Winter Work Wear: My Favorite Outfit Staples

Winter workwear | ourguidetotheeveryday.com

Dressing for the office can be a challenge. Sometimes I envy men for the simplicity of their workwear: collared shirt, trousers and nice shoes. Done. I’ve often thought of wearing the same thing to work, which would be totally fine, but I don’t find collared shirts very comfortable and I hate ironing. In the end, I’m happy that there are other things I can wear to work that are comfortable and still look professional.

Following-up on our last post about dressing professionally in cold weather, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite things to wear at the office in the winter.

Of course, if you see the outfits below you’ll see that I don’t work in a completely casual environment but nor does anyone in my office wear a suit, we’re a business casual kind of place which I think a lot of offices are nowadays.

Winter Work Outfit Staples:

1. Ankle boots:

As Laura mentioned in our last post on winter workwear, if you live in a snowy place you’ll need serious boots for wearing outside and another pair of shoes to change into when you get to the office. I leave a pair of black ankle boots under my desk. I like ankle boots over loafers, oxfords or ballet flats because I don’t need to think about my socks. If your office is on the warmer side in the winter maybe a low-cut shoe will work for you, but I like that I can wear a plain cotton or wool sock with my boots while I’m in the office for a bit more warmth. I really like Clarks shoes and wear a pair similar to these ones.

2. Structured cardigan:

It’s been really hard to find an example of this, which I realize is very unhelpful. But I’ll try to update again later if I find a good well-made one (I think the ones below are both polyester which would be pretty uncomfortable). Anyway, I find a cardigan that had a bit of shape and body to it is great to have in the office to throw over any outfit. I have one from H&M I bought a few years back that’s a heavier-weight knit and has a bit of a peplum to it, it almost looks like a blazer, but is infinitely more comfortable.

3. Turtlenecks

I know a lot of people hate turtlenecks. But hear me out, I think they are an excellent staple for office wear. I like to think of them as a replacement for a collared shirt. There’s no ironing involved, they’re comfy and stretchy, they even replace the need for a scarf! I think they give a nice polished look and they’re making a bit of a comeback so there are lots of options available in stores. My favourite is a short sleeved mock turtleneck. I realize that sentence is pretty much an oxymoron, but there you have it.  The short sleeves mean I can take off my cardigan and cool down if I’m in an overheated office, and the shorter mock neck means I never feel like I’m being strangled. I liked the look of the one I found on Amazon (see pic below), but I’ve had really good luck at the Gap with these and their quality is usually good too.

4. Slim trousers

I probably don’t need to say much about this. Who doesn’t wear a plain pair of trousers to work? I like narrower ankle-length trousers (I’ve already written too much about that), because they work whether I wear boots with a bit of a heel or ballet flats when the weather warms up. If I could only visit a store and try them on, I’d love to buy this Everlane pair or this one (the model is even wearing a turtleneck).

5. Comfortable dress

I never wore dresses to work in the winter until I found one like the one pictured below. What works about this dress for me is that it’s stretchy (and therefore comfortable) and roomy (so I don’t have to deal with my dress sticking to my tights). I wear it with opaque tights or leggings (that’s where having slightly taller ankle boots come in handy – disguises the bottom of your leggings!).

product photo

This may sound crazy, but has anyone worn a dickie since they were in elementary school? I’m kind of thinking they’d be a great solution to my hatred of collared shirts.

I hope this is helpful to anyone thinking about what to wear to work in the New Year. I’d love to hear if you have any other winter work wardrobe recommendations.

winter workwear essentials | ourguidetotheeveryday.com

One Reply to “Winter Work Wear: My Favorite Outfit Staples”

  1. […] check out Christina’s recommendations on what to wear in the office in the […]

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