Smart Casuals

syan

I need to buy smart casuals as i have accepted a new job offer. Could you please let me know what dresses are considered to be smart casuals in London as i recently came to London. Could you please guide me where i can get good delas on them?


Thanks in advance

Sarahsaver

What is your job then it will be easier to say what is appropriate dress for that job.
If you shop carefully in Primark you can get some quite smart things at a very low price.

syan

Sorry, i work as an IT consultant. Thanks for reply

Skint_Catt

Syan,

Black/navy/grey trousers/skirts are always good basics, with blouses, tops (usually excluding t-shirts/vest tops) in pretty much any colour.

Smart casual usually means you can go without a suit jacket. If you are a dress wearer then usually black/navy/grey cap sleeve dress not above knee length is always a winner.

C xx

syan

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Syan,

Black/navy/grey trousers/skirts are always good basics, with blouses, tops (usually excluding t-shirts/vest tops) in pretty much any colour.

Smart casual usually means you can go without a suit jacket. If you are a dress wearer then usually black/navy/grey cap sleeve dress not above knee length is always a winner.

C xx

skint_catt,

Thanks for your reply. It answered most of my questions. It is really hard for me to find any tops which are not t-shirts .probably i am asking basic questions .

Thanks
Syan

Fen1

If you are going out on customer site it's always better to be a bit too smart than a bit too casual.
A capusle wardrobe is a good investment, and something you can build up over time. Stick to black, navy, chocolate brown, co-ordinating knee-length skirt, smart trousers and jacket. Have a look at a shop like Jaeger ( a bit pricey, but should give you some clues), on how to build a core from a 3 pieces - skirt/trousers/jacket combo, plus a sleeved dress.
Plain well-fitting tops in neutral colours, ditto shoes.
It's well worth investing a bit more in natural fibre well-fitting tops (and the rest of your clothes): London gets horribly hot and humid (Tube is a nightmare in summer), so cheap polyester stuff gets really uncomfortable really quickly.

As an IT consultant the big question is: are you actually going to be grubbing about in server rooms, or are you just working at a desk? If the former, your Manolo Blahniks will get ruined - M&S sensible court shoes will be better. Polishable leather rather than suede or fabric that will be scuffed. And if you are in the server rooms, trousers are usually much easier to rootle around in (carry spare tights anyway.)

Style tip: jackets don't need to be the horrible boxy things from the eighties, just something you can wear when it's a bit cooler or to look a bit more formal in a meeting. A good jacket doesn't have to slavishly match your trouser/skirt/ plain dress basics: a good co-ordinating jacket is the way to go.

Sarahsaver

A hint I picked up recently is that if you wear black trousers or skirt it does look better to have a black or black and white top, and if you wear someything patterned then wear something coloured with it to tone in with the pattern.
There are a lot of magazines which show suitable outfits for different occasions I would recommend Glamour magazine if you are up to date with fashion or Essentials if you want high street and not too conspicuous.

Fen1

Just had a look at Next. THey have a good range of co-ordinating core basics that you can jazz up with a nice top.