Every time I send off a wildly ambitious job application, I imagine myself swanning around a swanky office dressed in a beautifully tailored power suit, with killer heels and maybe even a briefcase.
I’m sure anyone who knows even a little bit about me knows that this is unlikely to ever happen. Sure, I can scrub up alright, but heels in the daytime are out of the question for me. Unless I magically become a few inches shorter and a lot more coordinated and graceful.
I currently do not have a job that requires me to wear anything classier than a monogrammed polo shirt. Here is a collection of wildly inappropriate things that I would wear in this dream office. (In this dream office, my dream job is something really exciting and cool. It’s probably something to do with books and/or charity. Maybe I’m an editor of some kind. Not for a fashion magazine, though. As much as I dream of being Wilhelmina Slater, all is not forgiven yet.)
Maybe this is what I’d wear… Or maybe having a grown up’s job would stop me from dressing like a clown. We’ll just have to wait and see, as my dream career is not yet forthcoming.
What’s in your (real or imaginary) work wardrobe?
February 23, 2012 at 2:09 pm
I love your imaginary office wardrobe, especially the black and white dress immediately under the “W” of working, the blue flowy skirt, and those yellow shoes. Where is all this from?
I work as an administrative assistant at a very small company so I can get as fancy or as casual at work as I want. Sometimes I wear officy dresses, and sometimes I wear jeans and a sweater. I would wear everything in your imaginary wardrobe except the white shorts- they’re not really appropriate for most offices. :)
February 23, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Oh, I meant to link the picture to but I forgot. All the information about the clothes is on there! :)
That’s awesome that you get to wear what you want! It would suck not being able to wear casual clothes when you’re having a lazy day, but I suppose it would suck just as much if you could never get dressed up when you wanted to. Sounds like you’ve got the best of both worlds! Yeah, I figured the shorts weren’t really office-appropriate but I was imagining them with completely opaque tights and one of the high-collared shirts. Ah well. There’s a reason this is my imaginary work wardrobe! Haha.
February 23, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I love the look of shorts with tights, but I don’t feel I can pull it off so I didn’t even think about that. That would be office appropriate I guess (for a more fashion forward office though.)
February 24, 2012 at 12:23 pm
My imaginary office is very fashion forward. (I’m probably the boss of this imaginary office, so I can definitely wear what I want.
February 24, 2012 at 5:41 pm
glad to hear it! That’s the best kind of imaginary office. I’ll work for you, as long as I can wear what I want too.
February 23, 2012 at 5:01 pm
This is the same idea that goes through my head when I think about the graduate-level position that, of course, I am guaranteed to walk straight into… SOB, WAIL, etc.
I always seem to be wearing pencil skirts or fitted dresses (basically exactly the same as the dresses you have in the middle, especially the green one which is beautiful) and AMAZING coats when I imagine this entirely fictional job. And I have the best hair ever, and it does exactly what I want it to.
Then I wake up. :(
February 24, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Sob, wail indeed. Did you say you were going to apply for a PGCE or have I made that up?
Pencil skirts and fitted dresses must be the imaginary uniform of stylish, successful women. (This is aside from the fact that some of the most clever and successful women I know work from home and are therefore unlikely to wear something quite so swanky every day.) I second you on the amazing coats. I have a bit of a coat fetish.
February 24, 2012 at 2:48 pm
I did indeed say I was applying for a PGCE, what a memory you must have! I’m going for 2013 entry, so I have a year in which to earn some money, although who will employ me with a time limit remains to be seen.
Coats are seriously just the best thing. While I love the slightly warmer and sunnier weather we’re having, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that I will soon have to be parted from my coat for a number of months and I’m starting to get the shakes about it. I like being covered up stylishly every day; you can’t see that my outfit doesn’t exactly work, but my coat, shoes and tights are all awesome.
Also, I haven’t been clothes shopping for over a year (seriously) (except tights) (and a couple of jumpers). Stylish work clothes will definitely be purchased as soon as I have a reason to purchase them.
February 23, 2012 at 8:06 pm
When you get a job worthy of your talents, you’ve got to treat yourself to some of this stuff. Where’s the silver bar ring at the bottom from?
February 24, 2012 at 12:17 pm
When I get a real job I will probably end up buying far too many clothes the first time I get paid and then panicking about all those silly things like rent and feeding myself.
It’s from Miss Selfridge. I meant to link the picture to my Polyvore account (http://emilyblackburn.polyvore.com/) to show where everything is from but apparently I forgot.
February 26, 2012 at 2:34 pm
YES YES A MILLION TIMES YES. i want those yellow shoes more than anything. seriously.
March 5, 2012 at 5:33 pm
I love everything you picked! But especially the red skirt (I NEED that) and the green dress! I wish my job was swanky… but then, I dress up for it anyway. I can get away with wearing heels because I sit most of the time, so there’s minimal chance that I’ll walk around and hurt myself.
But then, there’s always the printer under the desk to slam my knee on… so injuries aren’t really predictable.
By the (random) way, I started reading Incendiary, and I love it so far!
March 8, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I feel quite strongly about the red skirt as well :) Being able to wear heels must be a perk of having an office job! I think that I will manage to injure myself at work no matter what job I have, haha.
Ooh, fantastic! Let me know what you think when you’ve finished it.