Can you wear sheer shirts to work? Absolutely. Pair that blouse with a silk camisole and it is completely fine to wear in a professional working environment, and it looks great. Wearing a see-through blouse with nothing underneath but a bra is NOT appropriate for a professional setting, and I have no idea how Julie got away with wearing it. (And she claims no one noticed or called her out for it. Maybe they did notice, but weren’t sure how to say, “Hey, you do realize that we can all see what’s under your shirt, right?”) Maybe her job as an assistant beauty and style magazine editor allows for her to show off her underwear and pretend she’s a sparkly nude figure skater, but elsewhere in the professional world it’s simply inappropriate and can even be distracting to others. For the record, I am a young woman who can get away with certain fashion trends because I am not very ‘curvy’ – I just think there’s a time and place for every outfit.

Love this topic. It is a pet peeve of mine. I consider myself to be and dress professional. Issue I have is just about every store that sells career apparel that does not look like something Grandma would wear……..is sheer. Although I know many wear them to work (I am a Property Manager) I feel very uncomfortable. I just came from the mall at the Express shop where they sell very expensive career and non career apparel. The blouses are all sheer and when I tried pairing them with suggested camis it did not look right! It was visable the cami and the sheerness. I would not be able to take off my blazer. I want something that I can take off my blazer and still look professional. Another thing I hate is when trying on clothes at stores………always dimly lit and hard to tell until I get them home that they are completely see through. Aggravating.

What is wrong with black tights? Or do you mean like black tights without a skirt?

And yeah, I live in Europe, and here it is quite usual to wear short skirts and colored bras and still getting a job :)

I am in a similar boat (unemployed, trying to build a career, student loans). Some people think I am 19 (late 20’s), and I do not want to be seen as playing dress up either…. but I live in Canada and our stores are different. I will say that I LOVE JCrew and wait for their sales. Their shirts and suiting fits my shoulders, and I would rather get one good article that I can mix and match. This helps me feel that I am not cheap.

My trick is that I set up a separate email account where I can sign up to corporate emails. I get alerts from JCrew and some other Canadian stores (Moule, Aritzia, Mango, Gravity Pope, etc) when they are having a sale. That is the only time I even LOOK at clothing. I also have rules that 90% of my clothing budget must be classic. This way I don’t have to worry about trends, but can still have an odd trendy blouse or shirt that keeps me from looking too boring. Finally, I prolong the life of my clothes (saves money from less replacing). Examples are that I only use Woolite and follow laundering instructions on tags (i.e. hand wash does not mean the gentle cycle of the washing machine).

Thank you for saying that! I am a late 20’s recent grad, and I am small (00 or xs) and find that most office attire does not fit me properly (i.e. too big in shoulders or thighs). Because of this, I have to resort to “teenager” stores like Aritzia that have very few office appropriate trousers and blouses (in Canada – now I can get some things from JCrew since they came here in 2012, thank goodness).

Anyway, I was searching for an answer to the question about appropriateness of sheer blouses because I just got one that is beautiful and was having a hard time deciding on a cami colour (or whether I could wear it in an office at all). I will wear the blouse under a navy blazer (planning / landscape architecture profession). While shopping, the sales people were horrendous! They were all trying to dress me as if I were going to the club! I have also witnessed my peers wearing UGGs to job interviews, wearing black tights to give presentations, and doing the coloured bra under sheer look (some of whom have found jobs)! I feel like an old prude, but will stick with my camis and blazers – I hope someone will eventually hire me!