For whatever reason you’re bored with your work clothes. It might have possibly gotten to the point where you just want to douse your closet with gasoline, light a match and walk away. Your basics feel too basic, your outfits have started to feel routine and blah and you just can’t handle wearing any of it a second longer.
When woman have this reaction to their wardrobes the initial thought is to hit the stores. Yes, this will help for a little while, but what happens when you eventually get tired of these new things? Often, buying more clothes isn’t the answer, learning how to better style the existing pieces in your wardrobe is. When you do this you will not only learn how to get more use out of the things you already own, while staving off boredom from the same old, same old, but you will also be able to better hone in on what you actually do need when shopping for new stuff.
In today’s wear to work post I am going to show you how to take the most basic and simplest outfits (you know those outfits you routinely grab on the days when you really don’t want to think about it) and show you how to infuse a little bit more to feel better about what you look like when you leave for work. Not having anything to wear rarely has to do with not having the right things in your closet as it does not knowing what to do with them
What to wear to work when you don’t know what to wear
Outfit #1- On those days when grabbing a basic dress is just easy
We all have a go-to dress in our closet. It’s always there for us like a good friend who is easy and flexible. However, sometimes when we rely on this dress a little too heavily it can start to feel like a chore to wear it. On the one hand you are grateful you have it, yet, on the other, you are really getting sick of wearing it the same way over and over again.
Before you ditch the dress (and probably buy another one that looks similar), make sure you are doing enough with it. Could it be that the dress is boring you to tears because of how repetitively you have been styling it? I’m certainly not suggesting that you have to go crazy with accessories, but, sometimes even the smallest of tweaks can make a big difference.
Take for example the way I styled this basic black J. Crew dress and polka dot Modcloth cardigan. On their own they are super cute pieces but can be changed even further by simply adding a necklace, like this black Kendra Scott piece, and a pop color pair of shoes, like these from Nine West.
Outfit #2- For when you are suffering from cardigan boredom
I think we are all suffering from cardigan boredom. Yes they’re versatile, easy and a great way to finish an outfit, but they’re also really easy to get dependent on. After a while the cardigan over a slim top and bottoms can start to feel as routine as your daily commute. While you want something different it can be difficult to come up with something as easy and fail-safe as this.
For the sake of simplicity, again accessorizing doesn’t have to be hard to time consuming, you can easily take your basic cardigan outfits just one little step further. Here, for example, this white cap sleeve top, orange cardigan and Boden pencil skirt looks a little more exciting with the addition of an Anthropologie necklace, printed scarf from Nordstrom and blue Seychelles shoes. When you’re bored with an outfit look to see if adding a third pop color will upgrade it. By adding the printed scarf a door of colorful opportunities is opened to introduce a third color, which in this case is blue, that complements the orange.
Outfit #3- When your button down shirts feel like you overdosed on Valium
These pieces are workwear staples that most women have hanging in their closets. How much more basic (and boring) can you get than a button down shirt and tailored pants. While these pieces are the backbone of many great outfits, what makes these outfits superb has nothing to do with the actual clothing but with the way they are styled.
I’m not asking you to do a lot or own a lot. What is more important, especially on rushed mornings when you have no idea what to wear, is to have some grab-and-go accessories that you can whip on while you’re out the door. Having something like a long pendant necklace in gold or silver can be just that item. Starved for time but need something to feel like your outfit needs something in order to be better than just passable? Having this easy necklace on hand will solve a lot of problems.
In this outfit the simple addition of this Banana Republic necklace, blue belt and printed shoes from Boden make all the difference. The great thing about this T Tahari blouse is that it is already nipped in the waist, just waiting for a belt, and the navy pants are so basic that this outfit is the perfect canvas for which to accessorize.
The next time you feel bored to tears, not knowing what to wear to work, instead of trying to cobble together a whole new outfit, grab one of your trusted basics and instead spend your time using your accessories to create a whole new look.
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