A new contributor? Nope, it’s me, Amanda! (yay…?) Some of you have been asking for work wear ideas, so I braved the camera and tried on a bunch of new arrivals at Loft. Postpartum mamas headed back to work, this one’s for you, too! Most of the tops and jackets I’m wearing conceal mum tums with a flowy plus structured formula. Overall there were some really great pieces and a few misses – I’ll give you details on fit, cut, quality and my absolute favorite piece that makes you look taller and slimmer and instantly put together. Bonus – most of these are on sale for 40% off right now!
Note: It might not look like it, but I swear I was having fun! It was really ridiculously hard for me to figure out where to position the phone to capture the neckline area so I was concentrating on the shot, not mah face – if you can’t tell, I’m a virgin dressing room selfie snapper. Also, wee case of resting b face (b for business?)
Also – this post isn’t sponsored, it’s just me and my opinions of Loft’s work wear.
Loft’s current color scheme is very retro nautical – lots of navy blue, white, black and eye-popping orangey red, which makes it easy to mix and match; their softer pastels and muted brights are more wearable in my opinion, so I grabbed a mix of both. I’m wearing this necklace with most of the outfits – it’s gold but not blingy and distracting for work, softer and glowy. It would be perfect this summer too with beachier styles. (Loft conveniently had a pair of high heel black pumps in the dressing area so I threw them on – I don’t typically wear heels and my dogs were definitely barking after 45 minutes. But they were beautiful and made pants look so much better – for a ‘beginner’ heel, try these.)
Loft Work Jackets & Pants
I had high hopes for this little white and navy striped moto jacket when I spotted it online and made a beeline for it at the front of the store.
tweed moto jacket (size 6) | black peplum top (size M) | dark gray pants (size 6p)
Womp, womp. The striped pattern and texture were really cute and the material was soft and lightweight; it would be a great spring or year-round jacket in places that are not the Northeast. The issue was the cut – for my body type (inverted triangle: larger bust, undefined waist, no hips) it was way too short and boxy and cut straight across my widest point. I tried unzipping the jacket to make it more casual – nope, just got frumpier! I think it would look great on ladies with shorter torsos and proportional/larger hips since it really draws the eye up to your top half.
The peplum tank top and gray pants were worth another try – here’s round 2:
black peplum top (size M) | dark gray pants (size 6p) | black blazer (size 6)
Hmm, better. The peplum tank top body is a super soft jersey material and the bottom ruffle is flowy, silky stuff so it’s a perfect layer under jackets, sweaters, blazers, cardigans. It was pretty boxy and the armholes are cut deep, so maybe size down if you’re smaller on top. (Also in a gorgeous springy blue!) The Julie fit trousers are also comfortable and have a cool mini-flare leg. If you’re not familiar with Loft pant fits, the “Julie” style is for small waists and curvier hips (opposite of me), and the “Marisa” is for straight waists and hips (bingo!) – sadly the Marisa fit trousers in my size were out of stock, so it’s not the Julie’s fault they are all baggy here. I like that the LOFT trousers are available in two inseams for shorties: petite (30″) and short (31″) if you want to wear them with heels! Regular and tall inseams, too.
You know how you always find love when you’re not looking for it? Oh, hey, On Duty blazer. I don’t technically need another blazer, but the impeccable tailoring job is hard to find in this price range. The pic above doesn’t do it justice – check out the cool notched stand up collar and striped silky cuff lining:
tunic (size M) | ponte pants (size 6p) | black blazer (size 6)
The On Duty blazer is the definition of magic – whenever an outfit was just ok, I threw the blazer on and bam! Instantly looked more put together, taller and thinner. The longer length, single button and open collar make it streamlined so there’s no visual bulk, just a long, lean line. By the end of the try-on session, the blazer began to feel like a security blanket since I wanted to pair it with everything. (Except I’ve never seen a badass security blankie that screams #ladyboss.) I’m wearing it with the split neck tunic in a darker dusty rose that seems to be one of those universally flattering colors. It’s silky and wonderful but be warned that the neck is cut very low – glad I thought to throw on a cami before leaving the house or this might’ve veered into nsfw territory. The online pic shows it looking lovely with jeans, and I like it for covering the bum of skinny pants. Speaking of – these pintucked ponte pants in a delicious burgundy heather color were in the work wear section but they were skin tight – I wouldn’t be comfortable wearing these even in a casual/creative workplace so maybe size up? The pintuck running down the middle of the leg does make them fancier, and I did love how the cropped version hit at the exact right place for leggings (27″ for petite) and looked great with heels.
