How to dress for success

I’ll never forget my first day attending the features conference at the Telegraph. As I walked through the door, someone piped up: “Naomi, have you just stepped off the yacht?” My cream maxi knitted dress was rather lovely, no shame in that, but perhaps not the correct work uniform for the newsroom crowd. At any other moment, “stepping off the yacht” would have been a great style flex, but sitting around a conference table at TeleTowers, I wished I’d dressed more City and less St Tropez. If it weren’t for the Sephardi genes, I would have gone bright red.

The art of dressing right for work can be an elusive one, something I concluded alongside three super-stylish women last week at the launch of Wizo’s Women’s Professional Network, which (for my sins – and mitzvahs) I’m chairing. (Please come along to the next event. End of plug.) The panel of fabulous Jewish women, Lisa Armstrong, the Telegraph’s head of fashion; Jessica Diner, Vogue’s beauty and wellbeing director; and Sarah Jossell, columnist and beauty director at Sunday Times Style, certainly know a thing or two about looking good. Unfortunately, the audience were impeccably dressed too, which made the task of adding value to their sartorial knowledge a little trickier – but thankfully, the panel had plenty to share. The general conclusions were that you no longer have to channel Melanie Griffith in Working Girl to be taken seriously in the workplace, but tailoring is still a great shortcut to looking put together. Feel comfy, whatever that means to you, because you can’t project confidence if you’re fiddling with your strapless bra or tripping over sky-high heels. And sometimes in life, it’s worth trying to “dress for what’s next” because looking the part can help you feel the part. Plus, you must buy the Ambient Lighting powder palette from Hourglass. No philosophical idiom with that one, it’ll just make you glow.

In truth, what we all need is Lisa, Jess and Sarah sitting in our wardrobes when we have 15 minutes to rush out the house and are wondering what cardi to wear over that shirt and whether the trainers look too “meh” or the heels look too “ooh la la”. Having the time to put yourself together is probably the key to dressing for success. In fact, the best piece of fashion advice I’ve probably ever come across was from David Beckham – not a shameless name drop, I’ve just watched the Netflix documentary like everyone else.

In fact, the best piece of fashion advice I’ve probably ever come across was from David Beckham – not a shameless name drop, I’ve just watched the Netflix documentary like everyone else.

In one scene, he’s planning his outfits for the week ahead and hanging them all up, perfectly styled and ironed, on a separate rail while the narrator’s commentary (unsubtly) draws our attention to his OCD nature. Meanwhile, I’m sure busy women everywhere were taking note. Nowadays, if I have a busy week that involves more than the usual work and back, coach-stop and back, gym and back, I try to plan ahead. (Obviously I then change my mind on the day but at least I know the outfit is nicely ironed for next time.) 

The other key to dressing for success, in my view, is just not caring too much. Because there’s always another day to look fabulous and there’s always another simchah to glam up for. Even as I’m going through the process of finding outfits for my daughter’s bat mitzvah I have been a little more decisive than is my nature by reminding myself that it doesn’t have to be “the one”, just “a one”. And Baruch Hashem, there are plenty of “ones’” in the wardrobe. For there are always unknowns. As I was interviewing the fabulous trio last week I realised the lace on my boot was coming undone, I was seriously shvitzing in my silk dress in that gorgeous bar at the Amano Hotel and the silky belt was indeed lovely, but not great at actually being a belt. David Beckham would have spotted that ahead of time and had it pinned in place.

But ultimately, the core theme of the panel talk rings true: wear with confidence and you’ll be seen with confidence, whether your belt is slipping off, your shoes are undone or you have a little glow in places you’d rather not. And, by the way, nowadays I often go to work in my “just off the yacht” dress. No one bats an eye, but if they did, I would no longer care. Because if I had to pick another fashion philosophy it would be: do whatever makes your day a little more St Tropez.

This week, I’m celebrating Jewish designers...

After the Princess of Wales sported a Susan Caplan brooch, here are three Israeli designers recommended by the fashion experts:

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Dana Levy

Gorgeous handmade jewellery with glass beads and semi-precious gemstones. Think bright colours, evil eye charms and decorative trinkets. You can even personalise your beaded treasure.

Personalised Handmade Fashion Jewellery & Accessories

danalevy.co.uk

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Aurum + Grey

This under-the-radar brand has an amazing collection of fine jewellery. Think delicately designed initial necklaces and bracelets, magen David charms and lots more. The chains come in a range of lengths, which make them perfect for layering, and there are a few special pieces featuring lab- grown diamonds. Each piece also comes gift-wrapped to perfection. Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

aurumandgrey.com

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My Jools by Ilana Album

My Jewels was founded by Australian Israeli Ilana Album in 2016 to fill a niche in the market for jewellery that’s both on trend and built to last in 14-carat gold. She describes her style as “contemporary modern classic with a twist” and specialises in ear styling, as well as lots of beautiful necklaces. There’s also a new range of coloured semi-precious stone necklaces and bracelets.

myjoolsbyilana.com