Venus In Virgo: Business Casual Style
Last year I embarked on a styling journey of dressing according to my Venus sign and I’ve continued to do it ever since. However, since I am wanting to do more speaking engagements I realized I would need to uplevel my wardrobe for the stage and the audience I was speaking to and this was a bit of a difficult ask. It was difficult, first, because I am plus size and the options for beautiful, professional clothing are…minimal and usually always black and second, because I am not a traditional corporate girly. I don’t love wearing boxy blazers or really clothes with minimal stretch. I even went so far as to inquire with stylists to see how they would dress me for the stage or at least give me some direction…alas, twas not in the budget at the moment, so I returned to my Venus in Virgo words to help direct me. [I’ve written about what this all means and how to find your Venus sign here]
The first thing I did was come up with 3 words that I wanted people to think of when they saw me on stage and listening to my talks. The words I came up with were: comfortable, calm, and approachable ~ but elevated. Using these 3 words helped me make decisions around fit, fabric, and movement because while I may feel cute in certain things or wish I liked them, they don’t make sense for me bopping around a stage.
As I scoured the internet and clothing stores for anything that resembled plus size business clothes in any color other than black I began to get really down. I was frustrated because I couldn’t even imagine what I could look like wearing anything that wasn’t reserved for plus sizes. I literally confessed to a few of my besties that I was having a really hard time trying to even dream about what I could look like that didn’t involve drowning in a suit jacket or disappearing into a sea of all black. I searched “plus size motivational speakers” and the results were abysmal. I looked for plus size motivational speaker style - even less options. But I wasn’t going to let the lack of representation deter me.
Instead, I took to Pinterest to start looking for styles that I liked ~ regardless of the body that they were on. Here’s a snapshot of that mood board:
Feel free to follow that board here: https://ca.pinterest.com/terihofford/elevated-fashion-ideas-for-the-stage/
Once I had a concept of a few looks, it was time to start putting out feelers to see what I could find…and this is when I ran into 2 things: the obstacle of a fashion industry that cares not for plus sizes and the power of manifestation. As I mentioned, my previous search results had come up with very little in the way of color, style or elevated goodness for plus size bodies. However, once I locked onto the specifics of what I was looking for, it was like the clouds parted and the Universe was like “Alright, here ya go!” Torrid suddenly (literally a week after I made my Pinterest board) came out with a dress pant (in tall size!), blazer, silk camisole in the exact shades of green I had come across in my Pinterest search. As I hit the thrift stores, my eye was drawn to a plethora of periwinkle, oatmeal, tan, cream, sage, and moss green. Once again, the constraints of my Venus in Virgo helped me narrow in on the items I was drawn to the most.
And let’s not forget the accessories! The only thing I hate worse than trying on pants, is trying on shoes because with an 11 WW it can be difficult to find cute shoes in anything other than a sneaker. Again, Torrid came through with beautiful camel colored sandals with a tiny wedge heel and Penningtons carried a cute little brown penny loafer for a closed toe option. And did I ever think that I would be someone who would wear a belt for something other than function? Heck no! But look how cute that belt looks?
Listen, I know we are mad at Target right now (and rightly so), however, I did get this beautiful satin blue skirt there in a size XXL and it fit perfectly. The top I found at a second hand store here in Calgary and the blue colors make me feel so calm and beautiful (while also being comfortable.) One of the things from my Venus in Virgo was the idea of playing with different textiles, so the practicality of a cotton jersey top with a more formal satin skirt creates a very relaxed fit.
And if you would ever tell me that I’d be rocking tan colored dress pants and feeling good about myself, I’d tell you to take a hike - BUT LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY LOOK? I found this pair at the local Value Village and I love the way they fit. I paired them with this cropped collared top for a mix of textiles again. But these brown pants work in a lot of different ways:
One of the things I’ve come to realize I enjoy in an outfit for the stage is the present of pockets - because I tend to be overly dramatic with my hands, having a pocket to put my hand into keeps me more grounded, so when it came time to find some dresses, that was a must as well. I was able to find some beautiful dresses in the soft colors of my Venus sign: sage, moss, tan, periwinkle, baby blue, steel blue, etc.
This dress was at Torrid and it was the same color as the pants + suit jacket that I bought. The fabric was so light and flowy and the length of the skirt was perfect for a stage. If I am up higher than the folks watching, then I don’t want them getting a sneak peek at my bloomers.
Lastly, I wanted more of a casual outfit that was still classy and for more informal speaking events (like in person podcasts or networking events). I love the top because it’s romantical with the doily cut out sleeve (you can see in the photos below) and then pairing it with this Eloquii brown pleather skirt that I thrifted at the local Value Village was so freakin’ cutie. I paired all of this with my brown bomber jacket that I scored at the Rikki’s closing down sale.
