Bonjour, mes chéries and welcome to my new #WorkingWoman style series! Today is my first day at my new job. I’m so excited and have been looking forward to this day since last summer when I received news about my return offer after my internship. I loved my team and the office environment so much that I’ve been counting down the days. I figured the best way to celebrate was to launch my new style series.
In this series, I’ll be showing you different outfits you can wear to work ranging from business formal to business casual. With autumn right around the corner, there are so many different options thanks to the more bearable weather! I’m a bit of a Banana Republic lover, so forgive me for styling myself head to toe in BR in a few of these outfits like this first OOTD (I blame it on having the same initials as Bouge & Rouge).
In this first look, I went to my go-to autumn color: blue. I paired a navy tank with white pants and a beautiful colorfully woven jacket. Since September is inching closer, I brought out my light camel booties. Each piece is from Banana Republic (I will list prices and links at the end of the post).
This outfit is perfect for any working woman whose office has a more casual business dress code. The materials of all these items are higher in quality and texture, making them appropriate for work but still comfortable and not as stiff as something formal would be.
My favorite piece in this look is the jacket. The details on it are absolutely beautifully done. I love that you can see the subtle threads of different colors, but from afar the jacket still looks mainly blue and white. While blue is one of my go-to colors, it can seem quite boring and basic. So combining this jacket (which is mainly blue) with the tank helps bring a little character to the outfit. If your office’s AC is too strong, you can always stay cozy in it as well! Lastly, shape of the jacket is flattering and slimming, which helps when you have a flowy and airy top tucked into your pants. For me, I always seem like I have love handles, so anything tailored is greatly appreciated!
To keep it still a little more professional or business-like, I added a delicate pearl necklace to tie together the look. I love matching anything pearl to this outfit because the style of it is very classic and ladylike while still feeling modern. The pearl plays to the cut and fabric of the jacket, which honestly reminds me slightly of Chanel’s classic jackets.
When you’re at work, you also want to keep your makeup slightly more neutral than you would if you were getting dolled up for a Friday night out. For me, that usually means foundation, my brows, mascara, and maybe simple eyeliner. While I had on blush, matte eyeshadow, and a light lip sheen in these photos, I would usually not recommend adding much more than that. This doesn’t mean that adding more eyeshadow or contouring more would make your look unprofessional at all! It just means that if you like to wear makeup, like I do, be sure to be more light handed and stick to neutrals. This helps you look professional and decreases distractions in meetings. After all, if my coworker has a cute lipstick color on, I will probably be more focused on that than her work she is presenting which is what she was hired for!
The one thing I love about Banana Republic is their constant sales! If you ever see something you love but you know you can wait a little, always wait. There sales are killer savers! If you can afford to open a credit card with them, you also get tons of rewards, 15% off your first purchase, and 10% off purchases after. If you are in the need for comfortable business casual clothes, hit up your local BR. You won’t be disappointed!
That is it for this style post! I hope you all enjoyed it and learned a little bit about how to dress professionally in a more business casual setting. I’ll see you all in my next one. Bisou, bisou…
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Top (no longer online): original $49.50, purchased $21
Pants (last season): original $78, purchased $24
Tweed Peplum Jacket: original $188, purchased $42
Booties: original $175, purchased $33
None of these links are affiliated!
Based in New York City, Erica Huang is the creator and voice behind Bouge & Rouge. This blog is a playground of her thoughts where she invites you to join her on her journey through her 20s. Erica shares her lifestyle, fashion and beauty tips, adventures, and personal thoughts with the goal of inspiring others to always persevere and be unapologetically yourself.