That's terrible - one can do everything "right" and according to the unspoken rules and still suffer for it. I'm really sorry.

I work in finance - which means I need to be pretty spiffed up most of the time. I live in dresses and I have several knit or wool jackets that cut to look good with them. A client meeting in the winter would warrant a black shift with a tan or black belt and a long black wool knit duster with beige lapels. In the…