Happy Monday, ladies! I’m coming at you ridiculously sick with the world’s worst head cold today so we’ll keep this post a bit short. Today we’re talking about taking your winter knits from Cubicle to Cocktail. This series is all about sharing fun ways to make your office outfits quickly and easily transition to date night or girl’s night.
MICHAEL KORS SWEATER // SIMILAR DRESS // SIMILAR WATCH // JESSICA SIMPSON PUMPS // SIMILAR BLACK BAG // TARGET SILVER BAG // GLITZ BOUTIQUE BELT (SIMILAR) // SIMILAR NECKLACE
PICK YOUR PARTY DRESS
In this Cubicle to Cocktail look, the base layer, or the dress, is the most important part. You want to be selective and make sure you pick a dress that is first, long enough to wear to work. I used to be all about the mini, but I’ve been appreciating the versatility that more coverage allows in recent years. This dress is a perfect example because it hits at just above the knee. You also want to pick something that’s not to clingy, because even layered, that can come off as inappropriate for the office.
Finally, you want to make sure the dress will lend itself to layering. Some dresses just don’t play well under sweaters, so once you’ve picked out a few of your favorite length-appropriate dresses, try on each one with a few sweaters. In the next section, I’ll talk about what to look for in a winter knit!
PICK YOUR WINTER KNIT
The second most important choice is your sweater, although you’ll find this step even easier. You’ll find certain sweaters lend themselves to layering much easier than others. A sleeveless cowl neck like the one I’m wearing in this post is a perfect example. The silhouette is totally modern and the cowl detail hides whatever may be going on underneath with my cocktail dress. Obviously if your evening dress has sleeves, you’ll need to make adjustments but these are the kinds of details you think about in the dress choosing portion.
I also opt for sweaters that nip in a bit at the waist to give me shape despite the layers underneath. I recommend trying a few dresses you think would work with several different sweaters. You may find more than one combination that works, which you could note down for future reference. And don’t give up on a dress or sweater if it doesn’t work the first time, that particular combination may not play well together, but it doesn’t mean it wont with another partner.
FINALIZE YOUR ACCESSORIES
For this transition, I chose to switch bags. This Target bag is small enough to fit inside a larger handbag (which I talk more about in this post). Or you can keep the two entirely separate if that works better for you. Make sure you keep the changes down to two or three different things. The point is to be able to easily transition. This necklace hides perfectly under the cowl neck so it saved me a step to hide it under instead of adding it after. After that, all that was necessary was a simple switch of lipstick. Just a few subtle changes and this look is ready to paint the town red.
What do you think about this transitional look? How do you take on a night out after work?
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