Every now and then even though my wardrobe is crammed full of clothes I often have know idea what to wear.  I mean seriously, I’m not sure how that even happens?

My wardrobe mainly consists of skinny and boot cut jeans, pretty floral dresses, nautical stripes, plain t-shirts and vests, tailoring and simple lines.  Then I like to accessorise with scarves, bags, statement earrings, necklaces or even shoes.

I‘m the kind of girl who likes to just throw something on, but still likes to look like I made an effort. When I know that I have my wardrobe staples in check I know that on a busy morning I can throw an outfit together in minutes without even thinking about it. Now that I’m starting a new job I wanted to freshen up my summer wardrobe with some basic pieces to get me through a working week.  So at the weekend I dragged Alfie around London to see what was in the shops.

First off was shoes…

I knew exactly what I was looking for, a summer shoe, preferably wedges that was also practical for work.  Over the past 6 months I have bought a few pieces from Next, but have never checked out there footwear range and luckily they had exactly what I was looking for. I love these navy wedges and think they are a practical summer shoe for work due to the closed front.  The colour is the perfect shade of navy and will go with jeans, trousers and dresses that I already own. Despite the height of the heel I do find wedges extremely comfortable and these have the added bonus of having the platform built in at the front to help with the comfort factor.

This blazer is from Zara and was quite expensive, not going to lie.  However, I love Zara for their tailoring and I’m willing to invest more money in things like blazers just because they are so versatile and can be worn casually or made formal.

I just love the nautical feel of this blazer with its gold embellished buttons. Also the puffed shoulders are super tand give it a different edge. This jacket also comes in black, but I preferred the navy because it looked less harsh especially for the summer, and I thought the nautical theme was more natural on a navy jacket.  I’m looking forward to experimenting with this jacket with floral tea dresses, shift dresses and jeans.

I also picked up this bright top from Zara too.  The colour just screamed summer and I thought that it would look great with my new blazer, dark skinny jeans and the wedges for a simple smart casual look. It also blends in with a lot of other stuff that I have so it’s the perfect addition to my wardrobe.

Yet another Zara purchase came in the form of this loose fitting white shirt with tiny gold buttons.  The rolled sleeves and grandpa shirt collar automatically give this a casual feel, but I think it can be easily dressed up with some cigarette pants and a blazer.  It will also look great with jeans and ballerina pumps too.

These black cigarette pants were a bargain from H&M at £7.50 in the sale. Buying these was really a no-brainer and they will go with literally anything and will look fab with ballerina pumps or heels.

The dress code for my new job is smart casual and I think these items all fit that brief perfectly and they are interchangeable between each other and existing items in my wardrobe.  I was on the look out for a new floral dress too, not like I need another one but I couldn’t see one that caught my eye. Although there was a cute dress in Massimo Dutti that was just gorgeous, maybe next time! =)

What is your dress code for work?  Do you find it easy to dress for work?

What are your wardrobe staples?