Does your wardrobe reflect who you are as an individual or as a professional? That is somewhat of a trick question, because ideally your wardrobe should reflect both. And believe me, it is more difficult than it sounds.

Each office has a different dress code, which is easy to work with once you have the items in your wardrobe to fit the guidelines. However, fit and tailoring and style aside, what does your work wardrobe say about you? Is it a set of clothing that you look upon similarly to those that you would wear to a private school – you wear them to work and wouldn’t dream of touching them on the weekend? Or do you practically take the weekend into the office?

One thing I would never suggest is to sacrifice your personal style to fit into your office dress code. Your work is part of your life, and you want it to be fulfilling and as productive as the effort you put into it – why wouldn’t you at least want to feel like yourself during this process? If someone would see your headshot and ask, “Is that you?”, that’s not a good sign. In the era of Facebook and Twitter, you need to appear accessible to all audiences of those who you’ve surrounded yourself with. And that means, start with your own style and then work your work wardrobe around it, not vice versa. That way you will be recognizable to all you know from friend to colleague to client – it also shows everyone that you are not hiding behind different looks, which would cause them to wonder if they were dealing with the real “you” and if you can be trusted. If you don’t differ too greatly stylistically from venue to venue, then who’s to question that you aren’t being sincere to everyone you come across?

Let’s start with the basics. Ask yourself what your favorite clothing item is. Is it the pair of knee-high boots, the chunky necklace, or the wrap dress? Whatever clothing category that item falls into, make sure work on that category for your work clothing. So if you adore your knee-high boots but all you own for work shoes is the same worn-down pumps that you’ve had for three years, get some new work shoes. You will no doubt have much more of a spring in your step even through those tedious trade shows.

If you love the chunky necklace but you don’t have one that quite works with your blazer or blouse, find jewelry that makes a statement with your work clothing without being too gaudy. Find a great pendant, a vintage brooch or a statement ring or metallic bracelet that will bring just enough bling into your working look. If the wrap dress is your go-to piece, then you are in luck as most offices believe that the wrap dress is very office-friendly! Just make sure it is at least knee-length, and I would suggest wearing a slip or a tank under it as most wrap dresses have quite a low-cut neckline.

The clothing that we love often makes us feel beautiful and confident – why take that away during the work day, which is usually when we need beauty and confidence most? It can be the simple addition of a favorite bracelet or the addition of a belted cardigan. You needn’t buy a whole new outfit. Whatever you need to do to add some of your personal style into your professional wardrobe, do it!

By, Nicole Crimaldi

In preparation for my spending boycott in the month of October, I summoned the absolutely fabulous Whitney Middleton of fauxshionable.com to come throw a party in my closet. I started a new job at the beginning of October, so the temptation was strong to go out and spend money on new work clothes.

Thanks to Whitney, I don’t plan on spending a dime. Whitney came over and pulled out pieces and put things together that I wouldn’t have thought of before. She has a serious talent for rehabbing a girl’s closet (ok, and spending addiction).

If you’re participating in the “Don’t Go Over in October” challenge and starting to feel the urge to shop, consider summoning Whitney or another friend to shop your closet instead! I was quite impressed!

Check out the looks she created for me at fauxshionable.com.

When checking in with my favorite blogs this morning on google reader, I came across this fun article called Personalities Decoded: Summer Dress Edition on the popular women’s blog BizzyWomen.com. 

I liked the post because it made me think of my closest girlfriends and how each of us has such a defined style when we go out.

I also liked the post because I have a huge crush on one of the dresses.  According to the article this dress is made for “The Fun One” aka as x-sorority girl and party planner extraordinaire.  Although I don’t necesarily think that represents my personality, I’d love to find a cheaper version of this dress somewhere!  This dress is by Marchesa and is $750- ouch!

Any one have any ideas?

After having forged a decade-long career as a successful financial analyst, Kathryn McKechnie traded in her spreadsheets for fashion spreads in 2008, when she launched Crescendo Apparel, her line of pants, skirts and wraps for pear-shaped women. As far back as she can remember–and certainly while she was analyzing data for the likes of Andersen Consulting and LaSalle Bank–McKechnie was a fashion junkie, the kind of style enthusiast who dog-eared her copies of Vogue Italia and anticipated with relish every new season.

There was, however, a rub: Most clothing lines failed to accommodate her curvy figure, while the labels that did failed to meet her sense of contemporary style. For most of her adult life, she paid to tailor clothes that were too big for her waist because there was no other option. And even then the fits weren’t great. Over the years, McKechnie realized she was far from alone. “There were so many women like me out there, struggling with the same dressing-room issues.”

With a mind for research, McKechnie undertook to investigate the fashion industry further. She found that the most fashionable, contemporary design houses focus on clothing for what the industry’s come to call “the ideal figure.” They work with straighter, smaller and less forgiving cuts than required to fit a pear-shaped figure. Lacking options, scores of women who aren’t plus-sized nevertheless shop from the plus-sized rack–often the most style-starved in the shop–heading straight to the tailor thereafter.

