A lot can happen in a decade. Its funny when you realise it’s been 10 years since a certain event, you tend to reflect on the past decade which is a lot different to looking back on the year that’s been every New Years Eve. Its 2020 next year so many of you will remember what has been since 2010. You realise that 10 years really is a long time when you understand how much has happened. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s always an emotional time looking back at the past.
We get all heart felt when we think of the highs and lows in business we’ve been through.
Then
The Uniform Edit has been selling corporate fashion to women for over 15 years now. When we a shirting specialist retailer, at one stage we had the largest collared shirting range for women in Brisbane. In the beginning 80% of our customers were male. Five years later over 60% were women, as female shirting became a fast-growing segment in 2009.
This was a great example of the trends changing in women’s corporate wear that The Uniform Edit were a part of. The demand for corporate shirting was on the rise from women who wanted to be taken seriously in the workplace. It was the new fashion genre for Australian women in the workplace, when women were getting serious about matching their male counterparts at the office. Especially those in law and accounting and many other traditionally male dominated professions. It was a huge fashion statement and we enjoyed watching it grow.
We offered more feminine style shirts to the minimalist corporate conservative and even had women matching men in banker shirts and other high-powered styles. When women were rubbing fashion shoulders with senior management of big companies, similar to donning a tie, they would keep it formal with chic cufflinks. We saw less skirts and more tailored trousers in women’s corporate wear.
The style of baggy silhouette suits were long gone, so this was a perfect time for women to jump on board and look even better in a fitted suit than a man! Let’s face it; those baggy suit jackets didn’t really do anyone any justice. While women’s corporate wear was starting to level up to the men, it always remained very feminine with the slim fits, patterns and girly colours keeping it very lady like.
With the collar back in full force, the shirt dress started to become a wardrobe staple in women’s corporate wear, bringing even more elegance into the corporate fashion world. This trend went on for awhile with structured styles and serious corporate vibes of all kinds in the workforce.
Now
Then the workplace started to become much more relaxed and casual for both men and women. Comfort became priority. Women wanted softer, flowy ultra-feminine fabrics. Men were wearing less suits and ties. For women, the reinvigoration of easier to maintain viscose and polyester fabrics or wool and cotton blends over pure natural fibres was back. The rise of the midi skirt in a flared or pleated cut is now seen everywhere.
What used to be unacceptable is now the norm. Take the flexibility of tech casual look for example. People are wearing t-shirts to the office! But in a manner that’s deemed still professional. Still nothing says “power” more than a classic suit. And the suit for both men and women will still remain timeless and in style. Especially in accounting and law and finance industries. With changing trends still come alternatives to the tradition. Women’s blouses now come in all different shapes and sizes almost replacing the business shirt. The shift dress is also coming in many different forms from an a-line cut to a straight slim line cap sleeve. Pairing a slim line pencil
skirt with an elegant breezy blouse is now one of the biggest trends in the women’s corporate wear, or switch the straight style for a more forgiving A-line corporate skirt.
It’s All About Company Culture – Anything Goes
With such blurred lines in the corporate wear world, it can get rather confusing, resulting in staff getting lazy with their corporate fashion skills and many inappropriately dressed people at the office. This is why it all comes down to your company culture – both internally and to their audience. That’s what makes the style acceptable. Get the culture right and you can create any look to keep your staff and customers happy.
This is how we’ve come to where we are today as The Uniform Edit. Those blurred lines were obscuring company cultures. With our history of watching women’s corporate wear trends evolve, we have perfected the art of helping companies create a culture to suit their beloved brand and implement a fashionable and stylish work wardrobe that acts as a dress code so that way nobody gets it wrong.
