On Thursday afternoon I was asked to attend a business lunch taking place on Friday afternoon. Eek! After determining that yes, there would be tiramisu for dessert (I have my priorities) I instantly panicked about what to wear.
My usual uniform is too casual for an event like this, and I couldn’t remember what business-appropriate outfit I’d worn when I’d last seen these people. So, off to the stores I went.
During my shopping excursion, I was reminded first hand of how hard it is to find fashionable, work-appropriate wear these days. I tried on some great day dresses, but they were all too short to be OK for this sort of meeting.
great Milly dress, but too short for my event
I next went for slim-legged work pants, but none existed (ugh!)
great classic pants, but not trendy
Finally, I found an absolutely gorgeous high-waisted, knee-length black pencil skirt, which I needed to fill a huge, gaping, pencil-skirt-shaped hole in my wardrobe anyway.
back-pleated pencil skirt via forever21.com
All this shopping and the many failures made me sympathetic to those women who must dress professionally every day, and struggle to find trendy options.
I learned from my own experience that it’s best to pick one anchor item, and let it make your statement. For example, while I would have liked to wear my perfectly modern pencil skirt with ankle boots and a big bow headband, instead I paired it with sleek pumps and a mod jacket. I still looked, and more importantly felt, on trend; but in order to blend in with my conservative peers, I kept the silhouette simple.
And the bonus was, the tiramisu was amazing 
