Mardi Gras Dress Options for the Workplace

Love Mardi Gras? Want to celebrate the season without presenting yourself in a completely inappropriate carnival-esque outfit at work? The secret is to incorporate Mardi Gras basics into the color scheme and cut of your regular work clothes. Your outfits don't have to scream "Party!" for you to feel the party atmosphere inside.

Purple

Purple and green are the two most recognizable Mardi Gras colors, and, luckily for you, purple is a readily available shade in all types of appropriate business-wear. Scan your closet and the discount racks for close-out winter shirts featuring shades of violet and eggplant. A rich satin purple shirt will really help you feel the season inside. A silhouette-hugging cotton or cotton-blend dress will also do this while lending itself to virtual year-round wear in the right cut. An added bonus is that purple dresses translate exceedingly well from night to day, especially with the addition of a few key accessories.

Green

It is a bit harder to incorporate green into business wear during the Mardi Gras season because a rich green is so widely used at Christmas. It is easy to feel like you are wearing a dress two months too late when it is a hunter or Mardi Gras green. To avoid this, again, look for satin. The luster of a green satin shirt will bring to mind Mardi Gras beads more than a cotton blend. Depending on the degree of playfulness your work place allows, you could even double-string a rope of Mardi Gras beads around your neck to double the effect.

Flow

Mardi Gras robes and costumes flow. While most of them flow a little bit too much for incorporation into the work places as dresses, you can opt for the same effect with a billowy shirt. Don't go full-on peasant or bohemian with your blouse, but do look for one that has a bell-type sleeve, a puffed sleeve or a similar element. Ideally the garment should be a white or ivory color. Again, this look really requires that you know the limits of your workplace dress code and operate within them. The wrong shirt can look costumey or inappropriate. Know your boundaries and stay inside the lines. If you do find the perfect flowing top, pair it with an otherwise conservative outfit.

These three suggestions can help you bring a bit of the Mardi Gras flavor into your wardrobe even when you have to follow dress code rules.