Must-have Workwear Essentials for Autumn 2023

Hi loves and welcome back to my Blog! Today, we’ve got a workwear/office wear capsule wardrobe list. I’ve been wanting to do this for such a long time, so I’m thrilled to finally bring it to you. These are essentially the key pieces that I believe you need in your wardrobe to create multiple outfits for the upcoming Autumn/Winter season. If you’re new here, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter before you leave. I post fashion content every week, so you wouldn’t want to miss that. Let’s get started!

Cos White T-Shirt

First up, one of the most simple items from this List, but I feel like you do need it if you’re going to do a capital wardrobe, and there is this white T-shirt. This is actually from cause I just feel like a good quality white T-shirt is what you need, so if you’ve already got one, then definitely no need to buy a new one. I did shop around for quite a while. I was buying the wrong fit, I was buying the wrong qualities, and I feel like I finally found one. Now there as a go-to, I love the thickness of it, I love the shape on it. It is just a basic white tee, but I do feel like it’s quite hard to find one that’s really good quality, so I’ve got this one from Cars. This is a size small, and I feel like it is so easy to sell for the office.

Weekday Grey Blazer

Next up, we have a gray blazer. I feel like gray’s everywhere right now, and I definitely feel like it’s going to be a key color this Autumn/Winter. This is more of a tailored one. I do tend to go towards more of a tailored fitted blazer for the office as I just find them easy to style. I also feel like gray is a perfect color because you can wear it with neutrals, tan, and you can wear it with black as well. We have gone for more of a neutrals vibe in this list, but I do feel like that because it makes it easier to mix and match all the pieces together.

ASOS Tall Grey Pinstripe Tailored Trousers

Next up, a pair of tailored trousers. It’s a perfect thing to create a capsule wardrobe with, especially when we’re talking about workwear. I picked these up a few weeks ago from Asos tall, as I mentioned I am five foot ten so I do shop a lot of tall brands. These are super high-waisted wide-leg tailored trousers. They’ve actually got a bit of a pinstripe in them as well, and I feel like because gray is going to be such a key color, I picked these up so I could style them in so many different ways. The fit on these is so good, and actually, I can wear heels with them as well, which is a massive thing for me because I am so tall. I always struggle with wearing heels with trousers, and with these, I can actually wear heels, as you can see in the clip. So, I’m loving these for the Autumn season.

Lily Silk Grey Cropped Trousers

Next up, we have another pair of trousers, but these are wide-leg and cropped at the ankle. It’s a little bit hard to show you here, but I’ll show you on as well. The wide leg at the bottom, but they are cropped, just to give you something different and a bit of a different style. You can also style them in similar ways to the ones we just saw previously. These are actually from Lily Silk. They’re amazing quality, they’re wool, they’re so comfortable on, and I feel like they’re a really good length. Again, I’ve popped it on with the higher shoulders just because I feel like with this type of trousers, I would always wear a higher short. They are wide-leg at the bottom, which I find most flattering on me. But if you didn’t want to do a wide leg, you could swap it for more of a tapered leg. I feel like this kind of style is really good for the office again because you can just wear them in so many different ways.

H&M Black and White Stripe Jumper

Next up, we’re going to talk about a striped knit jumper. I feel like a striped knit jumper is one to have in your wardrobe anyway, even if we’re not talking about office wear. I wear this so much. I actually picked this one up from H&M. H&M knits are such good quality, and they always last. This is actually from the premium range, which I do find is better quality than the usual range. I picked up a similar one last year with a smaller stripe, but this one’s got a thicker stripe, so I picked this one up as well because I know they last so long, and I style them in so many different ways.

You can pop this with a midi skirt for the office, or you can pop it on with some long tailored trousers. There are a ton of different ways you can wear this. And then if you didn’t want to actually wear it on because it is quite thick, then you can just pop it over your shoulders as well, just to give a bit of a chic look.

Karen Millen Black Maxi Skirt with Slit

Next up, we’re going to talk about a black midi skirt. I feel like this is such a good one to have if you want to create multiple different outfits. It’s going to be long enough for the office, and this one is like a maxi skirt, I think, obviously because I’m tall, and I feel like it’s perfect. It’s got a split in it, but it’s not too much of a split, if that makes sense, and it’s got some button detail on the side, which I love as well. So it’s not just plain. I feel like there are so many different ways you can wear this for the office—pop a knit on with it or a shirt, even with a knit over your shoulders. Again, so many different ways. You can wear this with boots, with higher shoes—like there are a ton of different ways. And I feel like it’s one of those things that’s classically you’re just going to wear for years and years, especially in black as well. Very easy to style up.

Reiss Wool Dogtooth Mini Skirt

Up next, we’re going to talk about a little A-line skirt. I feel like skirts are a controversial one if they’re short. Whenever I include them in an office workwear reel on Instagram, I always get a ton of comments saying you can’t wear a skirt to the office. But when I was in the office, I always wore skirts like this, so I always get a little confused. Maybe it’s because I’m tall; they look so short on me, I’m unsure.

But I feel like a little A-line skirt with some Titan boots is a perfect little office outfit, and I always felt super cute going into the office in skirts like this. This one’s actually from Reese. I purchased it around two weeks ago. Obviously, it is patterned, so if you did want to go a bit more classic, you could just do a tan or a black one or a neutral color. But I think this is so cute, and it goes with a ton of different things.

