I’ve been getting a bunch of requests for fall work wear, but let’s face it — it’s just not my wheelhouse. Then I started thinking, a bunch of ladies in my JLS Tribe rock the work wear looks, so I asked if anyone would be willing to submit some looks to be featured on the blog, and lo and behold, the submissions started coming in!
So over the past few weeks, I’ve been collecting fall work wear looks from real women and regular readers of my blog, and today I’m sharing them with you! I hope this provides you with some good fall work wear inspiration.
A lot of these looks lean towards summery because so many of us have had warm weather this fall, so if you like this post, I can do it again when it gets colder.
Let’s get started! (And if you like this post, I’d love for you to pin the image below so others can find it!)
Fall Work Wear Inspiration
Heather is a teacher in southern California, and she’s 5’9″. In her words, “I’m a 4th grade teacher and comfort is important.”
Here are a few of the outfits she’s been wearing to work lately. I did my best to link exact items or something similar, but in some cases I just left the description she gave me.
LOFT sleeveless floral top // similar LOFT pants // short-sleeved cardigan (Old Navy) // sandals (Vince Camuto) // Madewell tote
blouse (Böhme) // Mother Looker ankle jeans // Sam Edelman GiGi sandals // black blazer (Nordstrom)
printed cami (LOFT) // white cardigan (LOFT) // navy wide leg linen pants (Caslon) // Tory Burch Miller sandals
“Choose Kindness” tee (Amazon) // AG straight ankle jeans // Superga sneakers // gold and stone drop earrings (Anthropologie)
Karen is local to me, and I actually met her a few weeks ago at the Kendra Scott bar party! She sent me several of her recent outfits as well. Karen is 5′, so she wears petite sizes, and she describes her workplace as a casual office.
Nic + Zoe cardigan // black tank // similar khaki pants // similar nude patent pumps
And this is another variation on that outfit — she swapped out the necklace and the shoes. She said she is welcome to constructive feedback and feels she struggles with proper proportion and fit, but I think she looks very balanced in these looks!
Nic + Zoe cardigan // black tanks // similar khaki pants // similar black pumps
cardigan (Charter Club) // forest green sleeveless moc turtleneck (Topshop) // similar khaki pants // similar snake print pumps
Here’s what Karen said about these next two looks: “I wore the nude Clark sandals but really wanted to wear the grey booties. I wasn’t sure if they looked okay. I am also concerned about trying to look too young… I don’t want to look silly.”
I told her the grey booties look great and make the dress look more modern, although I like it with the nude wedge sandals too. I think they’re more summery, and the booties bring it into fall. What do you think?
similar denim jacket // stripe knit dress (purchased at local craft fair) // Clarks sandals // similar open toe booties
And here’s a couple more she sent me, one with the cardigan and one without:
similar blouse // cardigan (Caslon) // navy pants (Banana Republic) // similar nude patent pumps
Kristie lives in Connecticut, and she also wears petite sizes.
gray boyfriend jacket // orange top (LOFT) // navy pants (LOFT) // Sam Edelman Felicia Flats // earrings (Nickel + Suede)
similar cardigan // floral top (LOFT) // grey pants (LOFT) // Sam Edelman Florence ballet flats / Nickel & Suede gold leaf earrings (size small) // similar necklace
Love the pop of pink in her shoes with this next look!
Sheila is a teacher in the Seattle area, and she’s 5’3″. She says: “I wear a badge on a lanyard and a microphone at work, so necklaces aren’t a choice for me.”
This first look was a fan gear day.
mustard blouse (Walmart) // navy blue skinny pants (Madewell) // scarf (Madewell) // Sam Edelman Rosalie leopard flats
Today was about comfort, she says… she looks awfully good for comfort!
similar Halogen floral blouse (Halogen) // stretchy black pants // Naturalizer Hydie wedges
similar cognac leather jacket // olive green top // black pants // snake print loafers (Marc Fisher)
And this look is probably my favorite of hers. Such a great combination of colors.
stripe top (Walmart) // mustard blazer (thrifted) // charcoal skirt (thrifted) // plum wedges (Impo) //
Laura is 5’7″ and typically wears size 6 or 8. She reports all these items run TTS. I’m loving the leopard shoes with green top — such a striking contrast.
