Summer days are meant for frolicking on a beach somewhere, working on your tan, loosing track of time or cracking open a cold one—am I right or am I right? But for the days that require us to focus on that thing called a j-o-b, nothing helps motivate more than a little love in the work wear department. While I do answer to myself everyday, various meetings and conferences call for something professional, sophisticated and confident. I try to remember three things when I’m stocking up on office-friendly threads; 1. Keep it classy. I weigh on the conservative side when choosing pieces. While I do love short skirts, there’s a time and place for them.  2. No-fuss fit. Confidence is key when it comes to work attire so choose something that you won’t be fidgeting with. I’ve experienced this when presenting a project to a group of people, I kept having to push my sleeves up and they’d fall right back down. It distracted me more than anything! 3. Be yourself. The pieces you invest in should be an elevated version of what you normally wear. Skip below to see some finds from Nordstrom that are not only great options for the office but could easily cross over to a cocktail party, rehearsal dinner or just a fancy Sunday.

CeCe Collar dress, Pierre Hardy heels (similar here and here), Celine bag (similar find by Chloe here), Cluse watch (similar here).

P.S. The entire time I was working on this post, all I could think about was Rihanna’s Work song.

Photography by Arna Bee // Thank you to Nordstrom for supporting this post.