I spent about three years thinking broderie meant summer wedding, full stop, nothing else, and I have a photo from 2019 to prove it, standing in a car park in what was essentially a very expensive tablecloth with sleeves. So the idea of wearing it to my desk on a Tuesday felt properly wrong for ages, like turning up to a meeting in a bridesmaid dress. I was completely wrong about that, and I’m addressing it directly now: I’m sorry, broderie, I underestimated you.
The trick is the top itself, not the occasion. A good broderie top for work has to earn its place through the fabric, not the shape, because if the cutwork is too open or the base too flimsy it reads holiday, not office. What you want is a decent, slightly heavier cotton with the embroidery worked into it properly rather than sitting on top like an afterthought, so it holds its structure through a full day of sitting down, standing up, and being crushed under a coat on the tube.
My colleague Priya clocked mine across the office and said “that looks expensive, is it itchy,” which is honestly the exact review I want, because it wasn’t itchy, and that’s the whole point of the good ones.
Styling wise, this is where you get to be a bit clever. Tuck it into proper trousers, something with a bit of weight to it, and suddenly the top stops looking like something you’d wear to a garden party and starts looking considered.
A blazer over the top does a lot of the heavy lifting too, it disguises how pretty the thing is underneath and lets you take it off in meetings when you fancy showing your hand a bit. I’d steer away from anything too bare underneath unless your office is genuinely tropical, a thin layer underneath keeps the whole thing from tipping into evening territory.
Where it properly earns its keep is the transitional bit of the week, the Thursday when you’ve got a normal desk day followed by drinks you can’t be bothered changing for. Swap the trousers for a skirt, drop the blazer, and it’s done the whole day without you touching your bag once.
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