Having a favorite pair of white pants that fit you well, makes getting dressed for work easy. It’s those comfortable, tried and true pants that form the base for our work outfits. But they seldom get much attention – it’s usually the blouse or the top that gets the attention. So what do we wear with white pants for our office outfits? Here below are some examples of work clothes with white pants:

Introducing the basic white blouse!  BasicBlouse.com launched  a new white blouse, and we think our blog readers are going to love it!

• Cotton with a slight stretch for comfort
• Mother-of-pearl buttons
• Tailored locally in San Franciso
• Classic cut with darts in the right places
• A must have for your professional wardrobe

Nothing is more tried and ture than the classic white blouse. Professional women have been wearing white blouses with work outfits forever it seems. The most important staple in women’s business attire, other than the business suit itself, is a basic white blouse. It always looks professional, no matter what you do with it. You can even dress it down with jeans, and still it gives you a classy look. A crisp, basic white blouse is a key ingredient for creating business casual outfits for the office.

Incorporate some blue into your casual business attire – create some work outfits with black, white and blue. Wear your black casual pants with a blue cardigan for a relaxed look. Make a girly work outfit with a basic white blouse and a blue skirt – accessorize with a bold black belt. Throwing a suit jacket over a skirt and blouse outfit, makes a good alternative to professional women’s suits. If you want a little bit less casual business outfit, take a black skirt from your business suit (surely all professional women must have at least one black power suit), and wear it with a belted white jacket. Break it off with a blue top accompanied by a big blue bag. As I’m sure most professional women would agree, the bag is an integral part of a casual work outfit.

Some people get confused by what’s meant by “business casual”, and wonder if you can wear a t-shirt with a work outfit. Most people would say “no way”. But I say there are exceptions.  Here are what I consider to be the exceptions for t-shirts with your work clothes:

1. Silky material: If the material of the t-shirt has a slight silk-like shine to it, as many synthetic blends do, it will fit with your professional wardrobe.

2. Design details: It will work if there is some slight design detail, like the gathers and braided neckline in the t-shirt just below. 

3. Patterns: A pattern or texture in the fabric of the t-shirt will make it suitable for either business casual or formal business attire, depending on what you wear it with. 

4. Flowy material: Material that flows with a nice fall, makes a t-shirt or top look more dressy. (The kind of t-shirt that is not allowable has a stiff, wrinkly material.)

One might argue what should be called a “t-shirt”, and what should be called a “top”. What makes it a t-shirt is really how it is cut. The 100% cotton t-shirts you would typically wear with sweats are absolutely forbidden, no matter how nice the slacks are. And it’s even worse if it has something written on it. A plain, cheap, cotton t-shirt can’t be dressed up – not even if you iron it and wear it with pearls and a nice business suit.   Cotton t-shirts that you would work out in do not belong in your professional wardrobe – ever.

Above: This t-shirt is made of a material with a silky shine, and has design details that make it dressy. It will look good in a work outfit.

Right: This t-shirt looks just like a plain t-shirt in the cut, though it is made of a thick nice silky material that has a flow to it. Worn with nice dress slacks, this will work with a comfortable work outfit. 

Left: three are Armani t-shirts with prints and textured material. We could call them tops, but the cut is like a t-shirt. They would look good either with a woman’s business suit or with a casual work outfit.

While wandering around the malls yesterday, I noticed a color combination for suit separates that I haven’t tried before: orange, navy and beige. In two different stores I saw mannequins dressed in business outfits combining these three colors. I think it’s doable for a casual work outfit, and I might try it myself – it had never occured to me before to try orange and navy together. In the left photo we have a orange suit jacket, beige pants with a navy top. In the right photo we have a beige suit jacket, navy slacks with an oragne top, accessorized with a two layer silver necklace. This may not work for a super formal business meeting in which you have to wear strict business attire, but I think it would be a fun and spunky casual office outfit.

What should you wear to create a work outfit with brown pants? With pants in a warm brown tone, like in the first photo, you can wear a rich golden orange suit jacket. This suit jacket has a slight silky sheen to it, which gives this outfit a formal look.

With pants in a cool brown tone, as in the second photo, why not wear a purple blouse and a long off-white jacket. This makes a nice casual work outfit.

In the last two photos, we have the same pair of brown pants: once with ruffle blouse in a white and brown hound’s tooth design, accentuated with a bold brown belt. And again with a brown top and a casual off-white suit jacket. These last two are comfortable office outfits that can be mix and matched. A pair of brown pants that fit you well is a good basic, that creates a solid foundation for your professional wardrobe.

Brighten up the drizzly weather with some color accessories. If you don’t want to buy new business suits, then renew them with splashing shoes and purse sets. Why not urge Spring to return early by putting on a pair of hot pink peep toe heals and matching pink purse, with your black power suit? Or if hot pink scares you – why not a big, roomy medium blue bag with matching blue pointy toe heels in a fun animal print, like subtle snake skin? Either of these sets would accessorize a woman’s business suit in a new and fun way. Wear the hot pink or lime green shoes for casual work clothes, and the olive or blue pointy toes for more formal business attire. (And the rules about no open toe shoes with work clothes have been cancelled, in case anyone is wondering.)

The accessories from: Nine West and Bakers

By: Danielle Gonzalez

Wearing a dress to as a casual work outfit is a timeless tradition that never goes out of style, it’s feminine and classic.  While the weather is still cold a sweater dress can be a perfect fit due to the warmth that it creates and the ease of accessorizing.  However, the sweater dress can automatically become too casual an office outfit for the workplace because of the large use of knit fabric which can be bulky and shapeless.  To keep the look clean cut, black nylons quickly do the trick to avoiding exposing too much skin and keep you warm while it’s still cold out. To avoid the bulk, a thick belt in a different color adds an hourglass figure; a patent leather belt adds a touch of youth and sex appeal.  For a more mature finish; ballet flats, an imprinted patent belt, and a strong bracelet are an easy way to round off a simple, comfortable and casual work ensemble. 

Dresses by: Chadwicks and Net-A-Porter.

By: Danielle Gonzalez

When looking in a woman’s closet, most likely, it is filled with black; black sweaters, black blouses, black dresses, and black suits.  And though black does go with nearly everything and is a simple solution to most wardrobe questions, adding a couple colorful suits is a fresh way to add dimension and more outfit choices to mix and match with your professional wardrobe.  Shades of red are always a popular choice for business suits in the spring, don’t be afraid to find the right tone for you; coral, pink, and even peach are soft colors with a lot of professional appeal.  Navy is common also in the spring,  and should you be more daring, a softer blue can also be a lovely choice for a young woman.  But if you are more conservative when it comes to suiting colors, grey tones in tweed are an excellent choice.  When it comes to colorful women’s suits, make sure that you’re picking strong shoes in a color at least two shades darker than the suit, the idea is to look bold, not matchie-matchie. 

These suits from: Chadwicks and Barry Pace

Be original with your nylons and stockings. Individualize your professional wardrobe by selecting textured nylons and stockings. All professional women don’t have to wear the same plain nylons, choose some that express your own style. Consider it as another way to accessorize your business suit. For pant suits you can wear pretty much any design as long as it doesn’t clash with the color of the shoe or the slacks; the nylons don’t have to match exactly, but they shouldn’t be in a color that breaks off too much or draws attention. For skirt suits, stay away from bold patterns like the big floral designs and choose some nylons that have a very subtle, yet interesting pattern. The idea is not to draw attention to the textured nylons so that they stand out, but to add something to the complete look of your business suit that expresses your own fashion style. If you must follow corporate dress code, you won’t get around wearing a woman’s business suit, but you should personalize that suit and make it your own.