Love My Work, Not My Skirt

To my horror,

I saw one of our twenty-something peers walking into work this morning in a tube top and mini-skirt and toting along a hooded sweatshirt. Of course I was sympathetic to her attempt to look cute, and she did look pretty, but
respect in the workplace needs to be earned through proper presentation.
Working in Manhattan you get to see a lot of different expressions of personal office style. Young women in their twenties are especially skilled at being fashionalbe and professional simultaneously. However, as our friend in the tube top reminded me, the transition from college dorm chic to office diva is not always a smooth one.

As I strutted down the runway [sidewalk] to my office this morning, I passed dozens of twenty-something women in fabulous attire.

There were mix-and-match peices from blazers, ruffle blouses, pencil skirts, scarves, pretty jewelry, suit pieces worn individually and all sorts of feminine and fun prints and colors. They make it all seem effortless as though looking fabulous at work happened over night for them.

But it didn't happen over night for me --- and judging from Tube-top Girl, I'm sure I'm not alone.
By the time I earned my Bachelor's Degree in English I had managed to purchase two super-cute office outfits. And that was fine for the couple of months of interviewing that I endured. Once I had to start looking office-chic every day, I had to get more creative.

Reaching deep into the depths of my wardrobe, I separated tops that thoroughly covered my back, tummy and shoulders (with my humble chest, plunging necklines are not popular in my drawers...but others should take heed that mega-cleavage is not okay at the office.) Then I found all of the skirts and dresses I had that made it reasonably near my knees or below and paired them with the tops. This make-shift office wardrobe held me down until I had put together enough money to expand.

Going to the office does not mean that you have to dress in a matching suit and pants, but it does mean that people should not be distracted by your "assets" when they should be looking into your face.

Perhaps Tube-top Girl did not have any clothes that made it over her shoulders or any pants devoid of patches on the back pockets. We will never know.

But as a pretty-faced young woman in her twenties with a job in a nice Manhattan building, measures need to be taken to avoid appearing like a ditzy beauty queen.

We know the ditzy women exist and they can be quite adorable and loving people, but if you are a woman who takes pride in your talents/skills and intelligence,

Make The World See Beyond Your Beauty.

[The first image can be found at greatglam.com --- This site has a lot of really sexy club and dressy-casual styles. Most of them should not be worn at work! lol]

Styling HELP For The Office: When you are ready to start filling your closet with work clothes, try visiting H&M, Forever 21 and Bebe to find reasonably priced and very fashionable styles. These stores have been a bigggg help to me as I have been transitioning!