Four Trends for Your Work Wardrobe

Contributed by the editors of Corporette.com

Much of corporate clothing is based on styles that never go out of fashion — the perfect black suit, a strand of beautiful Mikimoto pearls, the soft cashmere twinset — and we do our best to advise our readers to invest in those items. In fact, in a recent poll on our site our readers said they would avoid all of the “trends” that most other fashion sites are advising readers to wear this season. So we’re not going to tell you to wear a slouchy boyfriend blazer over your skin-colored jumpsuit while clomping around in platform heels. But we will tell you about some of the milder trends that are a great way to update your working wardrobe.

smt_s029316wht_fnt.jpgThe shawl cardigan: This look is available in a variety of price points, and is a great way to update your summer wardrobe if, like us, you spend it shivering in an over-air-conditioned office. Our pick: this longsleeve pointed front cardigan from Smitten, with just a hint of an empire waist for a more flattering look. It’s available at CoutureCandy.com for $102 (with sale code 20Day).

br627778_04vliv01.jpgThe boyfriend cardigan: Can you tell we spend a lot of time in air-conditioning? This is another great look that’s on the trendier side, but can easily be adapted to a working wardrobe. This look skims the body, hitting past the hips. We would wear this look with pencil skirts or sheath dresses. Our pick: the ballet sleeve four-button cardigan from Banana Republic, priced at $79. IMAGE LINK:

0465112186361R_300x400.jpgThe North/South tote: The briefcase bag for women will always be in style, but we’ve been seeing more and more North/South totes available on the market. These can be worn over the shoulder (and are different from the “shopper” totes that were more popular a while ago). We’d suggest trying it in a fun color, like this crisp green tote from Tory Burch, available at Saks.com for $535.

9755_788670_p.jpgGray accessories: Gray shoes, gray tights, gray bags — they’re everywhere — and they’re an extremely versatile addition to a wardrobe, whether you dress in neutrals or bold colors. We suggest the Marc by Marc Jacobs Posh Turnlock Hobo, available at Zappos.com for $428.

Today’s guest post is by the editors of Corporette, a fashion and lifestyle blog for women lawyers, bankers, MBAs, consultants, and otherwise overachieving chicks. They work in conservative environments and need to look professional, but want to look fashionable.

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Voice of Experience: Aileen Blake, Executive Vice President and Corporate Controller, Northern Trust

Blake_Aileen_2004_1_.jpgby Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

“A couple of jobs I took along the way weren’t jobs I had my sight set on,” says Aileen Blake, Executive Vice President and Corporate Controller for Northern Trust, “but someone I trusted said they would be good opportunities. At the end of the day, those opportunities opened doors for me.”

For the most part, Blake has followed a direct and proven path. She studied accounting and business in college, took the CPA exam, and became a public accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers. From there she held several jobs at major consumer packaged goods companies including Quaker Oats and Pepsi, did a stint overseas, and got an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

Despite this classic pedigree, Blake tells her junior staff to always keep their considerations broad. “Think about the kinds of experiences you want to get and the kinds of tools you want to add to the tool kit,” she says. She believes that even challenging experiences can support a career trajectory.

“When I went to work in the UK, I was only six years out of college,” she says. “I was thrown into a challenging situation. There were cultural things that I didn’t get.”

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Voice of Experience: Anne Fergusson, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Business / Head of PwC Panel Network

by Elizabeth Harrin (London)

“I’ve had a back to front life,” says Anne Fergusson, a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Business and Head of the PwC Panel Network. She hands me a cup of tea. “Life is full of surprises.”

Anne talks as if she is surprised at the way her career has turned out, but listening to her it is clear that she made good choices, and has actively managed her route to the top at PwC.

She started salaried work at the age of 40, when she separated from her first husband. “I made a decision to earn my own living,” she says. It was a decision taken by necessity: living in the west of Scotland, outside Glasgow, she had three children to support. She had qualified as a chartered accountant when she was younger and took a full-time lectureship at the University of Strathclyde teaching financial and management accounting and tax practice.

She met and married her second husband, who was studying at the time. He read her professional journals, which she admits to ignoring, and pointed out a job he thought she should go for. “I didn’t think I had anywhere else to go, and I enjoyed academia,” she says. However, she rang the Director of Education at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and he invited her to an interview.

“I ended up teaching to demanding audiences and made some great friends,” Anne says. Her work with the Institute saw her working in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Russia, Poland and Romania. “I was responsible for my own material, the hours were long and family life was very restricted.”

