Sexy Chic in the Boardroom

By Giadha Aguirre de Carcer

"If looking my best and being particular about what I would wear, and trying to enhance my assets, equates with using my sexuality, then so be it. I’m not going to apologize."  Maseena Ziegler, Women Take On Alpha Male: Why Shouldn't We Use Our Assets To Get Ahead?  

Ladies, thank goodness we can finally say goodbye to those boring grey slacks and white button downs and embrace looking fabulous in the boardroom.  We spend 70% of our life in working clothes and I do not see why we should not express our femininity and sense of fashion while in them. 
I remember working in Manhattan in the early 2000s when I had to live with the New York banking uniform - black or grey suit, pantyhose, and closed-toe shoes - blah.  I was born in Rome, and have since lived in Madrid, Paris, London, Miami, and New York, as well as worked in Singapore, Dubai, Beirut, Bangkok, and Casablanca.  I have been extremely fortunate to experience the range of fashion taboos as well as to live and breathe fashion extravaganza in some of the most glamorous cities in the world.  This new fashion confidence is inspiring and refreshing and here are a few tips I have picked up while on my journey to try to balance sensuality with elegance - it is a work in progress so I hope to hear back and learn from other corporate-fashionistas!

1.  Emphasize one aspect of your body at a time - I did a very short stint as a model in Miami back in the 90's and I remember my makeup guru Jen never emphasizing more than one of my facial features at a time.  If she brought out my lips with blood red lipstick, she would tone down my eyes and cheecks with more natural colors; if the emphasis was on my eyes, she would balance smokey dark eye-shadow with a nude lipstick and light blush.  Except for those occasions when I was required to look like a man-eater diva, or a Picasso gone wrong, my makeup was usually tasteful and balanced because of Jen's little trick.  The same principle applies to clothes.

If you are showcasing your legs with a short skirt, keep your upper body more covered, avoid low cut blouses or sleeveless tops.  If on the other hand you opt for a more revealing top, try to keep your legs out of sight in a pencil skirt or slacks.  In the evening, a bare back can be very sexy and elegant as long as it is not combined with a low cut front or short skirt.  Tight clothing, whether a body-hugging dress or curve enhancing pants, are always best when they do not show too much skin - the fact that they cling to your body is revealing enough...Keep your wardrobe coverage balanced and you will never go into the office 'over-exposed'.  

2.  Always have a jacket - There was a time when the jacket was a moue point given that we were required to wear a suit to work every day;  those times are however now thankfully fading away, but having a little jacket handy is still a good idea.  Not only will it rescue you from that usually freezing air conditioning, but it does dress up any outfit you may be wearing and give you that extra confidence when facing off a dark blue suit with grey hair.

3.  Embrace colors or patterns, but not simultaneously - I love edgy clothes, and I therefore own quite a few hot pink sweaters and abstract pattern bottoms.  In order to prevent myself from showing up at work looking like a Pinata, I make sure that I limit myself to one of these flashy items per outfit.  I have found that keeping your other clothing items plainer is a great way to also showcase your 'statement' item!

4. Less is more - As Coco Chanel was famous for saying, once you are done getting dressed, have all your jewelry on, shoes matched to your purse, and coat in hand, look in the mirror and take off one item.  If you do take the effort to accessorize with earrings, hats, belts, bracelets, rings, necklaces, scarfs etc. you may want to make sure you are not edging towards the Christmas tree look...it really is just as bad a the Pinata look.

5. Shoes, shoes, shoes! This is a gimme, I know, since most of us ladies do love our shoes.  I have found that I can wear the same outfit twice and feel like it is completely re-vamped if I change (read 'buy new') shoes.  While Condi Rice may have been crucified by the press for her red suit and black knee-high boots, most of us ladies applauded her.  No reason to stop the trend, and every reason to promulgate it.  Shoes are a great way to express ourselves safely while wearing more conservative wear.  Just remember that if you are showing off those awesome leopard LV pumps, the best way to do so effectively and tastefully is to not match them with another leopard item (leave that for the Miami-style evenings), but rather bring them out with a planer outfit as their canvas.

For us ladies, clothing can be both an armor and introduction card.  As the recently published article Start-up Interview: What Not to Wear, by Laura Smoliar, suggests, "In a high-pressure situation, a suit used to be the safe sartorial choice. Now, it's a bit more complicated.",.  Now that we finally have some wiggling room, and are even required to adjust to diverse work environments, we can embrace style, creativity, and yes, femininity, at work - chic and sexy do not have to be mutually exclusive!