Here’s what she says about these pants: “The best part of these pants is the slash pocket. Hip/Side Slit pockets tend to flare out on me due to my pear shape & hips. That flare only adds to a part of my body that I’m trying to minimize.”
Ann Taylor Essential Shirt (size small) // LOFT Skinny Ankle Pants in Curvy Fit (size 6) // J.Crew Factory Zoe calf hair d’Orsay flats // belt (Ann Taylor) // necklace (Nadri)
Fonda is required to wear professional attire when she is in the office and in court, and in addition to working full-time, she blogs at Southern Savvy Chic.
Here’s what she says about her style: “As an over 40 fashion blogger, I’m here to provide ideas and inspiration for fashionable work/office outfits and casual outfits for ladies of all ages. I’m a petite pear shape who doesn’t always follow the rules.”
J.Crew Factory schoolboy blazer // blouse (Ann Taylor) // leopard skirt (J.Crew Factory) // similar black pumps
blazer (LOFT) // pants (LOFT) // blouse (Amazon) // leopard pumps (DSW)
J.Crew Factory schoolboy blazer // blouse (Nordstrom) // red pants (Worthington) // shoes (Payless) // (Kendra Scott)
grey blazer (J.Crew Factory) // floral blouse (JCPenney) // pants (LOFT) // shoes (Payless) // snake print purse (Nine West/Belk)
And finally, I’ll share one of my own that I’m pretty proud of. If you’re a regular, you may have seen this before, but I needed a picture for my featured image up top, and I felt weird using one of these lovely ladies for that!
If I don’t include the details here, someone will surely ask. Also, when I posted this look originally, my exact skirt wasn’t online in the black, but now it is!
All of these pieces run true to size; I’m wearing a small in the blouse, skirt, and jacket. Oh, but I sized up half for the shoes.
stripe blouse // black pencil skirt // croc print mules // cognac leather jacket // similar tote // earrings
I hope this post was helpful for those of you looking for work wear! If you like it, let me know, and I’ll try to do another one in a few weeks!
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Even though I don’t work, I’m a retired stay at home grandma, I love these contributions from real women!
Cool post! All of you ladies are awesome! Not just for being fashionistas but for your confidence. High-five!
Super fun to see this post. Thanks ladies for sharing and I think you all look fantastic! Great color combinations and proportions!
Yes I agree that’s what I was thinking too!
I love all these looks on your readers. I got some great ideas! 😍 Please do this again when the weather is colder. 👍
Thank you so much for this post!! I would welcome more like this one. It is very helpful to those of us who work. I am always trying to figure out what to wear, and these ladies gave me some good inspiration. Thanks to you, Jolynne, for all you do. I love your blog!!
OMGOODNESS, what a fun post! Great idea Jo-Lynne!! I really enjoyed seeing the workwear ideas from your blog followers, even though I’m a stay at home Grammy! Your outfit is such a classic look! Hopefully you can do a post like this again in the future! 👏🏻 To all those gals!
Thank you!!!! I teach high school and don’t have the option of wearing jeans very often. I enjoyed seeing what others wear to work!! This was great!
I love this post!! Love seeing the different outfits and the different shapes of each of the women. Great post Jo-lynne!
Great idea – love the looks! As usual, you nailed it!
I need shoe help for my work wear– I’m more business casual style but a shoe can make or break the outfit . If the shoe is too casual, tennies, it makes my outfit too casual . But a high heel or pump is not comfortable and too exec looking -so whats a girl to do? Suggestions for fall sandal styles with a mid heel for business casual??
Thanks !!
Hi Layne
I cannot wear heels, so your comment caught my eye. I wear Munro sandals, the style called Summer, from Nordstrom. I also wear Dansko’s comfortable wedge styles.
This was very helpful! Yes, please do another one of these posts! 🙂
This was a cool change up! Kudos to the ladies that submitted.
