So this is the in look?
Posted on 09/13/2004 12:09:05 PM PDT by Lorianne
Tuck away those sexy tops. Cover up the belly. Dismiss the short skirts to a dark corner of the closet.The new business fashion for women says goodbye to bare sexiness and say hello to flirty femininity.
``You can't find a suit with a miniskirt anymore,'' said Erin Bianchi, public relations manager at Bloomingdale's at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif. ``I think women have realized that they are prettier when they don't show so much skin.''
After years of outfits oozing sex, it seems people have overdosed on bare bellies, barely-there tops and cleavages so wide and deep, double-sided tape is required to keep the R-rated look from turning soft-porn.
Vogue had a cover story titled ``Naughty vs. Nice. Why showing skin is no longer in,'' where fashion icons discuss the new, more covered professional fashion trend.
Even bare-skin poster child Donatella Versace -- who sent shock waves through the entertainment world when Jennifer Lopez wore her green dress held together by only a clip below the navel -- has a fall collection with humbler suits.
Instead of clothes that scream sex, the new business fashion for fall whispers sensuality. Jackets with nipped-in waists emphasize the female shape. Little puffs on the shoulders add playfulness. Pencil skirts cover the knee but hug the body to hint about what's underneath. Slacks are fitted but flow out over the leg, to distinguish a woman's pant from a man's.
``The nipped-in waist is an outgrowth of a young person going to work and not wanting to look oversized,'' said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association.
Women can now wear dresses to work too, something Metchek hasn't seen in years. They come with polka dots, or other playful patterns.
``Women know they can make it in the workplace now,'' Bianchi said. ``Everything is very feminine. We've moved away from dressing like men.''
The dresses, or skirts, or pants for that matter, can all be worn with one of fall's most forceful fashion comebacks: the cardigan. Cover two fashion bases by buying cashmere cardigans.
Try to find cardigans that pick up on the explosion of new colors this season. Seafoam green, pink, yellow, the list goes on and on.
Colors are creeping into even the most conservative business wear. Pinstriped suits now have pink or red stripes, said Diana Jennings, a wardrobe consultant in Coto de Caza, Calif.
``It's a classic but updated look,'' Jennings said.
A lot of mixing and matching is going on with that classic suit. The jacket can be worn with a separate skirt. The pants can be worn without a jacket, and with -- gasp! -- a bow blouse. Yes. The bow blouse of the 1980s is back. Its flowy lines and buttoned-up style is exactly right for the times.
Slap a big brooch on the blouse (or on the cardigan) and the outfit is complete.
No, wait. No outfit is complete without shoes.
Heels are a must with the feminine styles of the season, Bianchi said. One option is a round-toed shoe.
``They have to be feminine shoes,'' she said. ``No loafers or chunky heels.''
Some of those new shoes have fur accents. Fur is in again. Faux as well as real. It can be a full coat -- sometimes colored in a bright appley green or cherry red -- or details, such as a stole, a collar or cuffs.
After almost 20 years in the business world, Marla McCutcheon, 40, has seen it all. In 1986, when she started working at a law firm, women wore long skirts and suits. They had some femininity, McCutcheon said, but mostly mimicked men's' suits. Then the pendulum swung to the other extreme. Lacy underwear-like blouses peaked up from cleavages. Skirts resided high above the knee. Then the business casual business wear hit when anything seemed to go. Now fashion is more sexually toned down, yet celebrates femininity.
``I think this is probably the best-case scenario,'' McCutcheon said. ``The pencil skirt makes more sense. You can't bend over in a miniskirt.''
Slacks are ``completely acceptable,'' for women to wear now, McCutcheon said. Today's styles give women pants that are comfortable, practical and yet feminine.
McCutcheon herself often wears slacks with a top or a jacket. She now is a principal of Echo Media, a public relations firm in Tustin, Calif. While her own office is a creative environment with more tolerance for choices of clothing, some of her clients are law firms, where the dress code is usually stricter. It's important, McCutcheon said, to be sensitive to the dress atmosphere of customers.
While a sleeveless shirt could be acceptable at McCutcheon's own office, it would be inappropriate to wear it without a jacket on visits to a client's law firm.
``Women need to think about how they portray themselves,'' McCutcheon said. ``You don't want the attention to be on your clothing, you want it to be on your work.''
How women dress can be function of how long they have been working. Some older women tend to get more conservative as they work their way up the career ladder
So this is the in look?
Interviewed for secretaries once and a woman dressed in such a hitlary style pants suit showed up. (this was pre-sen .hitlary pants suit) I did not want to hire her from the first few seconds. Secretaries are the first line of first impression. Her persnality matched the drab of the pants suit.
ping
They usually show it on Thursday/Saturaday nights here..
"Mom I'd Like to @#$%"
If a woman who worked for me showed up at work with her belly bare, her cleavage hanging out and a skirt too short to cover her ass when she bent over, I'd send her home without pay, and if she did it a second time I'd flat out fire her.
Sorry ladies, I don't care how "hot" a body you have, or think you have, that's unacceptable and I won't tolerate it. You want oggled, go to a night club.
This might be appropriate for you!
I'm not even going to look at where you're from before I hit post, but I'm betting the farm you're from the East. Far, far, far away from the South and Southwest where women in tight fitting jeans are even immortalized in song.
I'm psychic! You're from New York! Can I read Eastern Sensitivities or what?
Hey I appreciate what you're saying, but you come here and try to deal with this! hahaahaha... the only girls wearing skirts or dresses are either skanks with hooker-wear or are conservatively dressed but have already been snatched up by somebody with half a brain.
If I was in the south, tight jeans might be pretty good, because I know normal girls still wear skirts and dresses down there. Well, not in NY!
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Gen-Reagan/Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
Oh ....
When will Target and other department stores realize this and change their inventory for grade school students?
Remember the JC Pennys' commercial where the mother sees her daughter in low rise jeans, gives them a look, and then helps to LOWER the waistband???
Sheesh. Hillary can't even cross her legs like a lady.
I'm with you. I haven't seen much of this type of wardrobe material in my professional environment either.
Unfortunately I have to wear pants at work for safety reasons. I like pretty skirts occasionally, but am more comfortable in dress pants.
We have a woman my age (23) here at work who dresses very sluttishly - sleeveless short shirts, very tight clothes overall, and always has her thong showing over her ultra low-rise pants. It's atrocious - she's got a great figure but just doesn't realize that some clothes aren't appropriate for work. The sad thing is that she's married and her husband encourages her to dress in a provocative manner at the office. My fiance has no idea how any man would want his wife leaving the house looking like a tramp!
Barf
"But not a real green dress, that's cruel"
BWWAAAAHHHAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAA! You're hilarious!! :-) Now I can't get that song out of my head!
Amen, sister!!! (from a thirty something chica!) I will bare arms whenever I feel like it!! ;-)
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