A simple work wardrobe for women might save the day: As a working mom, you are bombarded with tasks and questions every day, and it is sometimes difficult to stay level-headed. The last thing you want is to fret over your business wardrobe every morning. With this guide to a simple work wardrobe for women, I will show you how to avoid making the wrong decisions in the job, reduce your overall stress level every morning, and have more time for the important things in life. Sounds good? Then read on.
Decision fatigue is real!
Famous leaders such as Marc Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, or Barack Obama wear the same outfit every day. Obama used to wear a gray or blue suit for his daily job as the American president, Zuckerberg wears a gray t-shirt, and Steve Jobs was known for his standard outfit of a black turtle-neck pullover and jeans.
Do they not have any fashion sense, or what is the reason for their simple style?
Obama was quoted saying:
“You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits; I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
Decision fatigue is real!
According to this definition on Wikipedia, ” (…) decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision-making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision-making.”
This basically means that if you have too many decisions to make, your decisions will become poorer. You might make the wrong decisions when it comes to important things such as work or your family.
The good news is: you can avoid this symptom by reducing the number of decisions you have to make every day.
Adopt A Simple Work Wardrobe For Women To Avoid Decision Fatigue
While you are probably not the president of a country or a tech company’s CEO, the pressure on you as a working mom is really high; you are under constant pressure and asked lots of questions every day. Naturally, there are lots of decisions to make.
Adopting a work uniform is an easy way to eliminate one decision you have to make daily. The decision of “what will I wear today”. By adopting a work uniform, you don´t have to take that decision any longer. It makes your life easier. You can focus on more important decisions.
Make sure you have the energy to make the right decisions at work. Don´t fret over the small things. Simplify where you can. Adopt a work uniform, so you don´t have to decide what to wear for work every day.
What Does A Simple Work Wardrobe For Women Look Like?
Business attire for men is pretty straightforward, but when it comes to business attire for women, things get a little confusing. There a seemingly millions of options for women to dress right in the workplace and equally many options to get it wrong.
A “work uniform” for women is an outfit that consists of the same type of clothing every day and is appropriate for your work environment.
You should choose the right work uniform for your working environment – whether it is more formal (professional business attire) or more on the casual side (business or smart casual).
If you are unsure what these dress codes are, check out My simple guide to business dress codes to find out more.
Work Uniform For Professional Attire
The best work uniform for an office with a business professional environment (think banks, lawyers, insurances, big corporate office) is the classic pantsuit or skirt suit with a button-down shirt and classic pumps or sling-backs.
I adopted my “corporate work uniform” a few years ago, and I have grown to love buying business outfits by Boden. Boden offers clothing in a distinct “British” style, formal yet stylish. The clothes are high quality and don´t break the bank.
I have enjoyed wearing their business suits for a couple of years now.
My #1 go-to business suit is a combination of their Richmond trousers and their Smyth Ponte blazer, both in navy. These 2 items combined make an absolutely gorgeous classic business suit.
I love combining this suit with a classic white shirt, such as Boden Silk Shirt in ivory.
Mix It Up With Colors
For a smart-casual look, go for something more unusual and colorful.
My top picks this season would be The Silk Shirt – Navy, Chelsea bloom; I LOVE the colors on this shirt; it looks absolutely fabulous with either the navy blue or a new color in their range – Lomond blue for both the Richmond trousers and Smyth Ponte blazer.
Boden also offers a range of smart short-sleeved tops, such as the Carey range or Florence top. I love this little number in Dusty Rose – it would look absolutely gorgeous with a navy blue suit;
Boden also offers a fantastic range of high-quality and stylish shoes and boots. I love their Edie Mid Heels in Berry Sorbet– they absolutely gorgeous and high quality (suede with leather sole and lining).
The other great thing about Boden clothing is its range of colors. All the items I have mentioned come in a range of different colors; you are bound to find the right color for your color type.