What a great post. I’m retired but thought it was wonderful for working women. One reason I like your blog so much Jo-Lynne is I dress casual like you. Even for church.
All of these ladies look amazing! Every outfit looks fabulous!
I loved this post! It is always nice to see other women wearing many of the same pieces of clothing and looking so polished! Thanks for having some great ideas for your blog. I continue to read because you are real and truly think about your reader. The ladies and you look great!
I loved this post! All of these ladies rocked it with their style. I’d love for you to do another one.
P.S. loved Fonda’s red pants! How fun! Would she be willing to share link for her 2 belts?
What a great post 👍. I enjoyed seeing the real women wearing their own clothes and the different shapes and sizes. Although I am a 61 year old nana, I do dress similarly for church and got some ideas. I would like to see the cold weather pics later!
Awesome post! I really need to get on Facebook. I work full time, so it is good to see that others are dressing similar 🙂 It was super cool to see some of your other readers and how they incorporate your inspiration into their style
I do find that I get a lot of inspiration from your blog and most times can just swap out the jeans for dress pants in a lot of the looks that I wear for work.
I love, love, love this post! Such great ideas and inspiration. I like how they mixed budget items with a couple of timeless, more expensive items.
I loved this post! What a great idea! Pats on the back to these real women for being so confident and brave! Please do a similiar post for colder weather (some of us already have cooler/ colder weather!)
Thank you! I am amongst the working outside the home in an office and really appreciate the ideas. And, I am of the curvy bottom type so featuring a variety of sizes/body types is so helpful to me. Keep them coming!
I love this idea of posting outfit ideas from your readers! As a retired teacher, I especially enjoyed seeing how other teachers are dressing now. Great post!
This was such a fun post! Thank you to all the ladies who contributed.
Love this! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing work wear and letting us see different shapes and sizes. Love the post.
This was an awesome post! I love seeing how everyone styles themselves and asking for feedback. Everytime I buy a new pair of jeans or shirt I make my poor husband take a picture of me so I can see how I look. lol I want to participate in one of these types of posts next time. I lost a significant amount of weight 5 years ago and I am still trying to find my style and dial in on what looks the best on me! It would be great to have others give me opinions! I think all of you ladies look Wonderful!!
WOW! All of the ladies look nice in their work wear. And it’s great how they stepped up to the plate to provide great options for you to share with all of us. Even though I am a retiree, I really enjoyed seeing their looks. And of course, I love the outfit you put together. Have a great day!
Great post! What a fun way to show looks for a different lifestyle and different body types. I salute their bravery for putting themselves in the limelight. They all look great!
Loved this post – great ideas! Will be getting inspiration from these looks for sure!
Great post, and I’d love to see future installments. Although I usually telecommute, I do need to go into the office or travel periodically, so this is really helpful. Great to see how these ladies are styling Loft pants and J. Crew Factory blazers already in my closet.
This was really fun! Thanks to all the brave ladies! I’m excited to find some “curvy” cuts of trousers out there—I’ll have to try some of them.
I love that so many of the looks had wide-bottom pants (that’s my jam) and the pops of animal print were just right.
Karen, the booties don’t look to “try hard”.
Even though I have no need for work wear, I really enjoyed this post. The ladies looked awesome! It’s always fun to see what other people are wearing. Loved your outfit, too. That top is just so versatile.
What a fun and different post! Everybody really looked great and gave me lots of good ideas. I’d love to see this again.
I loved this post with all the different looks and real life women! What I noticed the most was all the outfits fit well and were flattering to their body type. I really notice when pants are the right length, especially jeans and that the tops fit proportionately. Makes a big difference and they all deserve kudos!
Loved this post and seeing such a variety of body shapes and sizes and hearing about their jobs. As a 4’10”, 40yo SAHWM who needs both casual and work clothes, I enjoyed especially seeing the petite women and the great outfits they put together to complement their shorter bodies.
Loved this post! Thank you to all of the ladies who participated and thank you Jo Lynne for accommodating those of us who need workwear ideas. I need Fonda’s red pants.
