Tuesday 27 August 2013

Power Dressing

Be Seen For All The Right Reasons.

Dressing for the Office can be extremely tricky. Especially for a woman. There's a fine line between stand out power dressing and the Office slut. Rather than using your skirt length to get attention in and around the office, let your accessories do the talking. The age old trick of teaming bright handbags and shoes with a dull black office dress has been long overdone. While I'm not disputing the impact these simple additions make to work wear, there are a few new ways to be grab attention whilst still remaining respectable. It's just down to a few ideas and some simple rules. 

IDEA 1:

The highstreet is bursting with statement necklaces. A necklace combined with well coordinated office separates can bring an outfit to life. Some may be a tad worried that a blingy necklace can take you from 9-5 to 5-9 after work drinks, but worn in the right way (sticking to some simple rules), they add impact whilst not looking too overdone. Below are some of my favourites from the highstreet's best.
Zara £25.99

Zara £19.99

Topshop £13.50

Topshop £30


Miss Selfridge Limited Editon £55

Miss Selfridge £14

Rule 1: 

Whilst these statement necklaces are perfect for the workplace, they can be a step too far when worn with the wrong thing. Unless you work in a very creative, fun or relaxed environment (and can get away with anything) follow my simple rule. 

You want to stand out for the key piece you're wearing. It should become a point of interest/ a topic of conversation/ something to remember you by (for all the right reasons); as a result of this, avoid very heavy make up while wearing your key piece. Bright lipsticks and sparkly eye shadows could make you look like you're trying too hard, or worse, that you haven't gone to bed yet! You want to look effortlessly chic, NOT a barbie. Also, it goes without saying avoid lots of focal points. Choose one key piece and stick to it.

IDEA 2:

Going to work doesn't have to be boring. You can add personal touches with a bit of nail art! Before you panic, I'm not talking about animations or multi-coloured alternating nails. I'm talking about understated but glamourous nails. 

My personal favourites (as taken from my Pinterest) include:






If you like these designs and want some more for the odd weekend nail painting session, follow me or just my Nailspiration board at http://pinterest.com/paigesime/

Rule 1:

Avoid chipped nails. No matter what the colour, if your nails are chipped, picked or chewed they will make you feel self concious if you're anything like me. You want to be focusing on the day ahead and excelling at your job, not trying to hide your nails while pointing something out. Finish off your look with some beautiful painted nails or if you're in a rush just leave them plain. Easier said than done I know, but keeping on top of chipped nails will make you feel so much better. 

IDEA 3: 

Invest in some nice tights! Sheer tights are the way forward and only on the days between you shave your legs, wear flesh coloured SHEER tights so it'll be your little secret you've even got tights on! On days requiring a black pair, opt for thin ones over woolly. Your warmth should come from your coat, not woolly tights suitable for a child. Hopefully you'll be in a nice warm office for the most part of the day so the weather shouldn't ever trouble you. 

Rule 1:

Select your tights well. There's nothing more unsexy than a pair of unmatched flesh coloured thick tights with bobbles. While you're in the shop take the tights out of the packet and put your hand inside them. Don't be shy! Think to yourself, can I really get away with this shade? It's nice to cheat your way to a base tan but remember what else is going to be on show - your arms and face. If your tights aren't the same colour as the rest of your body, it's going to look very odd indeed. 

Rule 2:

Something my Mum taught me; always remember to keep a spare pair of tights in your handbag AND hide them in a zip pocket. It gets awfully embarrassing having someone spot them in your bag... trust me, I learned the hard way! There's also nothing worse than getting half way through the day and spotting a pesky ladder in your tights.

THE END.


A very long post today. I hope I've given you a few ideas to help brighten up your workwear. There's lots to be said about first impressions and you want to leave people with the right one of you. Power dressing will give you more confidence and impact the way you act and hopefully how quickly you progress in your job (NB. This does not mean sleeping your way up!). 

Let me know if you have any other simple changes to enhance your work wardrobe!

All the necklaces can be found online: 

Sunday 4 August 2013

On a personal note

Work Life

My first fortnight of work has been and gone and I'm preparing for my third Monday morning. 5.30am start! The upside is the train and tubes are pretty much empty at 6am. The down side is the eye bags beginning to form under my eyes, which put up a good fight with the concealer!


My outfit choices for these first two weeks have been quite varied. I've been absolutely rubbish at remembering to picture them each morning. (My brain doesn't work that early!) However, as I work in fashion, my everyday work wear may be slightly different from other people's. My outfits reflect more of a weekend look, rather than your typical office attire, which has proved extremely advantageous in this heat! For those of you interested, see right my day 1 outfit. (Top - H&M, Skirt - Primark, Necklace - Primark, Watch - Michael Kors)

Aside from my morning outfit choices, I've also been really enjoying the free morning Metro you find at any good train station. Some sections admittedly need a flick over, but it's definitely the thing keeping me awake during the morning journey while my eyes feel like lead. Following this, after I emerge from the tube, I always look for the man giving away the free Stylist magazine, although recently he's been giving away sport magazines which always makes me slightly disappointed first thing in the morning. You may have noticed a trend showing my love of a freebie! Yes I'm guilty of that, but I guess so are most of the country so I won't feel too bad about it. 

Next, I wanted to share with you a FABULOUS Indian restaurant in the heart of London, perfect for schmoozing clients, meeting friends after work for a special meal or just somewhere to spend your hard earned cash on a meal out that you won't regret (unless spice isn't your kind of thing). Moti Mahal in Covent Garden, London absolutely blew my socks off when I went there the other night. I'm already planning to take my boyfriend there, lucky boy! The best thing (apart from the food) is the glass window looking into the kitchen allowing you to see the chefs create the wonderful food. Yes, I really can't speak highly enough about it. Check it out at www.motimahal-uk.com and if you're booking, its worth requesting a table upstairs. Here's a picture of the kitchen from the other night.

