How to Avoid the Casual Look by Dressing up your Casual Clothes

How to Avoid the Casual Look by Dressing up your Casual Clothes

This post is all about how to avoid looking too casual and how to dress up the business casual look without going over the top.  Some basic rules that we will be discussing are as follows:

1. Make sure your clothes fit you and your body type

Coming to work in something to big or too tight is not good for your overall appearance or your job, don't you think? So first and foremost you want to make sure that, no matter what kind of body type you have, your clothes fit you properly. We want to avoid the baggy, soggy, wrinkled look and eliminate the tight spandex look forever! How can we accomplish this? Antonio from his Business Casual website offers us this piece of advice:

The point to understand about proper clothing fit is that your clothing should have a defined shape as it drapes over your body. Even if you’re a bigger [person], you want clothes that don’t billow and sag. It is a common misconception that loose clothing makes a large [person] look better or provides a higher degree of comfort. In fact, the opposite is true. Clothing that is too loose is made to fit a different body type and will restrict movement.

2. Don't be afraid of colours

I see it a lot, and actually do it myself. Black, brown, black, dark blue, black, black and more black. I'm pretty sure it is a myth about black making you slim. So that being said, don't be afraid of colours! According to Cindy Busch and her article How to determine the Colors that are Best for You!, choosing a colour scheme is a tricky matter. Her advice is as follows: 

Your Coloration has a  "Icy Nuance, Intrepid  and distinctive" Winters are intense and rich in their coloring and have the best profile for power dressing because they look great in all the power colors black ,navy,  charcoal.

People with "Winter" coloring are usually brunette's, although natural white-blondes may also be winter's. Winters often have porcelain white or very pale skin, or olive skin (with a yellowish tinge)... the latter often look good in the deepest winter colors. People of color may also be winter.

This is just a small sample of her colour advice, visit her site to determine what colour best suits you HERE

3. The kind of fabric you buy is important 

Antonio has some fantastic advice about fabric types:

Know the basic “feel” of the fabric that you’re looking for. Wool garments can range from the coarse, hairy texture of rough tweed to a very smooth worsted finish or a soft, fluffy flannel. Cotton varies depending on thickness and the cotton used–it can be very thin and flimsy-feeling or quite heavy. Varying the textures of your fabrics can help keep your outfits unique from day to day. And, of course, you’ll want thicker, coarser clothing for winter and very light, smooth fabric for summer clothes.

If you would like to read more about Antonio's advice you can visit his Business Casual site HERE

 4. Jackets aren't just for winter

Some of your casual clothes for work might look a little too casual, so to dress them up you can do a few different things. You can add a sweater vest, a blazer or jacket, a collar or a nice tie. 

5. Accessories can make or break you

Since I'm not an expert on how to accessorize I found this great article on www.eHow.com called How to Accessorize Your Casual Wardrobe. This article gives great advice for us, read it HERE

Do you think dressing up your casual clothes with accessories will make you look more business casual? 

I hope this helps everyone on how to avoid being too casual by dressing it up!!

Thanks for reading! 
Amber