Not so Suited and Booted.

So the blog, something this wannabe writer should have embraced quite some time ago. Lack of inspiration, lack of motivation, who knows what else I can blame it on but here I am now with a blog where I will document my stuggle for fashion. I, as Gwen Stefani once sang, am "just a girl", living my life and stuggling to find a place for my love of fashion in my days. Between long working hours, having to function on public transport on a day-to-day basis and living in suburbia, there never seems to be a chance for me to really dress they way I want, to really cut loose and enjoy fashion in all its forms.
I love clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, make-up and everything else that comes with. I devour fashion magazines, visit all the best websites and love to shop, especially when the seasons change and all the pretty new things are coming in to stock.

However my love of fashion, in particular the more extreme side of it, piles and piles of costume jewellery, big, big heels, combining prints and just in general experimenting with clothes as much as I can, all these things don't seem to be allowed. Uniforms, long walks, rules and regulations always seem to stop me from being myself. This is where I will turn to rant and rave and get all my moans off my chest.

My first gripe was triggered by a job interview I went to recently. I turned up on time, looking very smart in a pair of wide leg smart black trousers, a white shirt pulled in with thin red belt and a pair of patent black closed toe heels. I knew I had to look smart and pretty much a blank canvas, job interviews are most definetly not the place to express yourself through fashion. I thought I pretty much hit the nail on the head for a smart interview look and the woman who interviewed me seemed to really like me and told me I'd be back for a second interview, however she requested that I wear a suit for the occasion and then informed me that I would be expected to wear a suit every day on the job. This is not a high-powered position, its more front of house and although I understand that its important to be smartly dressed if you are the first person the client sees, I also understand that there are many, many ways for a woman to look smart without having to wear a suit.





I don't really like suits, for myself. Certain suits on certain people look great. A handsome man in a well made suit is always a welcome sight. A classic womans Yves Saint Laurent trouser suit looks fantastic and on occasion a suit is the right thing to wear. However finding a suit to fit me has always proved impossible and as of right now I only have one, which is quite masculine in its shape and really just drowns my 5ft 2 frame. In order to take this job I would need to invest in a new suit and to get a good one I would have to spend a reasonable sum of money, something that right now I'm not sure I'm prepared to do given that I would rather spend my hard-earned cash on completely unpractical but fabulous shoes and bags that don't fit all the essentials in them.

My main problem with this whole thing is that I find it ridiculous that a company can tell a person what to wear and not provide those clothes. They are basically asking me to wear a uniform so that their front of house staff present a consistant image. But yet they expect me to pay for this uniform out of my own pocket.
I know this means I get a bit more choice about what I wear but I don't want to wear the same clothes as them. I want to be myself and I would really like to wear some of the gorgeous and smart work clothes I have that aren't a suit. A suit to me is a statement and should be worn as such. It shouldn't be cheap and it shouldn't be a uniform.

I know that this isn't a creative job and therefore the freedoms of dress those kind of jobs allow are not going to be the same but really, is it much to ask to be allowed to be yourself for the 40 hours a week they expect you to be there for.

As for the job, well who knows? But their outdated and stupid rules are definetley putting me off this career move.