How to Plan Your Work Outfits for the Week

Before choosing clothes, I look at the locations I’ll be working from. How far will I need to walk? What sort of day am I going to have? Who am I meeting?

Those details make the outfit much easier to choose. A day involving a long walk calls for different shoes from one where I’ll barely be on my feet. A meeting that feels particularly important may make me reach for a favourite jacket.

You can begin with a quick glance at your own week:

The last question is a practical addition for your own planning. The first things I personally think about are the location, the walking and the people I’ll meet.

I refuse to walk a long distance in very high heels. So the shoes come into the decision early, and I adapt the outfit around them.

It is easy to put together a combination that looks lovely on the hanger and forget the journey it needs to make. Think about the whole day: the walk from parking or public transport, the buildings you’ll move between and the time you’ll spend standing.

Use your workplace’s requirements and your own comfort as the starting point. You don’t need a new pair of shoes to make this useful; you need to choose from the ones that work for your day.

I often wear a blazer. I love them, so I hang one up and decide what goes with it: perhaps a dress underneath, perhaps trousers, then the rest of the outfit.

If I’m meeting a senior director, I’ll quite happily choose my loveliest jacket for that day. I enjoy dressing for the occasion and feeling good in what I’m wearing.

Your starting piece might be a favourite knit, a dress or a pair of trousers you always feel comfortable in. Put the main pieces together so you can see the combination. If choosing accessories takes time in the morning, you could add those too; you don’t have to organise every detail for the exercise to help.

I also consider how I’d like to wear my hair. I enjoy a half-up style and find it looks lovely and professional on me. On more relaxed days, I might choose a high ponytail.

That is a personal style preference. It doesn’t mean a particular hairstyle is required to look professional. I simply like considering the whole look, and it is one less decision to make while getting ready.

You may be perfectly happy wearing your hair the same way every day. Keep the parts of preparation that are useful to you.

I prepare less for the days I work from home. Often, the lower half of the outfit is a pair of leggings or joggers with lovely thick woolly socks.

My clothing rail earns its place particularly in the weeks when I’m out of the house a lot. I don’t need to make every home-working day as organised as a day with an early departure.

If your week mixes home and office days, prepare the mornings that tend to feel rushed first. You can leave the easier ones to themselves.

Quite often, I wake up and don’t fancy the outfit I’ve chosen.

I’ll look at what is hanging there for later in the week and swap. Or I’ll open the wardrobe and choose something comfortable, perhaps a lovely jumper and leggings, if that suits the day.

Giving yourself that room matters. The preparation is there to make getting dressed easier. You can use a different option when your mood, plans or the weather changes.

If something repeatedly stays on the rail unworn, notice why. Perhaps it isn’t comfortable for the day you keep assigning it to. Perhaps you simply prefer another combination. That is useful information for the next Sunday evening.