Fashion: Looking the business

May 1 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

From boardroom to bar room, you, too, can make a style statement. Laura Davis shows you how

Above left: Hugo Boss dress, £249; sunglasses, £150; and bag, £349. Above right: Steal & Jelly suit, £150; from Dapper Menswear

IT IS often tempting to dress in the muted tones of urban life that surround us as we walk through the city to our offices.

And despite the regular attacks on the colour black, there’s a reason we favour it in our working wardrobe.

It’s slimming for a start and, along with charcoal greys and muddy browns, never fails to look smart. But that doesn’t mean it has to be drab.

Above left: Gucci suit, £750, from Flannels. Above right: Jacket, £139; and trousers, £89; from Hobbs

Tailoring is the key to success – suit jackets nipped in at the waist and pinafore dresses that stop above the knee – ensuring that you look effortless stylish enough to stand out while still fitting in with the rest.

And when you’re ready to shine – at an important meeting or lunch appointment – a splash of colour will energise your look.

* THE location for this week’s fashion shoot is Liverpool’s business district, an area of the city that’s currently buzzing with energy thanks to a recent burst of construction.

Above left: Dress, £129; by Hobbs. Above right: Gucci suit, £1,100; from Flannels

There’s the Malmaison hotel at Princes Dock, luxury apartments in the Unity Building and West Tower, and, of course, the Panoramic restaurant in Brook Street, still booked out for months ahead.

Notes

Location: Liverpool's  business district

Models: Leon (Industry  People Model Agency), Sam  (Storm), Miriam (PHA  Models), Leanne (Pulse)

Photographer: Steve  Collinson, assisted by Paul  Dann, Paul Turner and  Maria Rossi

Hair: Minsky's, 87 Bold  Street, Liverpool, tel: 0151  709 4010

Make-up: Antonia, of Icon  Brides, 19,Dudley Rd,  Liverpool, tel: 0151 281  8198

Stockists: Hobbs, Hugo  Boss, Flannels in  Metquarter, Whitechapel,  Liverpool; Dapper  Menswear, 41 Bold Street,  Liverpool, tel: 0151 709  7989

lauradavis@dailypost.co.uk