WARM WEATHER WORKWEAR
Your sartorial guide to office dressing in the heat...
FOR obvious reasons, dressing for the heat does not come naturally in Ireland. Summer can be here one day and gone the next (if it even lasts that long), and we tend to spend much of this season second guessing what to invest in.
And yet it’s so important to nail dressing for the heat, especially when it comes to work-wear.
The foundations of an office wardrobe are simple, but nothing requires more thought or tweaking than a workwear edit when it’s sunny. It doesn’t help that as soon as temperatures soar, sartorially we all turn to holiday mode (hello shorts, flip flops and whimsical floaty dresses). But this attire won’t cut it at a board meeting — so how do we navigate an ensemble in the office that’s cool and chic?
Texture and cut are your best friends when it comes to summer workwear. Fine cottons, jersey and linens are the way to go. I have always loved the lightness and ease of a wrap or button-up shirt dress teamed with the versatility of a longer length blazer. It means you can go shorter on your hemline and still look sophisticated.
Look to Marks & Spencer, Whistles, Reiss and Massimo Dutti for chic linen blazers and crisp cotton dresses with structural detailing that are light and breathable but still office appropriate. If you’re comfortable with baring your arms, team a sleeveless top in a lightweight fabric tucked into a skirt or
trousers.
Print — particularly pinstripes — is especially clever in the summer as pattern can easily smarten up an outfit. This can also create the perfect yin and yang effect — think tailored shorts with T-shirts and espadrilles. It’s a combination that can often raise eyebrows (some of my friends wouldn’t dream of it) but believe me, shorts and tees can be worn in the office, so long as the shorts are a Bermuda length and the T-shirt is form-fitting, ideally in a soft, silky material.
Accessories? Keep things sleek; a clear or canvas structured tote bag will pair beautifully here (forget raffia, tassles or crochet for work, tempting as they are at this time of year).