Casual clothes for a week long corporate event

acorntoast

Hello Ladies of Boards,

I'm having a little conundrum I hope you can help me out with.

I am attending a small, week long, multi-national, multi-corporate event soon which has a dress code of casual, e.g. Jeans/t-shirts.

However, the other people attending this are 5-10 years older and maybe more middle of the road in their clothes - a lot of guys in chinos/north face fleece/gant/tech branded polo shirts - i.e. expensive adventure wear.

The president of my company will also be attending this event - and it's quite a small group of people, so I don't want to look too young. At the same time I don't want to look like the idiot who turned up in their work clothes, or have to buy all new not-me casual clothes.

I am thinking of the following:

Skinny jeans x 3
T-shirts, Blouse, Checkshirt x 6
Cardigans x 2 (cinched with a skinny belt)
Flat oxfords/basketball boots

Should I really take some heels instead of the basketball boots? e.g. Shoe boots?

All of my t-shirts have bands names on them/rockabilly motifs.

What would you drop/keep/do differently?

Thanks everyone!

becah

Hi there,

If I were you, I would drop the branded/band tshirts, checked shirts and basketball boots- while older people may be able to carry them off as smart-casual, I think if you are concerned about looking young, I'd def forget them.

I'd go for skinny jeans/trousers and pair with plain long-sleaved tshirts, Dunnes have some nice ones with slightly exagerated shoulders in white and black.
Or you could go for shirts, Zara and H+M have long shirts that can also be worn with leggings, such as in blue and white stripes etc.
You could wear cardi's over these over with skinny or chunky belts.

For footwear, I'd go for flats, these could be boots or ballet pumps - just not runner style.
Penny's have cute flats in patent leather etc in loads of colours and styles.
Boot-wise, I'd go for either flat knee-high or ankle boots.

To make your look a bit more youthful, I'd accessorise with long beads/lockets, long chunky pearls, detailed hairbands, colourful scarves/pashminas, funky bags, belts etc.

I would keep the majority of items plain and relatively smart, and funk it up with a few accessorises.

For style inspiration, try maybe the daytime looks of Emma Watson, Kate Middelton and Anne Hathaway.

While the dress code is casual, at the end of the day, looking too smart is better than being a little too casual, especially when the head boss is attending!

Good luck!

acorntoast

Thanks Becah - great advice! I think I should drop the basketball boots too. I think the oxfords and some ballet flats are probably the way to go.

Love the accessory suggestions, they'll keep the jeans/t-shirts thing from looking too routine. Don't think i'm going to wear leggings - just have a feeling these wouldn't go down well. A long pale coloured shirt would be really great too, and at least something I would normally wear.

I don't have flat ankle boots and my knee high flat boots have seen better days - do you think heeled shoe boots are off?

phasers

Be careful with accessories, imo they can make you look a bit young as well, esp those long pearl necklaces.

Other than that I think Becah is pretty much spot on!

I think skinny jeans, a nice little cardi or jumper and some pumps is the perfect casual outfit.

How Strange

IMO, keep your clothes quite conservative i.e. long sleeve tshirts and cardigans with jeans and ballet shoes. Jeans and quite plain shirts (Bennetton or Zara are great for these) worn with a jacket (H&M or Zara). For a guide think about how Carla Sarkozy dresses when she's casual. Make sure your jeans cover your ar5e when you bend over as I'm sure you won't want your boss or anyone else there catching an eye full of someone's butt cheeks.

Keep your accessories to a minimum. Of course wear some bangles, bracelets and ear rings but don't wear too much at a time. Maybe bring some belts for cardigans but just make sure they don't look cheap.

Zip up hoodies are fine as long as they are quite plain and not too worn looking.

If you'll be a bit younger than everyone else then you want to appear slightly older which they will (rightly or wrongly) associate with professionalism and maturity. You definitely do not want to turn up with your boss looking too fashionable. This isn't the time or place for that. Keep it very simple and slightly more conservative than you would normally dress.

OldGoat

How Strange is right in that it is still a business thing and you need to keep a touch of professionalism in your appearance. Emphasis on the Smart rather then the Casual.
However I would chuck something a little more frivolouos into the bag on the offchance (and in my experience most likely) that a night out for dinner somewhere will happen.

How Strange

OldGoat wrote: »

However I would chuck something a little more frivolouos into the bag on the offchance (and in my experience most likely) that a night out for dinner somewhere will happen.

Absolutely, any evening socialising is a definitely a time to let your hair down and get rid of your conservative clothes in favour of something more you