Voices

Fashion & Finance: A fashionable face

[IMGCAP(1)]In a recent article I read in the Huffington Post, I learned that “a survey by U.K.-based officebroker.com finds that one-third of bosses believe some of their female co-workers wear too much makeup to work.”

While this may not be the opinion of your own superior, it may not be a bad idea to keep in mind some office-friendly makeup tips from the professionals, to keep your look polished, approachable and in line with your corporate dress code. I’ve compiled a few great tips and suggestions from some key movers and shakers in the beauty biz, and hope they can help create a look that works just right for you. These are also great makeup tips on how to style a workplace appropriate look for an interview!

From Glamour.com:

Leave the beauty experiments with bleaches, self-tanners and the like for the weekend, in case something goes amiss.”

From About.com Women in Business:

Send the right message to others by keeping makeup light and fresh. Heavy makeup under office lighting does not do any woman justice, in fact, if your office has fluorescent lighting any makeup you wear will appear heavier than it would under incandescent lighting.“

From Allure.com:

Check out his awesome video featuring Beauty 101: The Allure Beauty Editor Palette. The easy guide helps you create an office-friendly and soft makeup look with pretty colors including champagne, peach and pink.

From AOL Jobs:

“Wearing shimmer, sparkle, or frost eye shadow. Save this look for office parties and happy hours. At work, use more matte colors in neutral tones.”

Last thing I wanted to mention: I love interacting with other fashionistas in cyberspace! While monitoring some of my favorite fashion Twitter users, I saw Bergdorf Goodman’s handle @Bergdorfs recently describe how some of their employees rock it out at work with fun and fashionable brightly colored patterned tights.

In for winter and the holidays are tights with patterns, polka dots, Missoni-inspired zig zags, and vivid colors like electric pink and turquoise, some of which were recently spotted on the gams of the sassy Bergdorfs PR staff. While this look totally works in the fashion world, where creativity and style are eagerly embraced, it’s not exactly a look that works with the more conservative corporate dress codes of finance and accounting. I tweeted @Bergdorfs and asked for a few style tips for those of us looking to incorporate some of these trends into a more conservative workplace. Here’s what they had to say:

@Bergdorfs @FreedMaxickPR think black patterned tights w spectator heels. give menswear inspiration a noir/femme spin: pencil skirts, blouses, chignon.

Love this advice and plan to use it next week when I pull some outfits together for work (which is a good tip!). If you have some time to spare, pull together a few full outfits, top to bottom, accessories and shoes, and hang or place them together in your closet or dressing area. When you are getting ready in the morning, it saves a bit of time not having to figure out what to wear!

Emily Alexandria Burns is a State University of New York Fashion Institute of Technology graduate and started her career in New York City working for companies including Giorgio Armani Le Collezioni, Christian Dior and Jones Apparel Group. She is now e-marketing communications specialist for Freed Maxick & Battaglia CPAs in Buffalo, N.Y., and recently named the Association for Accounting Marketing's 2011 "Rookie of the Year." Follow her on Twitter @FreedMaxickPR or email her at emily.burns@freedmaxick.com.

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