Wearing a bright cardigan to work instead of a jacket led to all kinds of insecurity about whether I looked smart enough or whether my outfits are just too idiosycratic to be professional. I don’t think they are, really, but I definitely feel smarter and more work-like in a jacket (and really, most of my cardigans aren’t fit for public display anyway – this one is disintegrating at the seams). But it’s OK, and just because lots of people wear black and grey and navy for work it doesn’t mean colour is unprofessional, and even if it did, I would be miserable as hell if I couldn’t wear it so it’s really not even worth considering the question.
Shawl – Elektra
Shawl pin – Purlescence
Cardigan – clothes swap
Dress – East
Boots – Duo
I have this argument with myself all the time. However, having spent today feeling depressed and looking haggard in black, I’m going back to colour tomorrow. Keep up the good work. I love all your colour!
I tried on a black jacket at lunchtime today and looked like I’d borrowed someone else’s jacket at random!
I used to wear black much of the time, head to toe, mind you I had a great figure then and blonde hair, Mum once said that I wore black too much, and I sort of stopped. I did not even wear black for her funeral. I now wear colour, and more and more as I get older. I think I’ve finally got round to not being that bothered how I look as long as I think I look great, and if it’s colours I feel like, then I wear them.
I’ve been wearing woolly “jacket” things from Laura Ashley recently – they aren’t lined, so they feel more like wearing a cardi and are nice and warm and comfy, but look smart enough to pass as a jacket. oh, and they’re machine washable!
I’ve got one in grey (not exciting) and one in red (more exciting) and got both in the sales.
Machine washable is definitely a bonus! I do wish we had a Laura Ashley in Oxford – I always check it out when I’m near one but it’s not somewhere I can shop regularly.