“Congratulations!  You knocked it out of the park.  We are extending an offer.”  said the voice on the other end of the line.  I was so excited about my first job out of college at a management consulting firm in San Francisco.  I could not wait to go shopping for my work wardrobe.

This was before the tech boom and there was no such thing as business casual.  In fact, I had been strongly discouraged from wearing pantsuits.  “The manager of the office prefers skirt suits in dresses”, was what I had been told.  This was not in writing or an employee handbook, of course.  It was not that long ago.  It is still is hard to believe.  I did not really consider it a hardship at the time, but eventually the need to wear hosiery (and have at least one spare pare at my desk) got old.

I was more conservative then with my skirt suits, dresses, modest necklines and reasonable (though always above the knee) hemlines.  The firm where I worked was “buttoned up” and conservative.  There was something reassuring about having a “uniform”.

A few years later casual Friday was introduced.  I was a not a fan.  I hated having to put a more casual look together.  I was in charge of recruitment for the firm and often had interview rounds on Friday.  I felt it was unfair to ask an undergrad or even an MBA to interview without their uniform.  So I insisted on those Friday’s not being casual and I was the bad guy.

I continued to wear suits long after the dress codes were truly business casual.  Eventually I did not want to look like an auditor, so my business attire evolved into business casual.  I miss the more formal dress (minus the hosiery).

I was drawn to the simple statement buttons on the sleeve of this top.  I styled it with a new pair of vintage crop jeans (with a step-hem) and a clutch and navy sequin shoes.

Top

Denim

Clutch

Shoes (older style but I love these)

Happy Shopping!

XO,

JAE