Business Casual My Ass

Why is something that should be so simple so difficult?

Seriously, why does it take a Ph.D to determine what business casual is for women in the workplace?

Being a woman is great, I love the opportunities being a woman has afforded me, and one of them is the ability to embrace more clothing styles than men. Dresses, skirts, sweaters, pants, leggings, jumpsuits, I mean we have them all.

Weekends are so easy to get dressed, especially with my capsule wardrobe (read about it here), but even with my pared down and carefully curated wardrobe, I struggle to figure out what to wear to work.

Sure, a black pencil skirt and any top that isn’t a t-shirt is probably fine, but what if I want to go a little more modern than that?

Can I wear a jumpsuit and garner the same respect as when I wore a black sheath dress and blazer?

Does a cardigan make me look too much like a teacher and less like the person who is leading the meeting?

Is my oversized leopard print blazer appropriate for the training sessions I’m about to deliver?

Honestly, it’s overwhelming, and I’m not sure why.

When you look up business casual on Google, there are millions of results returned. When you look at the images related you quickly realize guys should wear a button up shirt, slacks, and a belt, tie optional. Wow, it literally could not get any easier than that. The hardest reality men face is when they realize American Eagle khakis are not really office appropriate.

For women, those results look much different.

The classic business casual look for a woman consists of a darker colored pant, usually boot cut, a simple blouse, and a close toed shoe. That’s all fine and dandy, but how do we incorporate some style into that?

Like I mentioned earlier, the most difficult thing is the cardigan issue in my opinion. I don’t really own any of the classic J.Crew fitted cardigans of country clubs past, I’m more of an oversized cardi girl, and sometimes I think it takes my outfit from professional and polished, to a little too casual.

This reminds me of the inspiration behind this entire blog post.

One afternoon, while taking my lunchtime walk around the city, I noticed a man and woman in front of me. I work directly next door to the capital building, and more then likely they had just come out of that building and were chatting about their most recent meeting.

The man was very nicely dressed in a grey suit, striped shirt, solid tie, and black shoes. Granted, this is more business professional than it is business casual, but the moral of the story is still the same. The woman to his side had obviously come from the same meeting, but her look was a stark contrast to his.

She had on a dark pencil skirt, patterned top, black tights, and close toed shoes. That sounds great, right? You’re right, but unfortunately, she decided to pair a crocheted cardigan/vest thing atop her outfit.

I immediately cringed when I noticed this, and I realized how unprofessional she looked next to this man. I could tell she put thought into this outfit and her overall appearance. She wanted to add a pop of personality and “style” to her look, but unfortunately, I think that came at the cost of her professionalism.

I quickly took note of my observations in my phone, and as I continued with my walk I started to grow frustrated. I realized that she put effort into her look. She probably spent 15-20 minutes deciding what to wear, maybe longer, only to make one choice that threw off the vibe of her outfit. That man…he probably spent less than 5 minutes deciding what to wear and getting dressed.

It’s so frustrating that men can throw on the same suit and tie every day without a thought, and they somehow ooze professionalism (now this is assuming the suit fits properly and is free of wrinkles). Women add one item to an outfit that they think is cute and immediately they lose that power.

I’ve struggled with this for a lot of my time in the corporate world. There’s a fine line between being business casual, and too causal for women in my opinion. I don’t want to feel overdressed everyday, but I also don’t want a cardigan to lead to a loss of respect.

There has to be a happy medium, but I’m not sure if I have it figured out.

I’m not sure what the solution is, but I know there is one.

I’ve played around with the “work uniform” idea inspired by Matilda Kahl (read about it here) but i don’t know if I want to go that drastic.

The point is, business casual for women is hard.

Dressing for work as a woman is hard, period.

If you have the work look perfected PLEASE drop a comment! If not, let me know if you feel as frustrated as me.

Love,

Lilly