Moti Mahal Kitchen - Covent Garden

I promise to post soon, with something more office related! Until then, enjoy the post and catch up with my previous posts. 

P.S. I'm really loving my fold up Dune shoes, featured in a previous post. They're saving my feet from commuter foot hell and I can quickly change once I arrive back to my work shoes (highly recommended, again)!

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Nailing that Summer look

Summer Worthy Nails

I love having my nails painted. I'm a bit of a nail art addict to be honest. However, when I'm working in the office, I don't always like to have really over the top nails. The likes of spots, stripes or even attempts at animal print isn't always appropriate in an office setting. I do however, love a gloss effect nail. The glossier the better in my eyes! You can imagine my delight when I stumbled across Barry M's new Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint. It's super glossy and comes in a whole range of summery colours. When I saw them I decided to go a little crazy and buy 3. After trying them all out, I can safetly say I'm hooked! Usually I stick to Nails Inc nail polish, but after trying these, I'm tempted to go back to my local drugstore and buy more! I've also seen other bloggers raving about them so at £3.99, they come highly recommended. 


Left to Right: Blueberry 315, Blood Orange 314, Prickly Pear 308 (All £3.99)
Another great thing about these polishes is the fact that one coat is sufficient. Perfect if you're in a bit of a rush. I would also recommend putting on a base coat to protect your nail underneath from becoming stained in the long run. I used OPI  Natural Nail Base Coat which dries super quick, avoiding time being wasted while you flap your hands around waiting for your nail varnish to dry. I then completed the look by applying the Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Blood Orange, shade number 314. 


I can't really say enough good things about these products. They also don't chip or peel off like some nail varnishes, making them extremely long lasting and professional looking! Just brilliant. :)

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Hello YouTube!!

Office Appropriate on YouTube

I promised you YouTube videos to accompany my blog and I've just posted my first one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1ZvhIEyUI

For my first video I selected 3 items I love and that are completely suited to office life. I'm going to go through them out of order as they appeared on the video as I've already mentioned the bag in a post below, so I will talk about at that one last. 

Firstly (secondly on the video), I have my lovely Dune fold up ballerina pumps. I say they're a salmon colour, but apparently, they're apricot according to the label. I would highly recommend them because they're SO comfortable and perfect for reviving your painful feet after a day of heels. Click on the link above to purchase them online. 


Next is my Clinique Chubby Stick, in the colour Curvy Candy. I can't praise chubby sticks enough. They're so moisturising, whilst giving your lips a pop of colour. If you're anything like me, you might not always want to wear an extreme coloured lipstick, or have your hair stick to a lipgloss on a windy day, so these are the perfect in between option. I bought one for my friend in my local House of Fraser store, but anywhere you know that sells Clinique will have these as they're selling like hot cakes! You can also shop for Clinique online, just click on the link. Honestly, £16 well spent in my opinion. 



Finally, my Primark black zip bag. I've said a lot about this bag already in a previous post so will keep this brief. It's £10, extremely practical for everyday use with pockets and zips inside and goes with almost everything because of its colour and style. I don't think you can really go wrong with this bag for the office, as it's smart and cheap (the perfect combination). Unfortunately, there's no link I can give you to go and buy it online, so you'll have to do some rummaging in a local Primark store. 


Monday 1 July 2013

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I've just joined bloglovin in the hope of keeping up to date with all my favourite blogs. Click on the follow button below to be notified of all my latest posts.


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Friday 28 June 2013

Office Appropriate... bag!

 My New Favourite Bag!

I have a little obsession with black. Not only does it go with everything, you just can't go wrong with a bit of black! You can imagine my delight when I saw this B-E-A-U-tiful bag in Primarni (Primark) of all places. It's an absolute bargain at £10 and it has replaced my Ted Baker (black of course) bag I used to use for everyday. 

Bag: Primark
Back View (no zip detailing)
 At the moment I've only seen it in black, but I'm sure it's bound to come out in, in at least a few alternative colours. Aside from that, it's extremely practical with pockets and zips to hold all your daily essentials.

I also love it because you can add a few personal touches to it. Right now I've tied a leopard print cross scarf to the handle.  The scarf (also from Primark) is quite versatile in itself. I think it was about £2 and I've worn it loads. I like to clash the print with patterned block colour outfit giving it a perfect preppy look for everyday wear.


I also noticed a pretty much identical bag in Topshop at the weekend. It adds white into the mix for a classic monochrome look. The long strap is removable (like the Primark version), but for £42 I would like to think it would last longer than my Primark copy. It's really up to you which you prefer. Take a look at the Topshop version here: Winged Zip Detail Handbag - Topshop



Thursday 27 June 2013

Office Appropriate is born!

The Beginning... 

 So after thinking about it for a while, I've finally joined the world of blogging. I've just recently been offered my dream job in retail, in the heart of London. I hope this blog not only provides me with a companion for that long commute in each day, but also brightens yours, whilst giving you some inspiration for that "office appropriate" outfit each day.

I'm also hoping to provide you with some entertainment by making a YouTube channel to follow along with this blog. Right now it's looking kind of bare... but soon I hope to give it some love and film some content for it. 

So here goes, I'm set with my camera at the ready. Time to begin blogging. I hope you enjoy. 


Top: Primark, Camera: Olympus E-420