Here’s the outfit sans blazer, side shot to show tunic length:
tunic (size M) | ponte pants (size 6p)
Loft Work Dresses & Skirts
Next up I tried on some fit & flare dresses in cool textured fabrics. This one has a sweet black & white pattern:
dress (size 4)
I really liked the mixed jacquard flare dress – it was lightweight, comfortable, and flowed over ‘trouble spots’. Love the pattern placement on the shoulders and back – you can kind of see in the side pic above and much better model pic on the site. They didn’t have my size so I’m wearing a 4 here, but it’s stretchy enough it still works. The armholes dip toward the front a lot, which you can see better in the 3rd pic on the site. I really like how they styled it with black tights and moto-ish boots, that could totally work in a more casual office like mine. This would also be cute for Easter, baby and bridal showers or whatever spring parties you’ve got planned. Definitely a wear-all-day type of dress.
And here it is with my lover the On Duty blazer, just because.
Yay for contrast lining sleeves and “business” face! Next I tried another tweed moto blazer and navy fit & flare dress:
dress (size 6) | jacket (size 6)
The tulip quilted flare dress has a pretty raised pattern which you can see a little better in the closeup (check the site for better detail) and is comfortable. I was surprised that the neckline is a ribbed black t-shirt material, which definitely makes the dress more casual. I question the durability since some of the collars already seemed to be fraying, but it is a cute dress. I was excited to try the tweed open jacket, but ran into similar issues as the white moto jacket. I agree with the reviewers that said the lapels hang very far and wide and the cut is boxy, which visually widened my whole upper body. I think it would be supercute on ladies who are smaller on top, this one’s not for my full-bust gals. I did love the cool frayed edges which makes it more interesting and how lightweight the tweed is, and it would be perfect with black ripped skinnies when you’re off duty.
Moving on to skirts – a note about fit: I found all the Loft skirts I tried on to be cut really short and small, fitting with the mod retro style they’ve got going on.
The button tab tweed skirt is a really nice heavier weight fabric and pattern that would go with most things. It is more of a high-rise waist, so you can’t see the buttons here but they’re cute! That also made it much shorter on me, and I have really short legs to begin with and I’m not wearing a petite size – normally regular sized skirts come down past my knees. The waist was also pretty tight, I’d recommend this one if you have a smaller waist than hips. I wore it with the tie back blouse in black – also in a pretty raisin color – which I loved (on the hanger) for the drapey softness, silky front, sleeves and romantic back neck tie with a jersey back for comfort. And it was comfortable and flowy if a little too voluminous for my body type. If this type of shirt works for you definitely check it out, the back tie is lovely. So good with skinnies or flares on the weekend.
Pencil skirts and button downs usually NEVER work on me, so this outfit was a comfort-zone pusher:
jacket (size 6) | skirt (size 8p) | blouse (size 6)
The striped wrap pencil skirt caught my eye since I’m always looking for interesting pants or skirts to balance out my top half, plus the cool texture was intriguing. I sized up to an 8p, and there’s no side pic because I still couldn’t zip it more than halfway! It was also pretty short, the front slit may become indecent when sitting. I do like the stripes, so size up if you try it. The tweed open jacket from before isn’t my fave but let’s talk about the silky button down that DID NOT GAP! This is like the mythical unicorn for ladies with a full bust and I literally thought it didn’t exist. And no, I’m not doing the chicken dance in the left pic – it’ s the ” touch your elbows behind your back” move that every woman with a larger chest does to test for front gaps. The shirred sonnet blouse is kind of an elegant not-quite-pebbly texture that’s hard to describe – not the flat, smooth type of silky fabric. The soft gathers on the shoulders create more fabric in the front, and the shirt is a little bit voluminous, but in a manageable way that you can still tuck in. If you don’t need extra room in front, size down, but it’s meant to be more romantic than tailored. Definitely wear a cami underneath if you’re wearing it to work.
I loved the contrast of the flowiness and sweet rounded collar with the highly-tailored On Duty blazer; this was my favorite outfit of the set! I’d definitely swap the pants for something more conservative at the office but they’re fun for after hours.
Some of the pieces I really wanted to try were sold out already at my local Loft, so I pulled together all the pieces shown here plus some sweet online picks (including office-friendly jewelry that’s not boring!)
Loft Work Style Picks