Karen Millen White Shirt

A capital wardrobe is incomplete without including a white shirt. I feel like it’s a classic you need to have in your wardrobe. You probably already have one, but I’ve included this one with shoulder pads today just because I wanted to do something a little bit different. I’m sure you’ve already got a white shirt in your wardrobe, but sometimes I love wearing a shoulder-padded one as it just gives me a little bit more shape and makes me feel like I’m a little bit more dressed up. This one’s actually from Karen Millen, it’s got some little gold buttons and the shoulder pads.

These are actually quite big shoulder pads as well, so it does feel quite structured, but I feel like it gives the outfit a little bit of an extra something, a little bit different. And obviously, there are so many different ways you can wear a white shirt. I’m not gonna have to tell them to you, but I just feel like this could go with most of the things.

Karen Millen Tan Blazer

Now, we’ve talked about a gray blazer at the beginning of the list, so I felt like I had to include this. This is a tan blazer jacket/court—it’s kind of all mixed into one. It probably is a little bit warm to wear if you’re just wandering around the office, but I remember wearing this so much when I was in the office, especially when the weather was not quite cold enough to wear a big coat. I just found this such a key piece in my wardrobe, so I wanted to include it.

Obviously, it was a little bit thick, so if you haven’t got anything like this, you could just do a tan blazer with the outfit that I included in today’s list. This one’s actually from Karen Millen. I absolutely love it. It is a little bit longer length, so fitting perfectly for being tall as well. It’s very structured, and I feel like this, honestly, when it first came out, I wore it non-stop. I’ve also got it in a khaki color, which I love, so I had to include it again. There are so many different ways you can wear this. It is a little bit more tailored; again, it’s not oversized, and I feel like the shape on this is so good. While we’re still talking about blazers…

Zara Black Blazer

We’ve also got a black blazer, which I’m sure you’ve already got in your wardrobe, but I had to include it since it was a capsule wardrobe list. A black blazer is such a go-to. Again, if you see, I’m holding them up, all my blazers are a very similar shape. I just love the ones that go in slightly and then back out, like an hourglass shape blazer, and they all have shoulder pads and they’re all quite structured. It’s just my go-to; I just prefer that shape on me. I actually picked this one up from Zara last year, maybe it was the year before, but I’ll link some alternatives below.

Or actually, if they’ve brought this one back out, which they sometimes do, I’ll link the exact one and let you know in the description box. But a black blazer is just so easy and something you could wear nearly every day to the office if you wanted to.

Mango Black Waistcoat

This one’s a little bit of an extra one; you don’t really have to have it in your wardrobe, but I feel like it’s a good one that you can style in multiple different ways, so I wanted to include it. It’s just this little black waistcoat I actually picked up this week from Mango, which is why I still got the tags on it. I haven’t actually worn it, but I just feel like a waistcoat is so good; you can style it in so many different ways. I’ve popped it on in the clip with the tailored trousers and the blazer, so it kind of does look like a three-piece suit, but it’s just a different way of creating that rather than going out and buying a three-piece suit.

You can pick up the pieces separately over time, and then as long as they’re like a neutral color, you can normally get very similar or the same colors, which is what I’ve done with this. These trousers, the waistcoat, and the blazer are all from different places, all bought at different times, but you can pull them together for an outfit and make it look really chic and professional. I feel like “chic” is such a go-to word for me; I say it all the time. But anyway, waistcoats are such a good one to have. I’ve got a ton of different colors, but I thought I would include the black one today just because I did pick it up very recently, so it’s easy to shop, and I don’t feel like black is probably the most versatile color, again, I feel like…

ASOS Tall Black Tailored Trousers

This is something I have to include, and I couldn’t really leave it off the list. It’s just some black tailored trousers. Again, I got these from Asos tall, but I’m sure you’ve probably already got a pair in your wardrobe. So easy to wear with multiple different things; I mean, there are just millions of ways you can wear them. I actually did have a question on Instagram the other day to do a list on just styling tailored trousers, so let me know if that’s something that you would like to see as well in the comments, and maybe I can create a list. But there are just a ton of different ways to wear these, and I actually picked these up a few weeks ago as well, so I do think they’ll still be in. But these are the tall versions.

Zara Grey Jumper

Next up, we’re going to talk about this gray knit. Now, I know we talked about that striped one earlier on in the list, but again, because I do feel like gray is going to be such a big color this season, I do feel like this one is also a really good one to have in your wardrobe. I’ve got this one, but you should be honest, it’s not the weather for a roll neck yet. So I really needed something that wasn’t a roll neck, and I especially find for the office, I didn’t really love wearing roll necks there because the temperatures always go up and down in the office; some people have the aircon on, some people don’t. So a roll neck is not always the best one to wear for the office. So I picked this one up instead, a similar color, and so many different ways you can wear this. This will literally mix and match with probably 90% of the things that we’ve seen so far.

Urban Revivo Black Tweed Collarless Jacket

I really wanted to include these little jackets. I have a ton of them; I have one in cream, I have one in gray, I have one in like the little black and white, kind of like a patterned one, and I absolutely love them. I find them so easy to style with little skirts or tailored trousers. There are a ton of different ways that I wear these jackets, and I feel like they’re such a good one to have for work because they do look really chic and professional.

Again, something like this goes with so many of the other things we’ve seen in the list. I also style these up in so many different ways over on my Instagram if you did want to see a few different ways I’ve styled these up. This is actually from Urban Revival; the quality of Urban Revival stuff is so, so good. Everywhere else I looked for these jackets, they were coming up like 300 pounds for a really good quality one, and I just didn’t feel like that was something I wanted to pay.

And that is it for me today and that is it for my Smart Casual Summer Outfits I hope you enjoyed it if you did definitely view the video down below and drop a comment below thank you so much for reading, and don’t forget to check out my other Blogs!