I do occasinally dress nicer but I can tell you I only wore a skirt twice all school year. It is not conducive to bending over and sitting on the floor! I would love to wear cute dresses and skirts but maybe when I teach an older crowd! Typially I wear pants from Old Navy and tops from Kohls or Penney’s cuz I am cheap.
LOVE this series!! I’ll totally send you some snaps
And Nora’s ring is to die for!!
Fun new series! I work in a fairly laid back office but we still need to be business casual because of the campus, so my usual outfit is khaki’s and a comfortable cotton shirt (AND a sweater or cardigan because its always bordering on frigid in my office).
hmmm I’m gonna have to have hec take some pictures of me. Cuz if i do say so, I’ve been styling lately! but my outfits are SIMPLE, SUPER simple! and he loves them. I notice i love stuff that’s more straight and structured, especially dresses!
Lovely outfits! What fun!
I work at a college and am pretty isolated in my position, so my dress code is pretty self-regulating, especially in the summer. While it’s tempting to wear sweatpants and flipflops, I try not to, because I think there’s a correlation between dressing professional and acting professionally for me, and during the down season it’s sometimes the only thing that keeps me in line.
Thanks for featuring me here =) What fun! I love your last outfit; what is Ricki’s? Definitely not something we have here but based upon the photos/clothes it definitely looks like something I’d enjoy checking out!
Work appropriate dresses, well, there’s something I don’t really have a lot of. I wish I did though because it’s getting steamy here again
(As in, it was 100 degrees F yesterday!)
Interesting, because my company (I work for Canada’s second largest telecommunications company, at the Corporate office) just removed their dress code. That is to say, the dress code is to “wear what makes you comfortable, within reason, of course”. Not that we were the 3-piece suit and tie type of company, rather business casual, but everyone (and I have to quantify that by adding everyone under the age of 30!) complained that “dress clothes cut off their creativity and they would work much better in jeans and t-shirts”. The company listened, although I did not. I still wear business casual and jeans on Fridays, as that’s what makes me feel comfortable and professional. It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts before it is completely abused and therefore rescinded.
On a side note, I shop exclusively at Reitman’s. Again, love, love, love their clothes and they fit properly.
Thanks for featuring me in your first installment! I think this Monday Meeting idea is a really fun one and I’m looking forward to everyone’s summer dresses. Working in construction, I try not to bare too much skin and usally avoid dresses (it helps to be thought of as one of the guys as much as possible if you want to get ahead around here), so I will live vicariously through your readers! I didn’t tell you in my email, but I think most everything I’m wearing is from Marshalls. They have the best deals on name brand items, you just have to hunt a little!
At the day job (the paper) it’s business casual, so the only thing I’m not allowed to wear are jeans and skimpy tops. We’re allowed to wear jeans on Fridays though, which is great because I love my jeans! I’m still really trying to feel out what I can and cannot wear. So far, no one’s come up to me to tell me I’m not allowed to wear certain things, so I guess I’m doing okay!
At my evening job we have uniforms; or at least our shirts are. We have to wear black dress pants and shoes, although since a lot of the staff are younger we wear black skater-like shoes or ballet flats. A lot of the girls wear yoga pants or even black jeans. I think the black jeans are pushing it a little too far.
Dude, how sassy is Nora??? God, I love that broad.
And YOU are adorable!
Oh fun!! I think I need to play along
Love this series! My office is pretty casual because we don’t have members (or clients) come into our office very often. Some people dress REALLY casual, but I try to wear dress pants, a dress or a skirt everyday. Then on Fridays I usually wear jeans. I love shirts that you can wear to the office and then on the weekend
I’ve never heard of Ricki’s. Is it a Canadian store? If so, the US needs one ASAP. Your clothes are so cute!
oooo so fun! i’ll totally partake!!! i cant wait to send u my info!
I work for a small consulting firm where most of our consultants travel during the week. For those of us left behind, our dress code is REALLY casual. As in, my boss (one of the partners) wears jeans and sneakers to the office. I’ve been known to wear cut-off pants and flip flops. Sometimes I feel really lazy about the way I dress … and others, I’m so thankful I can wear pretty much anything I want!
I LOVE this!!!! Plus your outfits Amber. Actually, I almost bought that orange top from Rickis! I am jealous you get to wear things like that to work, I don’t think Alberta Health Services would be to impressed if I showed up in a top that pretty. The dress codes with them is crraaazzzy!!! You look great!
I love this idea. I definitely need to get some photos for you when you’re ready. I have a ton of summer dresses. My workplace though is really casual so it won’t be as formal as the photos above.
What a great post!
The dress code in my office is very laid back – I’m the district secretary at a very (VERY) small school district, and… well for instance, today I wore jean capris (flattering, I know), a T-shirt from the high school at which my brother-in-law used to coach, and some flip flops from PacSun. It’s not unheard of, though, for me to show up in a nice business-y dress or slacks and heels – it’s kind of like, whatever you want to wear! It’s nice – I wear what I feel comfortable in that day (I wouldn’t wear sweats or anything revealing though) in order to get my job done. Since my school is so small, I also work quite a bit with kids, which requires a certain level of comfort, ya know?
Too wordy? Nahhhh.
Also, I LOVE the look in your third photo! Love love love.
My big problem is that I have to wear shoes I can stand in. I stand for 8 hours. It’s hard to find cute standing shoes!!!
Gosh, jealous of all these fun outfits. In the spectrum of legal dress codes, I’d say we’re far to the more casual side, but it’s still not casual at all. There is no “official” dress code to my knowledge. However, we’re a pretty self-regulating bunch as to what is “proper” and what is not. Dark slacks with a button down shirt and cardigan on a casual day. Conservative pumps, plain flats (although preferring heels). Never any open toes! Agh!
Sleeves should definitely be on the longer side, no excessive skin showing anywhere. Very light on jewelry and make-up.
Probably once a week I need to rock the Very Formal Business attire. I love suits though, so it’s fine with me. I’m much more comfy in a black suit and heels than anything else at work.
I work in a school and the dress code is pretty casual … I wear jeans a lot. I wear simple/ plain shirts (no logos), and usually not much jewelry.
I love the shoes in Nora’s outfit! So cute. I’m a sucker for peep toes. My office is business casual. Just the idea of bus. cas. often makes me feel bored, but I try to throw in fun outfits that I actually LIKE (not just black pants and a plain sweater/top) at least a few times a week.
My office is super laidback. I work with engineers, and most of them are men. We all wear jeans and t-shirts. Occasionally, I’ll wear nice jeans and some flats, but sometimes I wish I could be a bit dressier. (Not allowed to wear heels to work, sadly.)
Both of my jobs are so California casual that we don’t even have real dress codes. At the library, I used to wear professional clothing, but now I just wear jeans. I still try to wear a nicer top and flats, but it’s pretty casual. At my part time job, I wear t-shirts and converse. My boss was wearing shorts today. Yeah. But, I love some of the clothes pictured here. I plan to put some more time and money into my wardrobe once I’m out of debt.
I work for an accountancy body and the general rule of thumb is business-casual – except on a Friday when we can wear what we want. However, in my dept, as we are not technically customer-facing, these rules are different and generally we can wear jeans all the time if we want.
But I don’t currently find jeans flattering so generally at the moment I have on skirts or dresses. There’s a good mix of smart and casual in my work so I still fit in!
I know I’m a little late, but just wanted to be sure to say thanks for using my pics! I’m glad they were what you were looking for!