WHAT I WORE #001
WHAT I WORE #001
Exploring and navigating: The Corporate Edit
Readers, I’m glad you are still here.
Before welcoming the autumnal English weather as of late, I took two months off from this writing space to start a new chapter in my career — transitioning and navigating — from working as a business owner, a freelancer to a full-time employee in a fashion corporation. Yes, a great shift it is.
Within these two months, there were a lot to take in. Set aside feeling like a new kid at school, the challenge that comes with my package of transition is to get dressed every morning without feeling stressed. Being used to throw on clothes without much considerations but my mood of the day, corporate workwear and smart casual dressing are what I wear most at present, much more than the pile of t-shirts and denims that got rotational appearances at least once a week back then.
“Do you think X can go with Y without looking casual?”
“I need MORE blazers and shirts.”
“What should I wear tomorrow? Shall I repeat my outfit?“
Constantly bombarding myself with questions, it was only during the 40 minutes commute that made me realise this actually is the first time I examine my wardrobe towards the direction of “business formal” and “smart casual dressing”, a blend of elegance and professionalism while adding a splash of work-appropriate fashion for subtle moments of everyday joy. I thus thought starting a new series of “What I Wore” — to put my weekly workwear and/or go-out pieces in record — is something fun to write and hopefully intriguing to read about. Finding a daily purpose to dress up and also getting my wardrobe painlessly cleaned out, consciously moving towards to develop a more versatile, integrated wardrobe when my personal style and lifestyle have organically changed shall be the way forward at present. A project made up of daily exercises, keep scrolling to see what I wore this past week!
I recently came across an interview of Julie Pelipas about tailored dressing and her thoughts on personal style. Fascinated by how she employs proportions in her very own style with suits (menswear in particular), I was instantly inspired to dig out some old pieces and try to put together a proportionate work outfit. To me, a good blazer feels like “clocking in”, getting me ready and strengthens my look further when shoulder pads are in the game. I found this vintage Joseph Janard blazer many years ago when I was new to the vintage world, and its shoulder pads were once the reason I hesitated to bring it home because nobody of my age was wearing similar clothes! Glad that it survived over multiple rounds of wardrobe clean out and remains as a solid favourite, easy to wear piece throughout these years.
I don’t have a wide selection of shirts, this beige shirt is my partner’s from Muji Men’s bargain. Lately, I tend to wear more men’s shirts over women’s given their boxy silhouette: Drop shoulder but not overly done like a padded shirt; easy and slouchy vibe giving with longer sleeves as compared to just-fit office shirts; wrong buttoned shirt styling (as above) works better oversized etc. Without adding a third colour, this outfit is accentuated by gold tone jewellery and completed with Adidas Samba in beige that falls into the same colour ring. A simple, proportionate winner.
Remember this all grey outfit in the discussion of classic monochromes? I brought this timeless office fashion tint to work with an absence of friction cap in play. Thanks to this autumnal weather, the vintage Courrèges wool cardigan underneath created a double v-layer to sharpen my look and added depth to the monochrome.
Not knowing what to wear that morning, I tried the boxy shirt + suit dress formula again, restyling the same skirt twice in a week by throwing on another pocket shirt with zipper. Placing the game changer on accessories this time, I went for my proud net of afrocentric red to twist up an otherwise clean and minimal The Row look. Now a hymn to personality dressing is happily sung!
Last but not least, when you run out of creative ideas on the last working day of the week, stick to uniform dressing. My go-to is always a blazer + tee + trousers + pointy flats/comfortable trainers (I tend to pick the latter). This outfit seem minimal but devil is in the details: Leopard printed non-basic cropped blazer and fauna silk pleated low crotch suit trousers that shimmers in movements. Common denominator? The noticeable black, of course.
That’s all for the first “What I Wore” edit!
NEXT TIME: I will wear even more black. Let’s see.
Until then,
Chris
Catch up on my previous posts:
Ahh, I rarely wear skirts but I definitely want to try styling mine more corporate/office wear after reading this! I also love when you find a vintage piece that resonates seven when you’re young and it feels hard to wear and it survives until you “grow” into it style-wise. sometimes you just KNOW you love it!!
All the best for your new job, and I love your outfits, they convey professionalism but feel wholly creative and original to your style, and they're also not too complicated and practical.