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Fashion /
Dressing for the Office: The Shirts, Knits and Dresses That Do the Work
A working wardrobe beyond the blazer: the shirts, knits, dresses, skirts, bags and shoes we would buy for the office this season.
By Taiwo AdedayoEvery piece here has been chosen by our editors. We may earn a commission on some products.
Most working weeks are not spent in a suit. They are spent in a shirt, a knit, a dress or a skirt, with a bag that holds a laptop and shoes that manage the stairs. These are the pieces we would build an office wardrobe on this season, from £221 to £1,745, all in stock now.
The shirt 
Co, The Row, Carolina Herrera
Co’s shirt is light pink cotton-poplin with a loose, boxy shape and an oversized chest pocket. £268.
The Row’s Fiora is white cotton poplin with mother-of-pearl buttons, French cuffs and a rounded asymmetric hem, £1,000. Carolina Herrera’s Isabella is a classic blue vertical stripe with buttoned cuffs, £1,199.
The knit 
Le Kasha, Eleventy, Drumohr
Le Kasha’s Bangkok is knitted in France from organic cashmere, with a ribbed rollneck and a slouchy shape. £381.
Eleventy’s brown cashmere crew neck, £396, and Drumohr’s black merino V-neck, £221, both sit neatly under a coat or over a shirt collar.
The dress 
Studio Nicholson and JW Anderson
Studio Nicholson’s Arden is a black midi shirt dress with a crinkled finish, half-length sleeves, side pockets and a detachable belt. £511.
JW Anderson crosses a shirt dress with a wrap front: band collar, long sleeves and a handkerchief hem. £497.
How to build a working wardrobe
Start with colour: choose two or three neutrals and buy every piece to work with the others, so one shirt goes with both skirts. Buy knits a size that fits over a shirt collar. Choose a bag that closes, and check it holds your laptop. And keep one flat shoe and one low heel, for the days that end in a dinner.
Watch: work basics, from zero
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