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Passions: Documentary Filmmaking

iStock_000004892147XSmall_1_.jpgby Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

In my opinion, the best documentary films are compelling because they allow a glimpse of otherwise inaccessible lives and lifestyles. Think of some well-known documentaries and the stories they tell: the journey of the son of a famous yet enigmatic architect trying to piece together the story of his father’s double life (My Architect); the struggle of quadriplegic young men and their quest for the wheelchair rugby Paralympics gold (Murderball); the differing expectations and, ultimately, life paths of upper and working class Brits over the course of 40+ years (The Up Series); the determination and quirkiness of a group of humans so intent on winning a new 4X4 truck that they ignore basic physical needs and stand for days in the heat hanging onto the vehicle as if for dear life (Hands on a Hard Body).

The truth is that I’ve been collecting subjects and planning out documentary films in my head for years. Maybe other people do this; however, I think it’s particularly odd because I am an energy/international business transactions attorney by training, who, until about a year ago, had no knowledge of how to actually make films.

A documentary filmmaking class at NYU changed that, and earlier this month, some classmates and I embarked on my first attempt to put what I’d learned into practice. The International Documentary Challenge, an international contest in which 130 teams from around the world research, write, film, produce and edit a short documentary in 5 days was my trial by fire.

I know it sounds a bit crazy: my very first documentary and I’m accepting the extra pressure that accompanies the very tight timeline? That said, I found the tight timeline permitted me a certain liberty from my own high expectations. It allowed me to accept that I could not possibly make a “perfect” film. It also forced the team to make quick decisions about everything including subject matter, where to film, and what to include in the film, rather than agonizing over them. And it actually gave me the impetus to do it now rather than allowing me to succumb to inertia, telling myself that I’ll do it some weekend when I can find the time, when I’m less tired, when work quiets down. Here was a built-in deadline – no ifs, ands or buts.

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35 Under 35: Orla Beggs, Principal, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

orla.png by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

An Oxford-educated Northern Irish woman goes to London then New York and becomes a principal at one of the world’s largest professional services firms in less than 11 years. On sabbatical, she goes to South America—did we mention she also speaks Spanish?—to work with underprivileged women and orphaned children. She runs, plays tennis, plays the piano and has a passion for the theatre, Spanish culture and cosmology. She also serves on two committees within her firm, both of which support the work of women within the organization. Overall, it’s an impressive profile.

Ms. Beggs started at PwC as an actuary immediately following her graduation from Oxford University in 1997. “I got an unconditional offer to join Oxford and you don’t really refuse that. I wouldn’t have studied math at any other university. But because the offer came from Oxford, you accept graciously (and then begin to question your entitlement to a place in one of the world’s most prestigious universities).”

As a math major, she wasn’t prepared to go into academia. “Frankly, I wasn’t done with studying. So the actuarial profession appealed to me because it enabled me to work 4 days a week and then have the 5th day off to study for the professional qualifications. So it seemed like quite a nice compromise to take a job with PwC and qualify as an actuary in the process.”

But she quickly realized that actuarial work wasn’t as interesting to her as mergers and acquisitions. “M & A work is varied and provides an opportunity for the actuarial profession to have a big impact owing to the large defined benefit pension plans whose financials implications are oftentimes not understood…[a]nd working for a firm like PwC gives one access to an A-list client base.”

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Voices of Experience: Tina Hallett, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers UK

tina_photo_1_.JPGby Elizabeth Harrin (London)

This afternoon, Tina Hallett is going to the culmination event of one of her coaching sets. Hallett is a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers UK and she knows how to make connections.

Hallett works in PwC’s Change Consulting business, specialising in government departments. She started her career as a chartered accountant, then moved into tax, before joining the People & Change practice.

Now her day job focuses on getting the best out of people, not numbers. She set up Coaching Squared, an initiative that brings together top middle managers from public and private sector organisations and places them in co-coaching partnerships for nine months.

“I met with the Ministry of Justice [formerly the Department of Constitutional Affairs],” Hallett explains. “They were setting up a women’s network.” At the time, Hallett chaired PwCWomen, and the government department wanted to learn how it was done. “Gus O’Donnell, the then Cabinet Secretary, was very keen on cross-private/public sector initiatives.” As the discussion progressed, it became clear that it was in both organisations’ interest to do something together. Twelve women from each organisation met at a half-day event on co-coaching and paired up.

