Office attire can be the most boring type of clothing. Suits are usually the drabbest forms of brown, black and blue. Then there are those collared shirts you’re supposed to wear under them, which make them even more intolerable. Finally, the covered shoes; I hate pumps with a passion. I first began wearing suits when I started a full-time office job in January 2005. In the beginning, I went with the flow: I purchased blue, black and brown suits, some a little more adventurous with white, pink or purple pinstripes. I also went to Payless and bought a couple pairs of cheap pumps, knowing they would be thrown off my feet the minute I left the building for almost any reason. But I just wasn’t happy with what I was putting on each day; I didn’t want to dress that way, but I thought I had to.
My saving grace was found one day when I went shopping with my mom. I don’t particularly like doing so for too long because, as I like to tell my mother, she is not a true shopper. After visiting just two or three stores, she wants to sit down or go home. I don’t spend a lot of time in each store, but I do hit as many as I can on a trip to the mall, and I like to visit at least two shopping centers on each trip. Anyway, that day in January I was looking for a few more pieces to add to my mounting office clothing collection when my mom held up a top covered with gold sequins.
“Why don’t you wear this under your suit?” she suggested.
Used to disagreeing with my mom’s sense of fashion, without looking at it I blurted out “No!” Then I turned toward it, and at that moment, I asked myself….:Why can’t I wear something like that to work?” Wracking my brain, I couldn’t find a reason not to; it would be underneath complying attire, after all.
From then on, I enjoyed getting dressed in the morning. Lace tank tops underneath the suit? I was so on it. Sleeveless turtleneck sweaters? So me. Cute little plain T-shirts—Check, if they matched the suit’s pinstripes. I even started wearing tube tops. Although I’m usually not a fan of them because I don’t like having to pull up my attire every five seconds, I don’t have to worry about that when I have something on top of it. Finally, the flower in the hair that matched the lip gloss added a nice unique touch.
By that time, summer came around, and I was especially itching to get out of those covered shoes. By that point, I had switched to boots, some with unusual colors such as cranberry red or shiny snakeskin boots in gray and copper. Granted, they looked a little “clubbish,” but I had even middle-aged women who tend to be to-the-letter when it comes to office clothing asking where they could get pairs. I think I set off an office trend…Anyway, by summer, I was so ready to forgo socks for sandals, but I was afraid to wear them to work with a suit, especially at a large stuffy law firm. However, one day I noticed a woman in lime-green sandals similar to some I had in my closet. That was all I needed. From then on, it was sandals in almost any color for which you could also find as a crayon. The process of making office attire my own was now complete.
When I went back to school last fall I was once again in baby T-shirts and jeans in the fall and winter; jean skirts (and of course sandals) in the spring. Now that I’m working at a legal clinic this summer, I have implemented some of my changes to office attire, wearing it even on casual days.
I think I’ll keep my changes even as an attorney. I’m already trying to get some pointers from other code-breakers I’ve met in the halls of the courthouse. One attorney wore a dark purple suit earlier this week. It was near-hideous with a gold zipper on the jacket instead of buttons, but she did give me the name of a store that has suits in more than just the expected colors. I’ll definitely be checking it out. With all the hours I’ll likely be working after graduation, I have to be in comfortable clothing. As long as I can add my touch to it, I’ll continue looking forward to getting dressed in the morning.
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