Well, giving up on collecting more corporate or business-like toppers can backfire.
I may have the opportunity for a meeting to explore a new work opportunity and for that I will want a jacket-type outfit--ideally something that really looks good! Frustratingly, I find myself without too many choices since all of my suit-type looks from a few years past were either dated or fit poorly, so I gave those up. I looked around a bit for replacements but didn't get good fits in several brands, and also find it hard to get proportions right with mix & match, so since nothing was falling in my lap, I opted for more casual jacket looks, or a cardigan here or there or neither, just outdoor coat or trench, or leather jacket, since I usually don't wear a topper during actual work.
I'm still working on seeing what I can use from a couple of pinstripe black jackets, black pants, gray tops, and deciding whether pencil skirt look would work. It's still cold for me to wear nude hose so I'm a sea of black if I wear tights!
The biggest challenge is proportions--wrong topper for pants or skirt--and lesser but still problem is colors--so much black! Or topper and bottom don't quite blend. Wish I could have had on hand a luscious mid-tone neutral.
Top contender right now may be the AT tapered pants + Tahari jacket (both with faux leather accents, coincidentally) because the stance and shape of the Tahari looks better than an AT suit jacket I have, and a dressed-down plain gray drapey T -top (not the camels!). On me the pants are more full-length. Or maybe the Anthro jacket (which is black, not blue) with skirt or trousers--with that, might have a tweed option for pants or skirt since wouldn't compete with the pinstripe.
Alternatively I might find one of my cardigans that works, but more of a jacket would be best.
Anyway, sorry for just mostly whinging, as I still have to pull out more things to try--I think I'm not yet seeing all my possibilities and need to think outside the box. But it was interesting to me, that it takes a lot of effort to keep "on hand" coordinating items that have some longevity and that I would have to really hunt much more diligently to maintain a version of the power suit, matched or unmatched, and even more challenging to have several such options.
