Workkit series Part 1: A little nicer than business casual

Story time: One time I joined a coworker for a meeting at one of our client’s offices. They’re a large software company. When I asked what I should wear she said “Something a little nicer than business casual.” In my mind at the time, the tiers of workwear went: Casual, Business Casual, Formal. So “nicer than business casual” (to me) = suit. But that didn’t sound right either. I knew I would be way overdressed if I showed up wearing a suit. So I just stuck to my go-to business casual outfit (black slacks and a sweater). And when I showed up to the meeting, I didn’t look inappropriately dressed, but I also didn’t feel like I’d nailed it.

Moral of the story, if I’d worn something more like the above outfit, I would have hit the nail on the head. I actually did wear this exact outfit to a conference in Vegas a couple weeks ago and got lots of compliments on the skirt (thanks to Caroline for letting me buy it off her!). A tip for wearing skirts for business: Make sure they’re not too tight or too short. A couple inches above the knee is about as high as you’d want to go. Tight and short says: I wanna sex you up. Longer and less clingy says: I’m a young professional. Yes, you can take me seriously.