Wearing colour (at work) is hard to do
Spring time and warm weather. Nature airs its pale green frocks and blushes the slightest hint of pink. The air is softer and the sky is a less intense blue, dampened time and time again by the showers bringing forth those May flowers.
The colour palette for one's wardrobe inevitably mirrors nature's fashion show and thus, peaches, pastels and the paler, frothier versions of summer colours start appearing in fashion magazines and shop windows.
In an office, one starts to see hints of colour in the women's wardrobe but alas, in an industry such as mine, there aren't too many of those(women). Men wear the same blue shirts and grey/black slacks season after season and little varies there. There is, I believe, a certain perception behind wearing more feminine clothing and colours in an office dominated by men. Perhaps you won't be taken as seriously or people think you care more about picking out your outfit for tomorrow than for the presentation due tomorrow. The same applies to jewelry and accessories and excludes admins. Why am I self conscious and even scared to wear colour at work?
In any case, I think the answer, for me at least, is this. When it's 11 or 12 at night and you've been in your cube since 8 am, the last thing that you want to be is:
-Trotting around the office in your 4 inch Italian heels that have been pinching your feet or giving you blisters since you walked to grab lunch
-Shivering in your cute spring skirt, since office air is turned colder as it gets warmer outside
-Rattling your keyboard with your bangles and rings, causing unintended deletions or typos that take an additional hour to catch and correct
-Dressed in a cheery colour when what you really you feel is dour, tired and grey
As a challenge to this statement and how I feel about my own office attire, I will be on the hunt this spring for some classic, colorful and realistic work outfit options that will not undermine your work persona but will break out of the greys, navys, and blacks I know you are all sick of wearing.
The colour palette for one's wardrobe inevitably mirrors nature's fashion show and thus, peaches, pastels and the paler, frothier versions of summer colours start appearing in fashion magazines and shop windows.
In an office, one starts to see hints of colour in the women's wardrobe but alas, in an industry such as mine, there aren't too many of those(women). Men wear the same blue shirts and grey/black slacks season after season and little varies there. There is, I believe, a certain perception behind wearing more feminine clothing and colours in an office dominated by men. Perhaps you won't be taken as seriously or people think you care more about picking out your outfit for tomorrow than for the presentation due tomorrow. The same applies to jewelry and accessories and excludes admins. Why am I self conscious and even scared to wear colour at work?
In any case, I think the answer, for me at least, is this. When it's 11 or 12 at night and you've been in your cube since 8 am, the last thing that you want to be is:
-Trotting around the office in your 4 inch Italian heels that have been pinching your feet or giving you blisters since you walked to grab lunch
-Shivering in your cute spring skirt, since office air is turned colder as it gets warmer outside
-Rattling your keyboard with your bangles and rings, causing unintended deletions or typos that take an additional hour to catch and correct
-Dressed in a cheery colour when what you really you feel is dour, tired and grey
As a challenge to this statement and how I feel about my own office attire, I will be on the hunt this spring for some classic, colorful and realistic work outfit options that will not undermine your work persona but will break out of the greys, navys, and blacks I know you are all sick of wearing.
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