“I couldn’t help but wonder,” says McKechnie: “‘Ideal’ according to whom?” When she dug into the industry statistics, she learned that 64% of women are pear shaped, while 4% fit the description of the ideal figure. “I’ve always been a math person,” says McKechnie, who graduated with high honors in finance from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “but you wouldn’t need to pass so much as an algebra class to understand the implications of these numbers.” At the expense of its own bottom line, in other words, the multi-billion dollar fashion industry was ignoring the needs of a solid majority of women.

“That was the inspiration I needed,” she says. “I realized that my business and financial acumen put me in the perfect position to create an offering for curvy women, a market segment whose fashion and fit needs had been ignored for far too long.”

Featured in Today’s Chicago Woman magazine as a model for any woman who dreams of changing careers in pursuit of her passions, McKechnie went on to earn a second degree in Fashion Marketing and Management at the Illinois Institute of Art in September 2007. “We’ve fused the fashion-forward sense of contemporary design with measurements to accommodate women with pear-shaped figures,” says McKechnie. “At Crescendo, we’re making curvy the new ideal.”

Does this line of clothing sound like something made for YOU? Crescendo is now looking for Fit Models in Chicago!

Focus Group and Fit Party- Refining the Brand and Cut

-Would you describe yourself as curvy – particularly below the waist?

-Are you currently at your ideal weight or within 10 pounds of a healthy weight?

-Do you have difficulty finding clothing that fits YOUR body well – particularly the gap between the waist and the hips/buttocks?

-Are you dying to wear the latest trends but can not find them in a fit for your body type?

-If you or someone you know answered yes to all of these questions, we are interested in your/her thoughts and will pay you for your time.

Event Info: Thursday, May 28, 2009 6:30 to 8pm, or 7:30pm to 9pm

RSVP: Contact kmckechnie@onshore.net and reference this Ms. Career Girl post.   Include your name, daytime phone, and email.

Crescendo Apparel LLC is a women’s clothing line for pear shaped women that provides fabulously fitting separates to take a woman from brunch with girl friends to a night on a the town. Crescendo is launching for Fall 2009 and will offer pants, skirts, and wraps through home parties and trunk shows beginning July 2009.

As featured on womenco.com!

Girls: Tell me the truth. What do you do Friday after work when you know you have a jam packed weekend ahead? What do you do after a recent breakup or terrible week? I hope you have a better answer than I do, because I go shopping (and occasionally dye my hair too, but that’s another story).

Anyways, yes-I go shopping. The girl who writes about putting money into your 401(k), building an emergency fund, buying a home and paying off your credit card debt.

There’s just something about a quick $20 fix that holds me over and distracts me from reality. I don’t feel guilty at the moment because of course I justify that a $20 top is way cheaper than buying one from a nicer store which could cost almost $100. For $100 bucks I could buy 5 new things AND new earrings from a store like Forever 21! Right?

Well, last night I started cleaning out my clothes in preparation for my upcoming move. As I went through my stuff, I realized that I hate half of my clothes and could care less if I ever see them again. Where are all these clothes I hate from?  Cheap stores that shall remain nameless.

They have not held up to my washing machine, the colors fade, the stitching comes out, and after a few months they look dated and cheap. Dare I use the term “disposable clothing” in a time of economic despair?

Then I think about the skirt suit I am wearing today. It is from White House Black Market and I’ve had it for well over a year and I wear it all the time. It has great thick woven fabric that makes it look like a Chanel suit, a skinny white belt and a great fitting jacket. Every time I wear it, it feels like a new suit and I feel great. I wouldn’t even THINK about throwing it away or replacing it.

So now my brain is curious. What is cheaper: buying a $300 outfit and wearing it for 2 years, or buying a $60 outfit and wearing it 3 times?

Let’s say I wear my WHBM suit an average of 3 times per month over the period of 2 years. That is 72 wears. The cost per use of this fabulous suit is $300/72= $4.17.

Now let’s look at the cheap outfit. Let’s say you wear a $20 top, with a $30 cropped jacket over it and $10 worth of cheap jewelry (which will undoubtedly break or change colors immediately). Let’s say I wear the outfit a total of 3 times before it breaks/fades/goes out of style. $60/3=$20 per use. Fine, maybe I’m being a snob. Even if you wear it 4 times, the cost is still $15 per use, which is still more than triple that of my $300 outfit. Plus we should add the “cost” of feeling like the outfit is lame by the 3rd time you wear it.

So, I guess the financially savvy conclusion is to choose quality over quantity when buying clothes. Which means next time I’m having a bad week or want to look fabulous for a night out I will need to find a new “quick fix” other than shopping to satisfy my need for something different.