For my 9-5 Ladies

Turns out, those magazines were right- I do need clothes to wear from the office to cocktail hour! 

Almost every makeover reality show my mom would have on when I was younger or magazine of hers I’d pick up, said some version of taking a look from day to night. I always thought this was a saying and not something that would actually become prominent in my adult life- until I had a 9-5 job. I go out with friends at least once a week and a lot of weekends are full of errands in the day and a dinner or event at night. I’m too exhausted to ever find a whole new outfit nor do I even have the time to go home and change so on these days I make sure my outfit is, as they say: simple to take from day to night. This, as a stylist, comes easy for me but in all of my consultations with clients whether it’s for a work trip, a vacation, or just revamping their wardrobe the number one request I get is “I just need more clothes that I can take from day to evening” 

Here are my top tips and purchases on how to make your whole closet transition easy pieces!

Disguise Your Work Look: 

Rather you’ll be disguising your evening look. This is for you 9-5 girls who have a date at 5:30. Wear your classic slacks, button up, blazer, and pointed toe heel to work. After work, remove the blazer, roll up your sleeves, untuck part of the shirt, put on some big earrings, and switch out the shoes for a pop of color heel. Corporate woman who!? It’s like a version of Clark Kent.. I think? 

If you have a more casual work setting like I do, there’s unlimited ways to choose a transitional outfit. Sometimes it’s just adding on; sometimes it’s removing. Today for example, I’m wearing a white tank, black wide leg jeans, and a pair of red flats. For my dinner tonight, I’ll simply be adding a leather jacket, gold hoops, and a red belt. 

One Bottom For Every Attire

When shopping for a client’s New York work trip, she needed to be relaxed, stylish, and comfortable during the day but dressed up for her evening events. These situations do take a little more effort so we focused on ensuring there would be little thought required into the daily transition. Our emphasis was on maintaining consistency with the bottom and easily switching out the top and shoe. I bought her a white skirt that we styled with a t-shirt, a cotton button up with a blazer, and a black satin top. She could choose either her blue heel or blue sneaker with these options. With that skirt alone she now has a comfortable day, business casual, and evening look. I also packed her a black linen pant, which can be worn with all of those tops or different colors of the tops and be suitable for those same attires. I threw in a couple mini skirts as well for her non-working moments! The key was ensuring everything went with everything! 

Matching Sneakers and Heels: 

So you have your whole look, in the day you want to be comfortable, but at night you need to elevate the outfit. As subtly referred to above, have multiple pairs of the same colored sneakers and heels. When you buy tennis shoes and heels in the same shade you don’t have to worry about whether your outfit will still go when you swap out your shoes later. Just change this one thing and it’s a dressier version of the same outfit with little to no thought. 

Essential Slacks

I am shocked at how many closets I look through that do not contain a single pair of slacks. Or women who have them but don’t wear them out! It’s assumed slacks are for business looks but this couldn’t be further from the truth. I hardly ever wear jeans because slacks look better with any top, they’re more comfortable, and of course, the reason we’re all here, can take you from day to night. So my biggest closet must haves- two black slacks, one cream slack, one gray slack, two fun-colored slacks. Now picture it: cream slacks with a t-shirt, and ballet flats; cream slacks with a satin button up and ballet flats; gray slacks with a fitted tank and sneakers; gray slacks with a fitted strapless top, and a pointy heel. The possibilities are endless but you need slacks! 

With some thoughtful purchases and intentional dressing, you can easily transition from the office to happy hour, looking and feeling your best.