For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.
Jones New York is having a pretty good sale on suits and dresses, with an extra 30% off (plus free shipping for any purchase over $75). We like this tan skirt suit, which has a really interesting texture to the fabric. We’d wear it with colorful pumps (purple or blue, perhaps) and a white shell. Was $240, now $160, and the additional 30% off brings it to $112. Crystal Sand 2 Piece Skirt Suit, Ships 4/8
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Today’s reader mail comes from a reader who will be second-chairing a federal trial that is expected to last for more than a month…
First, do you think I should wear skirt suits every day or can I wear pant suits and save the skirt suits for days that I may actually get to examine a witness?
Second, how many suits do you think I need to keep on hand so that it doesn’t look like I am wearing the same suits over and over again? Any suggestions for making the same suit look different other than wearing different accessories?
And finally, any suggestions on where to find nice looking suits in petite sizes without spending an arm and a leg since I will not need that many suits after the trial is finished.
A good friend of ours did mock trial in law school (and did very well), and passed along her (esteemed) coach’s advice: wear skirt suits and be sure to cross/uncross your legs often if the other side is making a good point, and wear a lot of perfume. See? Golden advice. Whoever says sexism is alive and well is just crazy.
In all seriousness, though, wardrobe during trial is one of those times where the guys really do have it easier, because we guarantee you that they’ll wear, at max, three suits and five ties throughout the entire trial and not give a second thought to it. For you, though, we recommend sticking to dark suits, which, practically speaking, means we’d limit ourselves to three or four suits. One black, one navy, and maybe one in brown or gray. (If you’re prickly about your accessories matching, go with all black accessories and choose the gray suit.) Where possible, we’d get both the skirt and the pants to the set — J.Crew, Banana, Ann Taylor, or Theory all make separates (and, we think, petites). (For the petites question, we’ll be lazy here and link to our old post on professional dressing for petites for reference, as well as the blogs Petite Asian Girl and Alterations Needed, both of which we have recently discovered and been meaning to point readers towards.)
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For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.
Dillards is having some great online sales, and if you try to ignore the fact that, without fail, the model is wearing ugly sandals with pants that are too short. We like this charcoal Antonio Melani suit — we think it would go great with a dark purple or royal blue top. The jacket (Antonio Melani “Zelia” Jacket
) is marked down to $83.58 (sizes 4, 10, 12, 14 only), and the pants (Antonio Melani “Antonio” Pants
) are now $54.18 (sizes 6 and 12 only).
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For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.
It seems like a lot of online stores are clearing out their inventory of suits, meaning there are some good deals to be had, but finding a jacket and skirt in the same size can be a bit trying. (Saks, we’re looking at you.) We’re also a bit curious about all the mini
skirts
we’re seeing with suits — who do they think is buying these things? Ok, rant over. This suit is not on sale, but is a lovely basic gray — and we’re loving it with the red. The jacket (Elie Tahari Exclusive for Nordstrom ‘Lorinda’ Jacket
) is $298, and the pants (Elie Tahari Exclusive for Nordstrom ‘Theora’ Pants
) are $198.
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Today’s reader mail is an interesting one…
I am not really stressed about this, but I would appreciate some input. I have an informal interview on Friday morning – what is your opinion on the dress code for an informal interview? It is taking place at the actual law firm and, just for reference, this firm has about 60 attorneys and is one of the “big firms” in my small Southern state, which in my experience, means that it is a touch more formal, at least as far as dressing goes. My thoughts are that since it is a Friday and the recruiter has specifically dubbed it “informal” then I should not wear a suit but, obviously, wear a nice and professional skirt/pants/blouse combo. Thoughts? Advice? Well wishes :o).
First: good luck!
Our gut feeling is that the answer depends on what the reader is currently doing. If you’re currently a lawyer, suit up. We’d say a pants suit is probably fine for an informal interview — doesn’t even have to be a “power” color like black or navy – but, still: suit up. It doesn’t matter that the interview has told you it’s going to be informal, because you can always pass it off as having a big meeting or court appearance later that day. If you’re a student and you don’t own a suit, go as professional as possible. But honestly, if you already own a suit, we’d say to wear that anyway. After all, you always have the option to take the jacket off. (Pictured above: Lightweight wool suit 
, available at Banana Republic.)