Love this! Got some great ideas. Yes to colder weather post!
What a fun post JoLynne! And great job to all these lovely ladies!! Very fun to see what others put together for their work day!! I work full time and would love to participate if you do this again. Way to go everyone!! Look forward to seeing this post again!
Love seeing your readers in their work attire. They all look like fashionistas! You can see Jo-Lynne style in every one of their choices. You reflect in all of our everyday choices. Thank you for helping us look fashionable and pretty.
Thanks to all the working gals who stepped forward and answered your challenge. They look great and they provided lots of great ideas for the rest of us, whether or not we work outside the home.
Fun post! I love the booties with Karen’s dress and jean jacket. Very contemporary looking. The wedge sandals work, but are far more predictable. Of course you could also say the wedges make the outfit “timeless”.
I enjoyed this very much! Thanks to all the ladies for submitting their pictures. And, it was great having a variety of professions too since work place attire can be different depending on what you and even where you live.
YES, do another post like this! I love your readers participating. I don’t work outside my home, but still great ideas.
Thank you so much for this post. I hope you do more like this. I especially liked the petite post, as I am 5”.
Well done, ladies!!!
Your models are all looking good in their chosen outfits to share. I was pleasantly surprised that some of them mentioned “thrift” buys. As a elementary school teacher for 35 years, I never ever could afford Tory Burch, or AG jeans, or any medium, to high end name brand clothes, shoes, purses, or jewelry for that matter. Thank you as always JoLynne for giving us so many options for working ladies.
That was fun to see others outfits too! I’ll have to try to send a few too! I work in a casual office environment, but we love to dress cute! 😀
Thanks for doing this!!
I LOVED seeing all the styling ladies! What a great idea. Like you JoLynne, I work from home so my style is very low key; but I really enjoyed all the pics.
Hi!!
I wanted to say thank you for the post on work wear outfits. Its very inspirational to see other working women looking and feeling great about themselves.
I loved this post!
Hi jolynne what a great post! I loved seeing how all of these beautiful ladies dressed for their days. I hope you’ll consider doing this type of post again. 😊
I love this!! I don’t have to wear “work wear” every day but seeing what “regular” ladies choose is always inspiring! (Seeing what you choose is, too, but you are an expert!)
Love…Love…Love…the post!
Love, love, love this post!!!
These are great……please do this again!
That was such a fun post to see all these lovely ladies in their different work styles! Great idea and thanks to all of them for submitting photos!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Enjoying your post very Interesting. you asked the question on the five foot lady what our thoughts were on shoes. I’m 5’1″and I always think booties with a dress or skirt makes my legs look even shorter . Is this just a silly thought I have?
I was thinking the same thing! Maybe a once a month post. We all like to try a new look but aren’t sure if it’s quite right for us. I’d want to have some honest and helpful constructive criticism (which I’m sure would be kind in this community). Karen’s question about the booties vs pumps is the perfect example – I vote booties too!
Love this post and these beautiful ladies who share what they wear! So many great ideas.
Thanks so much to all who contributed! This was so helpful, particularly from the teachers, because I’m a teacher too. I keep it casual, but we can only wear jeans one day/week, so I want other casual options that aren’t jeans. 🙂
Karen, you have a great style! You look very balanced and proportioned. You seems to know your body type well. I am curious what your body type is.
Thanks for posting!
I loved this post…seeing what others are putting together gives me great ideas and opens my eyes to look everywhere.
Thank you
Great post! It’s nice to see how other ladies put pieces together, but I must say, I loved Heather and Fonda’s looks!!! Ladies helping ladies with great fashion looks and advice.
I love this post! Please do it again for the different seasons! I’m running out of ideas after 28 years in the workplace!
What a great post! I ❤️ seeing what everyone put together!
Great ideas! I don’t need work wear per se but I do teach a women’s Bible study at church and I like to look put together for that. Thanks, ladies!
I LOVE Fonda’s outfits for work. I don’t work anymore, I’m not either a classic style girl but when I feel that I must be a little more “put together” that’s the kin of looks I’ll wear. Many thanks for your excellent blog.