Suits for sixth form...

[BelleTheBeatnik]

Ladies of the Style & Beauty boards, your wisdom is required!

DNiece is in Year 11, and will be staying on for sixth form next year. However, this week they were informed that the uniform will be changed so that sixth formers will now wear 'business suits' to distinguish them from the other students.

No formal uniform list availiable yet, but it sounds like it'll be pretty strict - suits and shirt/blouses. DNiece, who holds a permenant residence in Topshop, is distraught: a nice trouser suit from Next (as suggested by the Head) is not her thing - nor is a below-the-knee pencil skirt, as she's 5 foot 4.

I've been looking for her, but haven't found anything yet which is suitable without being downright dowdy! Your help would be very much appreciated, by my DNiece, her mother, and me - I am supposed to be a fashion journalist and they both have high expectations that I will sort next year's wardrobe out for her!

TIA

Poor girl! How much can she spend on a suit?

They wear suits in ds's school too. The boys are in almost identical suits from Top Man or M&S and the girls are in micro minis with a shortish jacket, low cut blouse, and in winter a red v neck over the blouse.

I'm sure the regs don't advocate micro minis but a blind eye is turned.

Depends what sort of budget she's on really - this is pretty fab as far as city type dresses go.

Dorothy Perkins!

She may find they don't specify suits but instead say smart+jackets, which gives a fair amount more freedom.

H&M have funky young people suits.

Topshop do actually sometimes do 'work style' trousers and blazers.

DD1 tends to wear a black pencil skirt or mini skirt (!) or cigarette style trousers, with a black jacket - we got her jackets from Uniqlo and from Gap but she also saw a couple of contenders in River Island (foul shop but actually their suit style trousers were the best we found for long, skinny dd1).

H&M are good for blazers but (for dd at least) their trousers were shockingly bad.