Work Wardrobe Advice in the Video Age

60x60

I have conquered so many health demons associated with my age/weight/risk factors that I now have the very pleasant problem of dealing with vanity issues (have lost oodles of weight and fat slowly over the past five years). I am down from a size 24 (tops and bottoms) to a size 16 on top and 8 to 10 bottoms. I'm in the twilight of my 50(s) with eight or so years give or take to work in a traditional job.

I want to look good/professional at work. I think I dress well for the office (though I can always use advice and ideas), but I have particular trouble with the increase of video meetings. Our offices are spread in various local locations and we are more and more meeting by video conferencing. I have to laugh at my vanity issues, sitting at the conference table, our large video screen of the meeting participants in my room shows us in a corner of the screen with the participants at other location(s) shown prominently. They, of course, have the reverse view. At the beginning of most of these meetings, I get distracted by my looks. I have a nice friendly face with a neck typical to my age bracket and then comes my upper torso (and no view of my lower body) which looks very broad. My vanity question is whether people know of a style/color that would look better in the video world so I could consider whether to buy and wear them for important meetings.

AllonsYtotheTardis

A light coloured blouse with a collar and a dark coloured blazer/jacket over top. It creates a long line down the middle of your upper body. The first thing the eye sees is the narrow column of light coloured fabric between the two sides of the jacket... (I'm not describing this well.

Solid colours will also look far better on screen than patterns.

TheRealParisLove

Wear a dark colored suit jacket without a lapel. Try to find one that is nipped in at the waist a bit for a more feminine silhouette. Wear a solid colored shell, and a narrow scarf with a small print or a long and fairly complicated necklace such as : http://fashiontribes.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/bgy8502_mp.jpg

The dark color will minimize the width of your upper body appearance, and the necklace or scarf will create a vertical line making you appear taller and thinner.

Lapels add visual width and are great for small chested women who wish to look more well endowed. For busty gals like myself, less is more. A collar would be ok, but it is difficult to pair a long scarf or necklace with small collared jacket.

Try to add height and volume to your hair on meeting days. This will also minimize the look of the torso.

60x60

Thanks! I will give both these ideas a try. I think I can experiment with existing wardrobe pieces.

The idea of adding height to the hair is one that would never have crossed my mind in a million years. I'm going to see what I can do with that idea as well. At least, I no longer am chemo-bald.

pkw58

I agree with everyone else -- I also sit up straight with my hands on the table ready to write /peck on my ipad. Also, nice earrings seem to help

anemoneprose

I agree, anything that increases verticality would help - eg V-necks, or long pendant necklaces (if you're wearing something with a higher neck).

I would probably stick to 'just fitted' tops - not clingy, not too loose, heavier weight fabric - under shorter, tailored jackets. (While loose kaftan-style tops might be more comfortable, I think they wind up increasing the look of volume.)

Black tends to wash people out after a certain age. Not sure how these translate to video, but I'd go for navy, grey or brown suiting instead, depending on your colouring, and shirt colours that favour your complexion. (On that - makeup for mature women: subdued pinks or corals for lips & blush (blush is more important than lips, for complexion); a tiny bit of eye definition, in the form of liner really just along the lashes, like you're colouring in between them; re eyeshadow, nothing too matte or sparkly - both draw attention to any lines/wrinkles; instead, a *slight* pearl finish in a skin tone - a touch of quality cream shadow sits nicely.)

60x60

These are great ideas. I am so excited to try some of them out next week. I'll try to get to the meetings early so I can view myself and get my wiggles and self-consiousness out of the way too.