Dressing Up for Work - Is It Even Worth It? My Reality, Icons and Inspiration

 Hi!!!

I don´t believe that you can actually be overdressed. As long as you´re comfortable and feel happy in your outfit, you´re right on the dress code. (Unless there´s an actual dress code, then you should at least try to be on theme.)
I also believe in dressing up for success, it´s little brother of faking it till you make for me. 
And I like feeling pretty, I love getting compliments and I love experimenting with fashion, hell, the one day I went to high school in just jeans a band tee, multiple people asked me if everything is alright at home. Still, there´s one place where I´m doing my bare minimum. 
It´ my work. I work as a receptionist at a 4 stars hotel. I have 7 shifts per month, from 17:00 to around 5:20, depends on the time my colleage arrives. I work alone, right in the city center with no way to know if there´s going to be any drunk creep in my foyer.  
The last thing I want to be in such a moments is pretty. I know I have very soft, kind face and eyes that scream approach me. I know that with any kind of bra, I have rather 3D decolt. Even as a bartender I knew that I didn´t want anyone to notice this when I´m just trying to cover my rent. Every shift I wear the same long, dressy pants, same blazer and I circle through 4 tops, though it´s starting to get too hot for my favourite turtleneck. Zaira, my flatmate and friend once told me I dress like Chandler Bing. With that, I use a little bit of eyeliner and mascara, put on my glasses and put my hair in a ponytail or bun. 
While this sounds like a lot, this is my version of camouflage. It makes me disapear into my role as a NPC. I do my best to look nice, unasuming and not very interesting to our costumers. I will never be hostile, but I hate being flirted with, or even dragged into long conversations at 3AM when I´m just trying to finish all my tasks as well as possible. 
Does it have its negatives? Heh, maybe if we will host Oasis one day and I will look this lame. 
I hope it´s not very visible on this blog, but I´m sucker for romance. I love matchmaking, romcoms and I tend to always pin over someone. I´m kind of a flirt when I get drunk and awkward disaster the rest of the time, so when we get a guest who appears attractive to me, I usually wish I had put some care into my apearance or at least filled in my eyebrows. Still, it´s not like I could have done anything, it´s just my childish pride. 

How would I like to dress if I didn´t have to be afraid of creeps? Or more acurately, how am I going to dress for job that doesn´t feel like a boring neccesity? 
I don´t believe I´m going to be a rock star anymore, but I can see myself in management or production instead. Anything to do with culture, really. I want to be professional, but visibly myself. My first inspiration for this is both 80s trad goth and corp goth. 
Blazers, silver details, dramatic and/or striped blouses and fine silver details. Quality over quantity. All of those keywords are right in my alley. I never wanted to go the corporate route, partly because I couldn´t imagine myself in standart office wear, but when I first saw corp goth at 17, I realised that things may not be as dim.
I feel like it´s too easy to see alternative clothing as something extra, but it can really be as simple as few pieces from second hand store a bit of personal flare. That´s why I love 80s so much, not just with goth and new wave, but also with power dressing - it´s casual, yet sooo extra.

This picture of Gerard Way. Honestly, Gerard Way. He has a way of making formal looks look so cool just by power of details and sheer personality. I looove achievable icons, as I already recreated this outfit with random stuff from my wardrobe. 

It also proves my theory that the coolest thing you can do is get a nice pair of sunglasses.

Of course, I would lie if I pretended that media had no role in my style preferences. When I was a kid, before I knew what ladies of the night actually do for living, I wanted to be cool ass pimp, just like the ones from American TV and films. The ones in matching suits, big hats, with lots of jewelry and cool demeanor. I thought they radiate coolness when I was 7, and I guess their portrayal made lasting impact on my fashion sensibilities. And before you ask me, we had TV in the living room and my dad did not believe in ratings. He watched Silence of the Lambs with me when I sick once, I was 11 I think. Sesame Street would have been just fine. 
(Mom, on the other end, refused to watch Love, Actually with me and my sister until we were 15. I don´t think they communicated this side of our upbringing at all.)
It´s no surprise that Kakihakara from cotroversial classic Ichi the Killer spoke to my sensibilities so much. I love his bleached hair and wacky suits. 
I think I love Tyler Durden so much for the same reasons. Even if they wear outfits that can be preppy in theory, we can actually see them worn. They are very lived in, to the point it´s actually part of the outfit. It´s three piece indie sleaze for me. Both of those guys, icons you might even say, are same side of the same coin. 

As for the series, Sex and the City is filled with inspiration for me. I love the fact that we can see working women with actual jobs (yes, even Carrie) and power and their different takes on fashion. I like Miranda the most, of course. While I don´t see myself replicating any of the looks in the show (okay, maybeeee ...) I love the diversity in their wardrobes. The worst thing a show can do (but now I´m kidding and being a little dramatic) is dress everyone the same. 
I really love the way Miranda wears her suits. She can be both visibly successfull, yet very feminine. And I love her hair, if I will ever get tired of having bangs and layers I will probably emulate her.

When I´m looking at my inspirations, I feel like I should start a suit collection already. Lucky me, I already have a great start. At the same time, I feel like a lot of my inspirations are typically on the more masculine side, which is surprising because my day to day style can be described as girly girl. Maybe I fear that I´m not going to be respected in miniskirt so I want overcompensate? 
I don´t know, I don´t feel like velveteen suit would gain me any more respect :D. But I do need to get it. I wish I wasn´t so damn short, I fear ordering a suit from Vinted. Or even a pants or blazer. 
Also, looking at my muses, I hope I will get an office job after all, because there´s no way I´m wearing any of this to work tend the bar or get yelled at some kitchen. 
What I want the most after all is probably to have fun with my looks.

What about you guys? What is your biggest work fashion icon? And what do you actually wear to work? :D

See you very soon!