Entries categorized as ‘Business dressing’
If you’re buying an off-the-peg suit here are a few things to look out for to make the best choice.
- Make sure it fits you around the shoulders, armhole and across the back. These are the most glaringly obvious places if a suit jacket is a bad fit.
- Jacket lengths – short and fitted if you’re curvy.
- Be careful with below hip length jackets, it is hard for a jacket this length to be flattering.
- Choose single breasted if you’re big chested or have a thick waist.
- Double breasted only really look good on bean poles.
Ask yourself:
Can you move your arms in it?
Can you sit down comfortably in it?
If you need a real work horse of a suit stick to mainly synthetic blend fabrics. Not the nicest to wear but certainly the strongest and the easiest to care for.
Think about what you want that suit to do for you. Will you be wearing it to interviews, meetings, conferences, meeting clients? Then you want it to make you feel confident and a good fit is even more crucial, you don’t want to spend your time fiddling with the uncomfortable bits. And try to think outside of the black, grey, navy box. Hard I know with th limited choice available, but it’s worth the extra effort.
If you have plenty of separates that you’re happy with (ie. skirts, trousers, dresses) and just struggle with the jacket (often happens with all those pesky female curves), think about having just a jacket made to co-ordinate with your existing separates.
Categories: Business dressing
Tagged: comfort, fit, jacket, off-the-peg, separates, suit
BBC4 has recently run a very interesting programme about the tradition of English tailoring and bespoke clothing on Savile Row. It’s well worth a look to find out more about handmade clothing and the history of bespoke clothing.
You can watch it with the BBC iplayer through this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00909d4.shtml
It’s only available for another 4 days though!
Categories: Business dressing · What is Bespoke clothing?
Tagged: bespoke, Savile Row, tailoring
February 22, 2008 · 1 Comment
Who owns a piece of clothing that can make you feel relaxed, comfortable and confident as soon as you put it on? When you wear it people tell you how nice you look, how healthy you’re looking, or ask if you’ve been on holiday or lost weight?!
This is the power of well cut, well fitting clothes that suit you.
Choosing the right clothes for your physical appearance in the right colours can make you look slimmer, healthier and feel calm and confident.
What you wear and how says an awful lot about how you feel about yourself and what your attitude might be towards your business and your customers. A simple example; how would you feel if you were served in a cafe or restaurant by someone with dirty clothing and messy unwashed hair? Probably not looking forward to eating the food they’ve dished up.
With a critical eye and a bit of help it’s possible to learn how to disguise areas that you don’t feel confident about. It’s easy to spot people who are wearing things that are wrong for them, they will fiddle, fiddle, fiddle with the clothes because they feel uncomfortable and all that’s achieved by this is to draw everyone’s attention to the exact place that they would rather disguise.
Before you get dressed or plan what you’re going to wear think about the bits that you’re not confident about, but also, think about what you will be doing in the outfit. A few examples; if you’re likely to get hot and sweaty wear dark tops or keep your jacket on, if you need to do lots of leaning over then avoid low cut tops. Similar advice applies to men; how many men have you seen sat down in very smart suits with their trouser legs riding half way up their calves displaying Christmas socks?! Can you take them seriously after that? I can’t!
The “uniform” approach. Sometimes it’s appropriate in certain situations, to blend in when you’re not the star of the show. However, lots of work situations call for a bit of “you”. If you just blend into the background you’ll have to work that bit harder in order for people to remember you. This is especially important if you’re directing meetings, giving presentations and making sales pitches. If you’re most comfortable in a “uniform” style then at least invest in some interesting accessories or shoes and at this time of year how about some neon tights?!
As one of my clients recently said of the business garments I designed and made for her; ” …now I don’t have to worry and I can concentrate on my meetings.“
Blog topics in the coming weeks: shopping for accessories, London fashion week – which spring trends will work for you?
Categories: Business dressing · What suits you?
Tagged: business, colours, confident, London fashion week, suits, Trends, uniform
