Whether you’re thinking of the power suits of the 80’s decade, the twin set suits of classic Chanel or a stuffy and comfortable trouser suit, deemed professional rather than stylish, suits have always been a factor for women’s fashion.
Here, we take a look at how best to choose the shape and colour suit to work best on your figure and skin tone and how to style a suit for work to look both stylish and professional.
Today, the trouser suit has taken on a new meaning when it comes to fashion.
It means business-savvy, fashion-conscious and impeccably dressed for workwear or beyond.
All as long as it’s done well.
From Beyoncé’s stage suits to Angelina Jolie’s red-carpet tuxedo, the trouser suit can be chic, sexy and incredibly professional and comes in many forms.
Classic black will always be in style, but this season, colour is key and there are lots of colourful suits available, perfect for stylish office wear.
From high-waisted or cropped trousers to an oversized blazer, it’s important to find the perfect style and shape suit to flatter your figure, making you feel fabulous and comfortable at the same time.
Styling your suit for office wear means choosing the best possible shapes and fit for your figure, as well as accessories with the perfect under-top, handbag and shoes.
Here, we take a look through these aspects to discover how best to style a suit, which suits you should be picking for your professional wardrobe and how to accessorize.
What Suit Style and Color Should I Wear?
Suits are all about the fit.
Whether it’s flawlessly tailored to your exact figure or oversized in a fashion-forward, purposeful manner, everything needs to look planned and chic.
A badly fitting suit will not only make you feel inferior to the women around you dressed to kill, which will reduce your confidence, but also it takes away from your professional aptitude and talent within the office.
There are many styles of suits you can wear and you need to consider your figure when selecting which shapes are best for you.
Hourglass Body Types
This is a classic shape, wherein the bust and hips are roughly in equal measure and the waist is relatively smaller.
This shape looks great with suits that accentuate the figure, so high-waisted trousers with blazer jackets that have coordinating waist belts look fantastic.
Suits that come with wrap-style jackets also look perfect on this figure.
Straight Body Types
With this shape, there is less of a waist, and bust, waist and hips are all roughly aligned.
It’s best not to pointedly emphasize the lack of waist for this shape, so suits with longer-line blazers, worn open look great here.
This body type suits high and low-rise trousers, so it’s all about finding the perfect jacket.
Apple Body Types
Apple shapes have broader shoulder and bust with less of an obvious waist, but with smaller hips.
Here, choose blazer jackets that cut at the hips to finish at your most flattering point or even choose longer-line duster jackets.
Avoid double-breasted jackets, which tend to make you look bustier.
Statement lapels draw the attention away from the shoulders and to a V shape at the front, which is particularly flattering for an apple shape.
Pear Body Types
Pear shapes have relatively small shoulders and bust, often with a smaller waist, but with wider hips and derriere.
This figure suits a cropped jacket.
Find suits with boxy, shorter blazer jackets and team them with high-waisted, wide-leg suit trousers.
Which Color Should I Pick for My Power Suit?
Black
Black will always be a strong and popular choice for a suit.
It suits all skin tones and, by its nature, is professional and formal enough to fit seamlessly into any work environment.
Wearing a black suit will mean that you need to consider your accessories and top or shirt carefully to make sure that your look stays high-end and chic, instead of dowdy and plain.
Red
Moving in the opposite direction to black, post box red is a daring colour that is sure to make you centre of attention at your next board meeting.
This colour suits all skin tones also and exudes confidence and power.
However, your individual offices and businesses will dictate if this would be an appropriate office wear choice, no matter how stylish.
Pastels
Pastels are extremely hot in terms of trends right now.
From pastel blue and pink to lavender and soft grey, there is a huge spectrum of shades to choose from.
Pastel colours work brilliantly for office wear, as long as the suit is of the highest quality.
You want to choose a suit made from luxurious and thick fabrics and ensure it’s always ironed or steamed to perfection for a polished overall look.
Jewel Tones
Deeper colours, such as deep blue and burgundy can work very well for power suit dressing.
They can be seen as more formal that a brighter hue but are still a great alternative to black and just as stylish.
Which Accessories Style Best with A Suit?
All About the Bag
A good bag is incredibly important to compliment to the look of your suit.
Choose a structured bag to balance the structure of the suit. Say good bye to anything slouchy, overly complicated and a backpack is a no-no.
From a classic, a top-handle tote bag to a sleek and streamlined envelope clutch, the bag of your choice, to style with a suit, needs to exude chic style and power.
Opt for minimal, straight lines, clean leather fabrication and as little zip and compartment details as possible.
Balance with Shoes
When it comes to styling accessories with suits, pointed-toe pump heels work the best.
This is arguably the most popular suit and shoe pairing and the reason is, whether it’s wide-leg palazzo style trousers or a cropped cigarette pant, a minimal pointed pump will always work.
If heels aren’t your thing, not to worry.
A great way to put a professional spin on a funky suit for work is to pair with trendy brogues.
These lace-up classics add some bulk to your feet which can balance out a blazer and, let’s be honest, keep you comfortable all-day long.
How to Style Suit and Accessories to Look Professional
Team with a T-Shirt
A suit doesn’t have to be styled with a classic shirt or even a feminine blouse.
For a contemporary take on the look, why not style yours with a simple, white tee, neatly tucked into your trousers.
This look keeps your neckline high and professional and is understated with a stylishly edgy twist.
Make a Statement
If you’re going to rock a power suit at the office, why not make a real statement?
Style your suit with exact match accessories for a block, all-in-one colour look.
This works especially well when working with any suit that’s not entirely black.
Colour blocking is a huge fashion staple and pairing a sharp handbag and heels with a coloured suit looks incredibly polished and well thought-out, making you look and feel extra professional.
Go Sheer
Sheer tops and blouses look perfect with a head to toe suit look.
However, you might think a sheer top is a no-go for the professional environment.
There is a quick fix for this and that is layering.
Find a perfect sheer pussy-bow blouse and simply add a spaghetti strapped camisole underneath and it’s perfect for formal office wear.
This look gives a small illusion of skin without actually revealing anything at all and looks chic and stylish under a blazer.
Where Is Best to Buy Suits and Accessories?
Department Stores
A great place to shop for suits and accessories is department stores because of the wide range of options you’ll have to choose from and the ability to mix and match between brands.
Here, you can try both high-end and high street labels to ascertain the difference and it will help you to consider if it is indeed worth investing a little more into quality and opting for a slightly higher price point.
Go Designer
This will depend entirely on your budget and how you like to spend your disposable income.
Unless, of course, you’re lucky enough to have a work clothing allowance with your company.
Choosing designer pieces can make all the difference when it comes to good tailoring.
Particularly if you want you to invest in a dark suit, that will last season after season, this could be the perfect answer.
You should also remember that you can mix and match the blazer and trousers and even wear the blazer casually with jeans off-duty.
If designer style is your vibe, why not look to shop your new work suit in the sale?
Here, you can bag a fantastic price on a discounted designer suit and feel the benefits of higher quality fabric and design.
Styling a suit can be simple if you start off with the right shape.
Finding the perfect suit for your office wear is the real challenge and then you can have fun styling it with different accessories.
The suit is also a perfect way to dress for desk to dinner occasions, so why not follow in Beyoncé’s footsteps and work a power suit at the office, this season.