22 year old DD - Stylish work clothes

[Pangaea]

DD has graduated and is starting real-grown-up-proper-work in September. Office is very formal. Men in suits.

She has some formal office wear at the minute, but only enough to tide her through interviews. Absolutely needs more before starting full time.

She prefers dresses as they are easy and make a whole outfit, but is looking for blazers, printed pencil skirts, and blouses that go with everything too. Think capsule wardrobe.

She did really well in Zara this week. Got 3 dresses for about £15/£20 each and a skirt for £10. BHS and similar places seem a bit 'old' for her taste. Has bits and pieces from ASOS.

Any ideas on where else to try?

Just for reference, this is her favourite interview dress so far:

www.zara.com/uk/en/sale/woman/dresses/dress-with-appliqué-on-neckline-c436550p1784015.html

How about looking here:
shop.mango.com/GB/women
www.massimodutti.com/gb/en/?redirect=true

Benetton, Mango, Massimo Dutti. Poss. H&M too. Can be difficult this time of year because of all the sale tat.

Well done to your daughter on her new job!

I know she's not so interested in suits but they help give gravitas particularly if she's likely to be youngest in office. When I started first job it was a real surprise how differently I was treated just because I had a suit on. I never got ticket checked on train for example...

I like damsel in a dress for suits, they are my favourite after 10 years of searching. and they go in the wash. Not cheap but you won't need to bother with dry cleaning costs and hassle plus mine has lasted nearly 3 years now and still looks new. Kaliko and minuet are good too. I get 2 trousers and 1 skirt, 1 jacket and then you are done until you get bored. Wash all pieces together. She will only need 3 tops to get her through the week then.

Planet and kaliko are good for machine washable dresses, wait until the sales are really deeply discounted particularly if she is slim coz she will have her pick...although if she's already got 3 then she's probably fine and just needs a smart cardigan. Best to see how the women dress when she starts before buying loads.

Thank you so much - plenty of places I've never heard of before which is exactly what I was hoping for!

Will absolutely treat her to a suit. Very interesting about the respect thing Elle. They've taken on 6 grads, as they do every year, so she won't be the youngest. But she does need a certain gravitas about how she dresses, I agree.

She's going in for a week in August in the mornings for intro stuff, so she'll get a better feel for the office then. I'm sure a large portion of the first pay check will be filling out her wardrobe too!

Also - a good black suit jacket/blazer will work with most coloured bottoms, won't it? For mix and match purposes?

Should be fine but personally prefer blazers for mix and match and not to mix suit jackets, can look a bit off IMO.

Good idea to plan if she wants black or navy to be her neutral colour and then stick to one or the other. Stylish people can mix them but many professionals are rarely stylish and might just think she got dressed in the dark.

Helpful to pick a style and stick with it coz higher chances everything will go with everything else. I found it helped to have a style role-model eg. Audrey Hepburn the accountant, or Jennifer Anniston the architect.

Next, Reiss & Banana Republic are good for smart work separates.

Might be an idea to book a free stylist session with John Lewis to give her ideas on styles & colours which suit her size & colouring.

www.johnlewis.com/our-services/fashion-advice-service

I would also recommend a good haircut, manicure, supprting underwear & clean but comfortable footwear.

Just simple grooming as I've seen many women with smart suits but messy hair or too heavy panto makeup or mistaking party wear as formal wear. Knee length is appropriate for the office, anything shorter is for when she is off duty.

Have you read MN Belindas Blog? It is called The Workwear Edit.

here

There are also 3 threads here in S&B it has workwear edit in the title. Belinda is in the middle of a capsule wardrobe post so it will be posted shortly. Lots of great ideas from the high street.

I hope she has a fabulous time in her new job - good luck!!

Jigsaw and Hobbs for quality workwear and suits.

I would invest in a suit jacket and a matching skirt and trousers - the mix and match possibilities are endless with a few shell tops.

Banana Republic have a lot of formal work wear.

Reiss has lovely suits but they are expensive. My 16yo needs suits for her 6th form and got a lovely slim fitting one in there in the sale.

Oasis are good for smart but cheap shirts and tops that work well with suits and trousers, if she has a couple of options now, buying a few different tops to go with should tide her over.

They also do good workwear skirts and trousers.

Next have a lot of their tailoring in the sale, might tide her over until that first paycheck.

The House of Fraser sale is on at the moment - loads of workwear at reasonable prices. I tend to order a load of stuff, try it at home and then return what I don't like - more choice that way than in store.

Their sale ffs.

Thank you everybody, some absolute pearls of wisdom here.

I will take her out for a suit asap. Treat her to something quality. Get a jacket, skirt and trousers so she can mix and match. All black we think. Then let her add dresses/blouses/skirts/cardigans at will for non-client facing days when she can dress a little less conservatively.

littlepinkbear I'd never seen the blog before, thank you. Will watch with interest!

whereisshe House of Fraser was a brilliant idea, have just sent her a link to the sale and she's very impressed with the prices!

With regard to grooming MissVenus, I'm not worried at all. She is a very well put together young lady. If she were to have a style icon, it would be Jackie Kennedy.

Thank you to everybody wishing her good luck! She got her undergraduate degree last year and this is the masters. Worked bloody hard too. She's going in on an absolutely insane graduate salary, has wonderful prospects and has sorted living in the most beautiful house with 3 uni friends in Zone 2. I'm very proud!

Littlepinkpear I Like the workwear blog, just what I needed when I was starting out. Synchronicity too that she has an Audrey Hepburn post. Thanks for pointing it out, I only just discovered her thread last night and was looking for the link.