But really, unless the company you’re “informally” interviewing with is amazingly casual — a surfing company, or a place that is famous for a khaki-panted workforce – the answer for us is almost always going to be a suit, if only to show the interviewer that you take the prospective job seriously. It also avoids distracting the interviewer — e.g., if you should have worn a suit and didn’t, she or he may sit there wondering, geez, do they not have a suit? Do they not care about the interview? We’re curious, though — what do readers think?
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Even though the styling reminds us a bit of the baddies from “Dude, Where’s My Car,” this is a pretty basic pantsuit on a great sale. (Thanks to reader K for the tip!) It’s still available in sizes 2-12, and it’s marked down from $548 to $237 at Neiman Marcus. Tahari Two-Piece Tech Pantsuit
If you’ve recently seen a great work piece you’d like to recommend to the readers, please e-mail editor@corporette.com with “TPS” in the subject line. Unless you ask otherwise, we’ll refer to you by your first initial.
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For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.
We haven’t seen a suit like this in a while, so we thought we’d post. We like the way the outfit goes to extremes — when worn with the jacket, it’s very professional and buttoned-up. But the dress, by itself, is feminine and plays up a woman’s curves with a silk bodice and an interestingly-detailed belt. To us, this is a great “big day” suit — make your argument with the jacket on, and then go straight from the courthouse or boardroom to a dinner date with your significant other to celebrate the success of the presentation. The jacket (Elie Tahari ‘Nadine’ Jacket) is $498, and the dress (Elie Tahari ‘Faith’ Dress
) is $448; both are available at Nordstrom’s.
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Today’s reader mail deals with the inevitable problem: buying the same clothes as your coworkers.
I have just started my career and I am building up my wardrobe essentials one button down at a time so i am kinda slow because i had to start from scratch (my college wardrobe wasn’t ahem ‘ladylike’). I have this amazing pinstripe navy skirt suit. it’s basically my pride! my big-day suit (and for now the only real suit I got….). Today a coworker showed up wearing the same!!! (of course i look better in mine) but i don’t know what to do.. do I have to keep wearing mine and run the risk of bumping into that colleague dressed alike, or do I wear it as separates, or do buy another ‘big day’ suit? For the info: the coworker is two ranks higher than me in hierarchy so it’s flattering we got same suits, I rarely run into her. My problem is how will it be perceived, and what is an appropriate way to make a joke about it… or ignore it.. i am just confused.
We used to work around the corner from an Ann Taylor, and whenever they had a big sale half the girls at the office would show up in the same pieces. It’s an inevitable fact of office life, particularly when there are a finite number of stores catering to professional women. For our $.02: Don’t sweat about it. The only possible exception might be if it’s just you and that colleague, staffed on an assignment that would involve having a “big day” at the same time — e.g., her deposing someone while you assist — in which case you might want to coordinate your fashion in advance, possibly by saying something jokingly like, “Yay, can’t wait to pull out my navy J.Crew suit!”) Otherwise, if you just happen to work in the same office, you might want to try experimenting with different color combos to wear under the jacket or shoes — we’ve sung the praises of purple shoes a number of times; brooches and scarves can also add another dimension to normal suits. If you really feel weird about it, you might want to notice how your colleague dresses — plain vanilla (white blouse, navy or black shoes?) or with pizazz (purple shoes, yellow top) — and go the other way. If you happen to show up at a meeting with 5 or less people, wearing the same suit as your colleague, just nod at her with a smile, say “Great suit,” and move on.
As you build your working wardrobe, yes, it’s fine to wear the suit as separates. We will say, though, that we hope you’re not wearing the same suit every week at the office. (We mean this in the best “big sister” way possible, honestly.) If you’re in a position where a suit looks appropriate that often, you should really have at least two or three suits. (Yes, it stinks that guys can get away with just having one or two suits — it just isn’t the same for women.) If you have a bit of money to spend (say, $500-$1000), look at a place like J.Crew or Banana Republic where you can get multiple pieces (one or two jackets, skirt, pair of pants or two) for the money, and mix and match within those pieces. If you don’t, head to your local Filene’s or TJ Maxx, or even Macy’s — there are plenty of suits available for $99 – $150. (For example, pictured above: Jones New York Black Two Button Skirt Suit, available at SmartBargains.com in sizes 4-16, was $240, now $99.) (Our older advice on this topic can be found here.)
Readers, what do you think?
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Something on your mind? Chat about it here.
Pictured: Galaxy Mug, available at Target for $29.99 (set of 6)
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