Plus Size Business Suits

Career Fashion Advice for Full Figured Woman

Plus Size Business Suits for Women: Fashion Vs Style

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When you’re searching for plus size business suits for women, there are two terms which are “tossed” about casually.  Sometimes, they are incorrectly “interchanged” but as you pursue the perfect business wardrobe, it’s essential that you know the difference between  these two terms: Style and Fashion.

You must know the difference between these two terms if you’re to successful build a plus size business wardrobe filled with appropriate business attire. Learn more at What to Wear – A Business Woman’s Guide to Dressing Professionally.

Plus Size Fashion

Fashion is all about what’s “in” at the moment.  Hemlines rise and fall, colors fall in and out of favor and for the fashion slave – it’s all about staying “current”.

Fashion changes constantly.  There are some professions where being fashion conscious is an essential part of the job.  If your career requires you to be fashion conscious, then by all means, follow the trends and be a fashion slave.

Plus Size Style

Fashion is the antithesis of STYLE!  Style is not about what’s “hot” or “new” but rather what works for you and your body.

There are those professions where being a fashion victim is a requirement.  If you’re in one of those professions, then you know what you must do.  When fashion dictates that yellow is “in”, then yellow you will wear.  However, for the rest of us, we are pursuing careers and professions where fashion must always take a backseat to STYLE!

As a career woman, it’s essential that you develop your own sense of STYLE!  Your style will help to define your career.  If you haven’t established a style, then it’s time to get one.

Begin by auditing your current business wardrobe.  Can you see your style?  If you can’t, grab a girlfriend whose style you admire and get her by your side as you hit the mall.

Your style isn’t a color, it isn’t a fabric and it isn’t a hemline.  While each of these factors does come into play in defining your style, none of them fully encompasses all that is your style.

When it comes to creating your “style” it’s essential that the term used to define your style isn’t “eclectic”.  You don’t want your business wardrobe to look like it suffers from multiple personalities.  We’ve all witnessed the poor soul who comes to the office one day looking polished and who comes in the next day in an outfit that screams “Party Girl!”

I’ll never forget working with a woman who made that fashion faux pas many years ago.  An advertising executive, she had a fashion “brain fart” and wore a pair of pants to work which revealed clearly her choice of undergarments for that day.  Her manager had to call her into his office and send her home to put on something more “appropriate”.  I’d like to say her career recovered, but it didn’t.  I heard that she was working as a low level assistant at a small town phone company.

Being a complex and interesting woman is your right and your privilege, however make sure that your business suits demonstrate the same style – that of a competent professional who knows the difference between what to wear in a bar and what to wear in the office.

Postponing Purchasing Your Plus Size Business Suit

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This is from the “been there, done that, bought the T-shirt factory” files. If you’re like me, your biggest goal in life is to lose weight. You hate your girlish curves and your fondest fantasy is to go to bed fat and wake up thin. Morning, noon and night, your obsession and desire is to lose weight.

As a result, you postpone buying your power business suit because you’re going to have to buy it in a plus size. You’re going to WAIT to buy your plus size business power suit once you get to your goal weight.

Until then, you’re committed to shopping the discount store clearance rack to build your business wardrobe, buying clearance pants, skirts, jackets and shirts that have been banished to the clearance rack for a reason.

You know that shopping like that means you’re a likely candidate for the television show What Not to Wear, but you don’t want to make an investment in your clothes until you’ve achieved your ideal weight.

Here’s the end of the excuses!!!

Give yourself 6 weeks to make a significant change in your body. Today, right now, stand up walk over to your calendar and mark the date that is 6 weeks from today. Next, take your measurements as they are TODAY. In six weeks, you’ll take those same measurements again.

Now, promise yourself that if those measurements are not SIGNIFICANTLY different, that you are going to make a significant investment in your professional wardrobe.

You have the next six weeks to make a significant change in your body. Whether you decide to diet, exercise or get gastric bypass surgery or even plastic surgery… the clock is ticking.

If you find yourself postponing buying your plus size business power suit because you’re “going” to lose weight, make a commitment to begin making investments in your professional image six weeks from today.

Your to do list for the next six weeks should include:

  • Find that fabulously talented tailor you need to make your business suit fit like an expensive personalized glove no matter WHAT size you’re wearing six weeks from today.
  • Pick up the right support garments – because no matter what size you are in 6 weeks – Spanx are going to make ALL of your clothes look better no matter what size you wear!

Plus Size Business Suits: Jacket Choices

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The jacket is an essential element of the plus size business suit. Full figured women need to be extremely careful in choosing the right fit and style in a plus size business suit jacket.

Because everyone’s body is different, the jacket that flatters on woman’s body will have the exact opposite effect on another. Your body type must be taken into consideration when choosing a plus size business suit.

If you’re shopping in person, don’t leave the house without your carefully chosen foundation garments. The wrong support can make the right business suit look wrong!!!

In addition to the proper foundation garments, you should also bring shoes that you will wear with the suit. No business suit (full figured or otherwise) looks sharp when paired with running shoes.

As you shop for a business suit, pay careful attention to the cut of the jacket. Short, boxy jackets that hit at the waist aren’t flattering on anyone larger than a size 1. Instead look for a longer line in your jacket. One that skims the hips will be more flatter for most women, especially full figured women. A jacket with slight padding in the shoulder will balance the figure of a woman who carries her “junk in the trunk” but can create the look of a football lineman for the woman whose shape is described as a crisp apple as opposed to a luscious pear.

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but look for a jacket that follows your curves. It’s common for full figured women to shop for plus size business suits that fall from the shoulders and don’t touch the body. Instead, try a jacket with a cinched or tapered waist rather than a jacket that is cut straight up and down. By choosing a jacket that fits well, you’ll accentuate your curves.

For years, plus size women have been forced by designers to hide their sexy curves under shapeless tents. Fortunately, today’s designers offer more form fitting options.

Finally, be sure the jacket FITS your body. If it pulls across the bust, then get a larger size! Cut the tags off when you get home if you hate the number on the tag! It’s easier for a tailor to cinch the waist of a jacket than to let out the bust.

Remember that a jacket that fits you perfectly will present you in the most professional light!