Since then, Coaching Squared has “grown and grown from those early roots,” Hallett says. “There were six organisations involved the first time; now we have about 30 and cover four strands: women, the disabled, minorities and gay and lesbians.”

Partly, the organizations self-select and, in the private sector it’s often word of mouth that leads to the first approach. The actual coaching programme doesn’t take up a lot of time, as the women taking part manage it themselves. “I go to the first event to kick it off, see them again half way through, and at the end, to stay engaged,” she says. The women then take responsibility for their own development and set their own activities. One, for example, work-shadowed a human rights expert in the Ministry of Justice. “It’s a new buddy in a work context,” Hallet says. “Often at work you only meet people from your own organisation.” The Coaching Squared programme allows participants to broaden their horizons in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

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Eating Well While Working

iStock_000005697170XSmall_1_.jpgBy Heather Chapman (New York City)

It’s all too easy to skip eating a proper meal these days; the long hours at our desks, on the phone, or in meetings leave us promising ourselves that tomorrow will be different. We’ll make time to go to the grocery store tonight, get up just a bit earlier to buy something, or will actually take time for lunch. Too often though, that plan gets pushed off until ‘tomorrow’ and we’re left without anything healthy to eat and several more hours ahead of us. It’s a worrying habit – one that can leave you tired, stressed, irritable, and hungry.

The whole cycle becomes worse when you factor in that many people don’t make the time for breakfast either. Not only does breakfast give us the fuel to start a new day, it also helps us maintain our weight. When we skip a meal, our body switches to starvation mode and slows down our metabolism as a means to compensate. Then, when we try and catch up at the next meal, we tend to overeat in an attempt to ingest enough calories to make up for the missing meal. Unfortunately, our bodies don’t work like that and by trying to catch-up we end up making things worse.
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Voices of Experience: Christine Komola, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance for Staples

By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Christine Komola spent a recent Thursday morning at the dentist with her daughter. “But I missed her last appointment,” she says. Komola, Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance for Staples, says you need to be “very, very organized” to manage work/life balance. “I like to be spontaneous” she says, “but I learned I have to be deliberate in what I do. I am very scheduled and I pre-plan. Scheduling was a learned behavior for me.” Komola considers herself to be lucky. She enjoys what she does and who she works with and she counts on her business associates and even her clients to help her manage the demands of work and life. In fact, she credits flexible bosses and a strong team with her ability to navigate the demands of work and life. “The world is so virtual, it’s unbelievable,” she says referring to the non-stop demands of working for an international organization. “The computer, the Blackberry and the cell phone are always on.”

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Top Women to Follow on Twitter

iStock_000006561903XSmall_1_.jpgby Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Do you tweet? Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you to ‘tweet’ anything – as long as it fits within 140 characters, which is the length of a standard text message. That is what has made it so popular, as you can send and receive messages by phone, or if you prefer via instant messaging or a website. People use it to update their friends with how they are and what they are doing. On the receiving end, you can choose people to receive updates from – your family, celebrities or interesting commentators.

Curious? Once you have a Twitter account you can both update your own status and receive updates from other people whom you have chosen to ‘follow’. Yes, Twitter comes with a whole new language. Since logging on for the first time recently I have learnt about following, tweeting and retweeting, hashtags, @ responses, direct messages. There isn’t space here to explain how to use Twitter to its full advantage, but there are plenty of websites dedicated to just that.

There is a lot of noise on Twitter. People send updates about their last cup of coffee, and British comedian and presenter Stephen Fry made headlines recently when he tweeted about being stuck in a lift. The information comes to you in real time format, but that doesn’t make it interesting. So how do you know who to follow? The best advice is to choose people who interest you and whom you have come across from another source. Bloggers, for example, may blog once or twice a week (like me) but tweet on a daily basis. Using Twitter you will get instant notification of new blog posts but also useful, short titbits more regularly: things that aren’t shared on the blog. I have wasted many an evening reading the profiles of the people being followed by someone I am following. If you follow my meaning.

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Voice of Experience: Kim Harris Jones, Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller Auditor, Chrysler Corporation

KimHarrisJones._copy_1_.jpgby Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

The “Motor City” as it’s affectionately called, is home to Motown, the American automobile industry, and to Kim Harris Jones, the first African-American female Vice President in Chrysler history. “I was born and raised in Detroit and when you’re born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, it’s not hard to be brought into the auto industry. My father retired from General Motors as an assembly line worker, my sister worked at Ford, and I’ve had many other family members who worked in the auto industry, so it wasn’t a big leap,” Jones said.

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