I’ve been meaning to do a post about what I wear when I travel for work. I travel quite often these days (typical twice/month, sometimes three times) so I have gotten good at packing. I nearly exclusively wear dresses because I feel most confident in dresses and they take up less space than pants, a top, and a jacket would. I do not own business suits anymore because I hate how I feel in them!
I should preface this post by saying that I am not super into fashion (for fashionable content, see Lag Liv’s blog! She works with a stylist and has a very large, beautiful wardrobe.) I’m pragmatic about dressing - I want something comfy that won’t wrinkle that looks professional and ‘put together’. So most of these outfits are made of a fabric that does not wrinkle and feels good on my body. I’m also a minimalist when it comes to my wardrobe. I don’t have a capsule wardrobe but my wardrobe is capsule-adjacent.
For this trip, I flew to Charlottte for some client events. I had 2 client dinner reception events and I moderated 2 panels (and also did 32 zooms that week as it was a week that sales was encouraged to book lots of meetings).
Here is what I wore that week with pretty crappy bathroom selfies which is the best I could do.
Night #1: client dinner reception
I flew in, checked into my hotel, and quickly freshened up to meet 2 portfolio managers for a drink/chat before the client event started. I wore a striped dress from Boden. I have this dress in 4 colors (this striped version, black, navy, red). When I find something I like, I tend to buy it in multiple colors. I love that this dress has pockets!
Day #2: moderate panel + lots of zooms
I moderated a panel with the portfolio managers fairly early in the day and then had a day of solid zooms. I wore a dress I bought at a boutique in a suburb of Minneapolis last summer. I loved this dress so much that I ordered 2 more this summer (brand is Gretchen Scott). The fabric is wrinkle-proof which is key for travel. This is my favorite of the 3 dresses - I think it’s the most flattering since the pattern is a darker color. I didn’t have any post-work client commitments so I went out for dinner with one of the portfolio managers that was on the panel (she lives in Chicago, the other PM is Charlotte-based).
Day #3: lots of zooms + another client dinner reception
Today’s dress is the same as yesterday’s, but a different pattern. This dress is my least favorite of the 3 as I don’t wear a lot of pink but I still like the dress.
Day #4: moderate a panel, do lots of zooms, fly home in the afternoon
Finally, the last day of this intense trip. This dress is the same brand as the other 2 but has a different neckline + pockets!I look so tired in this photo because I feel so tired. If I zoomed in more, you’d see circles and bags under my eyes. This trip was intense with all the meetings and client interaction! It was TOO MUCH. I am glad I am unlikely to have a trip like this again. It was the combo of in-person client interactions plus so many zooms that really pushed me over the edge into complete exhaustion.
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And there you have it! These are the kinds of dresses I wear during the warm weather months. Now that it’s getting colder, I shift to wearing dresses + tights. I can wear tights with the last dress but the other 3 dresses will be moved to the ‘summer’ section of my wardrobe and will only be worn if I travel somewhere warm like FL or CA, etc.
What kinds of outfits do you feel best in? How do you dress for work? The outfits above are what I wear when I go to the office, too.
1 comment:
I LOVE Boden dresses. I have one that may or may not be exactly the same as your first picture (if it's not, it's very similar) that I wear all the time. For me, it's perfect because the long sleeves keep me warm in the air conditioning but the light material isn't too hot when I'm outside. I wear dresses quite a bit - especially during the summer - because there are times when I don't want to wear shorts, but I hate sweaty legs so pants are a no, lol.
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