A flexible summer wardrobe makes life a lot easier, whether you work from home or in the office. Either way, it pays be prepared by having a selection of professional blouses, ironed shirts and interchangeable jackets to hand so you’re can confidently jump on a Zoom call or join a Teams meeting. Since the screen has become workplaces’ primary medium of communication our image and sense of fashion have been brought ever more into focus.
Dunnes Stores continues to flourish fashion-wise and this summer it is once again a reliable source of cool, co-ordinated looks that are ideal for weekday dressing.
If you are commuting to work it pays to choose clothes that are made from natural and more sustainable fabrics. Even on a dull day, the car can feel very warm unless you have the air conditioning blasting – so hang the jacket in the back and breathe easily in a blouse.
Cyclists will also be working up a sweat trying to manoeuvre their way along the intermittent cycle lanes to the city centre. Unfortunately, they won’t be travelling in style as long-skirt hemlines can caught in the chain, shorter skirts fly up around the saddle and heels sometimes snap when you put your foot down at the lights. It’s safer to throw on the leggings and a zip-up lightweight jacket, and just do a wardrobe transformation when you arrive at your destination.
Bus babes and Dart dudes can be more selective in their corporate clobber. As the temperature climbs it’s so handy to throw on a midi dress like the red cotton number from Arnotts or choose a floaty label from the extensive range at Brown Thomas and just add a pair of flat sandals, along with a cardi and a scarf. Men can choose from short-sleeved shirts and Italian-style cotton shorts worn with loafers and invisible socks. There are plenty of bargains at the high end of summer as the rails make way for autumn collections.
White linen palazzos and cool linen trousers are also the currency of a cooler wardrobe – for when you want to feel as crisp as a new bank note. Team the look with a looser light blouse worn over a T-shirt and add a pair of sneaky white trainers to help you achieve your daily steps target too.
Kate Gleeson is a well-known fashion buyer who also has her own fabulous fashion website for women, Diffusion.ie – and whether online or at her occasional pop-up shops, she has your summer workwear and holiday wardrobe sorted. Her customers trust her expertise and she models many of the looks herself, which appeals to many successful businesswomen.
Gleeson’s fashion wisdom has been gleaned from years of high-end buying in London, Paris, Milan and New York. Diffusion.ie has styles to suit a variety of work occasions and plenty of holiday-wear ideas too. She also chooses unique and edgy pieces from ruffled wrap dresses with flamboyant skirts to wide-leg white palazzos worn with exotic lace tops and satin camisoles.
Paul Costelloe’s Living collection for Dunnes also sails in with breezy summer styles for employees who like to socialise after a hard day’s work. Costelloe’s bright shirts come in cotton or linen and create the perfect image teamed with trousers or shorts. The Living crew neck T-shirts come in top-quality cotton, ideal with cotton chinos or a pair of the collection’s more formal shorts.
There is nothing wrong with men wearing shorts to the office, provided they are the right length and not from the beach-trunks catalogue – though, obviously they tend to work better on men who don’t have knobbly knees or grey-haired legs! Add a tan for that flattering, continental look, which is easier said than done with the Irish climate; so far nobody has created a false tan for men. (It’s apparently due to the hairy factor.) Alias Tom’s boutique off Grafton Street is a great place for chic styles, ideal for city slickers.
To ensure your workwear wardrobe keeps you feeling fresh rather than hot under the collar, fabrics such as linen or cotton are best. Avoid anything in the body-contoured genre or of the figure hugging variety for airy comfort: looser styles, with baggy trousers, ruffled wide sleeves, floaty dresses and oversized jackets and blazers are still on trend and all help avoid having to reach for the deodorant can.
The casual fashion for drawstring trousers complements linen shirts and grandad shirts. Wear them in a breezy fashion over chinos or shorts to accommodate those extra inches that inevitably climb on over the summer months.
Whites are always a winner in summer and a well-ironed white shirt is a central component of the season’s wardrobe. Dunnes Stores has a super selection of blouses, with loose linen looks from Carolyn Donnelly’s The Edit. Her throw-on linen jackets are light and can be teamed with chic shorts or Parisian-style skirts.
The Edit collection features lots of easy-style dressing – the likes of elasticated linen trousers designed for comfort, along with linen duster coats and Indian style A-line tops in shades of sand, navy and beige. For a swift makeover, try her longline statement dresses in shades of red and navy, with splashes of contrasting colours along the front panel too.
Although linen can add a lot more ironing to your work schedule, its creased look is always forgiven, being a hallmark of the fabric. So no need to be too concerned about crumpled jackets and crinkled trousers – it’s all part of the relaxed summer character.
Arnotts fashion floor is heaving with a range of amazing designer labels from top Irish favourites such as NC Kilkenny, ever popular with summer wedding guests as well as corporate dressers off to company events and receptions. The Never Fully Dressed brand at Arnotts is worth checking out for summer dresses in particular.
Naya clothing features handy, looser trousers with cuffed ankles for women that look great with suede shoes or trainers. Their dresses are also ideal for curvy figures, with swishy skirts and vibrant shades from lemons to lime greens that conjure up the zestiness of summer cocktails.