We are excited to have our very first guest writer, Valerie Inglesby. Valerie is the COO of Crescent Investment Group which invests and manages large class A office parks such as UBS Plaza in Minnesota and Lenox Park in Atlanta. While Crescent Investment Group’s success has largely stemmed from her leadership style, her personal style is also noteworthy. Valerie knows the value of a great real estate investment and wardrobe investment pieces. Read below from Valerie:
Today’s Everything Woman has to embrace versatility. Between managing our business and managing our home life, there are multiple new and different ways to accomplish this now mutually symbiotic relationship. Options such as flexible work hours combined with grocery delivery services allow us to work from home and order groceries while at the office. Women today have evolved into having a versatile mindset open to doing things differently than the way they were traditionally done in the past. One area where this is becoming more apparent is in managing our wardrobes. Many of us work in a business casual office environment and our daytime wardrobe can easily transition to an evening out. At times, our office attire has to work for our dinner plans because we are going directly from the office toan evening event!
To demonstrate how your clothes should work for you, for all aspects of your lifestyle, we visited a trusted local boutique; Range Boutique, which has an amazing selection of clothing along with experienced personnel available to assist with shopping, and pulled together three business casual and OOO (out of office) looks using the same pieces throughout all the styles.
Dark blue cocktail dress with a wrap cardigan and belt for the office.
Take off the sweater and hang onto the shoes. The interesting, crossed neckline is the showcase on this look so no need to add anything else! This would also look great with a nude heel as well.
Denim that Works:
Dark skinny jeans with a subtle pattern is a great way to dress up your Casual Friday. Pair with the same structured blazer from our cocktail segment to pull together a great look for the office.
Ditch the blazer and throw on some strappy heels to take this look from desk to dinner.
If skinnies aren’t your thing, go for a wide leg denim that is fitted around the waist and thigh. These jeans look great with shorter length tops and sporty blazers.
Easy transition with this look as well. Leave the blazer in the car and rock this structured blush top for an evening with the colleagues.
Sweater Weather:
Boat necks are a great way to achieve the “off the shoulder” look without being off the shoulder. Paired with a pencil skirt and closed toe heels is a great way to pull of a bulkier sweater for the cooler seasons without compromising style.
Pack a pair of jeans and some comfy shoes to transition this sophisticated look into a ultra casual get up that is still appropriate for a warm winter cocktail with the work crew.
We found some key themes to live by for creating a wardrobe that really works for you;
1. Buy cocktail style dresses that can be worn to the office with the simple addition of a jacket or sweater. Cocktail dresses are tricky because they can be expensive compared to the more functional items in your wardrobe, but they are worn less often. In addition to the multiple looks you can achieve, buying a dress that can be dressed down accomplishes two things; first, it simplifies your wardrobe by eliminating the need for clothing items for different dress codes and second, it provides you the opportunity to wear your cute dresses more often. A word of caution though, do not try this with dresses that are shiny (sequins or satin) or with more formal style materials like lace and tulle.
2. Take some time to find beautiful jeans with a great fit. You will love wearing these with heels when you’re out for an evening, but you can easily wear these same jeans with a blazer or structured top for daytime looks. Also, denim works like a blank canvas – the outfit options are limitless when you utilize a range of shoes and accessories. Please keep in mind that jeans with too much distressing or holes will not transition as easily as solid colors and textures.
3. Never buy slacks that you will only wear to the office and not for any other reason. This means that you don’t really like them or they are too conservative for you to wear where someone will actually see you…which really goes back to the first point. If you buy well made clothing that you love, all of your trousers will be office appropriate when paired with more traditional looking business attire. Think blazers and button down shirts, which also work well layered. Mixing tops with cute pants this way will not work if any of your clothing is too tight or if you are in a true business professional environment, and while we all love yoga pants, I’m not sure we are quite there yet!
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