If you are unsure, what a color type is, you can read up on it in My simple guide to seasonal color analysis.
Work Uniform For Business Casual Attire
In my opinion, the best work uniform for an office with a more relaxed dress code that is both comfortable and stylish is the combination of skinny jeans, a blazer, a silk shirt paired with heels or ankle boots.
I personally wear this outfit a lot on days without client or board meetings, I love the comfort of jeans, and if you pick the right type of jeans (dark colors, skinny or straight cut), they are definitely suitable for more relaxed office days.
Here are my top picks for a business casual “work uniform”:
Skinny jeans in black paired with the Long Sleeve Breton Shirt in Ivory / Black Zebra and the Smyth Ponte blazer in black. Combine the black jeans with some beautiful suede shoe boots – Shrewsbury Shoe Boots in Black is a great pick, and you are all set to go.
Due to the monochrome color scheme, this outfit is still formal enough for an office but is super comfortable. Lose the blazer after work, and you are ready to play!
If you are looking for more tips on how to dress casually for work, here are my top tips to get it right.
Get These 6 Items, And You Are All Set:
- A classic pair of high-quality trousers
- A white button-down shirt
- heels
- ankle boots
- skinny jeans
- A good & versatile blazer
And this is all you need to save time in the morning and lose that decision fatigue 🙂
Enjoy That Extra Cup Of Coffee In Style
Working mothers struggle for time every day. Being a working mum with small children is hard; time is limited, and you simply don´t have the time and the nerves to fret over the right outfit for work.
Decision fatigue is real – if you worry too much about small daily decisions such as what to wear for work, you might not have the energy to take the big decisions.
By adopting a work uniform, you will simplify this part of your life. You will have a comfortable yet stylish outfit to wear every day (follow my tips for the business professional and business casual above).
You will look good in no time and can enjoy that extra cup of coffee in style.
I hope this guide to a simple work wardrobe for women (especially working moms) has helped you.
If you ever need a hand or have any questions, please leave them below, and I will be more than happy to help you out.
I myself will not be using this for myself haha since I am a guy. But my mom recently started an office job and she has to dress more elegantly but does not want to overdo it. I’m so happy that i ran into this article on my random internet searching haha. I will be sharing this with her and I hope you don’t mind if I share this on my facebook for some other people to see as well!
Hi Misael, I am glad you find this post useful for your mom! Sure, if you want to share it on Facebook, that would be awesome! All the best to your mom for her new office job! Kind Regards, Drea
Hi, honestly – sticking to a work wardrobe of workwear essentials such as button-down shirts or straight-cut trousers and buying the things in the color palette I know suits me have saved me plenty of time and stress in the mornings. The method can definitely be used by guys as well; in fact, it is a lot more common for men’s´ business attire to be the known combo of a suit and a business shirt. I am glad you have found the article useful for yourself and great if you can pass it on to your sister. Thank you so much! All the best, Drea
WOW! what an EXCELLENT read this.
I got completely lost in this article, I enjoy it from start to finish.
I discovered that I too suffer with – Decision Fatigue – I didn’t even know it existed until I read your post.
I also love the idea of business causal.
Having working in the oil and gas corporate world for 20 years, the depressing suit dragged me down big time.
Why is relaxed dressed only reserved for Fridays within these organizations?
I know this post was geared towards ladies, but as a male I have managed to gained a lot from this post!
Decision fatigue! Who’d of thought it!
Kris
Hello Kris, GREAT, that you have enjoyed my post so much. Yes, I think any busy person knows the feeling of “decision fatigue,” Often when kids come into the game, it can easily get a bit much with the daily decisions we have to make. I am a fan of simplicity, and the idea of wearing the same type-of-thing every day appeals to me, as it makes getting ready for work so much easier. Amazingly, you say the suit actually dragged you down; it shouldn´t be that way. Corporate fashion can be comfortable and fun, and – as you say- business casual is the way to go. Thanks for your comment and have a fabulous day! Drea