If you are reading this post consider it a small miracle. My website has been giving me major stress, and for the past four days I have spent way more time on hold with tech support than any human should have to endure in their lifetime. I don’t know if you read about the “send your enemies glitter” phenomenon that went viral this past week (I think I read about it while I was on hold with my site’s tech support for the 18th time), but, after the past few days, I think forcing your enemy to listen to hold music would be much more effective payback. Trust me, I know.
Anyway, I am finally back up (let’s hope for good) and I can actually be productive. Okay, rant over. Let’s talk about work style.
Most of my clients are professional women. Their wardrobes are neutral based in tailored pieces consisting of black, navy, brown, grey, and so on. Their work clothes are also very classic looking. With the expectation that their work clothes will be investment pieces they hope to wear for years to come, keeping it classic makes sense and, I would imagine, my clients are very much like most working women.
In today’s post I am going to show you the importance of adding colorful accessories to your work outfits, especially if you are one of those women who likes to keep it clean, classic and neutral. To get the most out of the investment purchases having some colorful variety in your accessories is important. Surely, there are plenty of ways to add color to work looks, like popping a colorful tank under a blazer or wearing a colorful dress, but today I want to specifically talk about colorful jewelry because this is an often overlooked and great way to get more with less.
How to Add Splashes of Color to Work Outfits
What sets the colorful jewelry approach apart from wearing colorful outfits when trying to add some brightness to your work looks is that, when accessorizing with colorful jewelry, the outfits can stay exactly the same, you don’t have to buy new clothes. If you are looking to add some freshness to the work pieces you already own head out and buy some colorful jewelry.
If your work wardrobe is based in strong neutrals you can really go in any color direction you want with the jewelry you choose. As I always say, any color you can wear with black you can wear with any other neutral color, like navy, grey, shades of brown, tan and olive. So if what has been holding you back from adding colorful jewelry to your wardrobe has been the worry about what colors to buy, don’t fret, it’s much easier than you think. Take a look at some outfits below.
Outfit #1
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My professional clients have been loving their dress suits. Not only are these looks easy but they are powerful and feminine at the same time. Despite the ease of these types of suits, they can get a little one-note if accessories aren’t brought in to add some additional flavors.
Comparing the outfit on the left to the one on the right, you can see how much of a difference this colorful necklace from Max & Chloe makes with the splash of tangerine added to Reiss suit consisting of this jacket and this dress. This is not to say the outfit on the left, that was simply accessorized with this necklace from Lord & Taylor, looks bad, but imagine how bored you would get wearing the suit this way every single time you wore it. Instead, by having more versatile jewelry pieces to add to your basic work looks you not only get more with less but you also increase the mileage and longevity of what you already own.
As you will also notice the only change that was made to the outfits was the necklace. The shoes and the handbag stayed the same. One change, huge difference.
Outfit #2
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Here is another neutral outfit that is very common for work. A pair of tailored pants, like this brown pair from Vince Camuto, a cardigan like this one from J. Crew and a simple tank underneath. With the cognac flats, handbag from Nine West and simple gold stud earrings from Zappos, the outfit is elegant and absolutely perfect for the office.
With this outfit being so neutral in look, it is the perfect backdrop to add some color. It doesn’t have to be a major amount, you can just add colorful earrings, like I did here with this Stella & Dot pair. Don’t discount colorful earrings for the smallest amount of color pops. They can be just as versatile as your favorite pearl studs while being a heck of a lot more interesting.
Outfit #3
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If you own a little black dress, like this one from J. Crew and aren’t wearing it a variety of different ways then you are seriously missing out. A black dress craves being changed up. On the left is a completely acceptable and fine outfit consisting of this basic silver necklace, a black handbag and black pumps from Tahari.
On the right, I added this pink and blue necklace from Bauble Bar. From there, a whole new bunch of options opened up. While you could just keep the black pumps used in the outfit on the left, I liked bringing in the color further with a pair of blue pumps from Trotters.
Nobody is saying you should get rid of your standard basic looks. However, if you want to get more with less, enjoy wearing your clothes longer and keep is professional and conservative, look to colored accessories to elevate what you already own.
Originally I was going to look for more colorful accessories to feature at the end of this post. However, due to the time constraint put on me from all this website nonsense my ability to actually write this blog became super limited. However, what you can do is head on over to my online boutique and check out some of the products I am featuring there.
