How much do you spend on clothes if you're a professional, and consider yourself well-dressed?

[Elfina]

I guess this follows on from my thread asking how anyone can afford to shop in stores like Boden. Our household income is good (70K, but live in London with a nursery aged child so cost of living high).

I realise that I can't remember the last time I bought something new for myself. I only ever buy from eBay. I don't go to the hairdresser (I do drink wine, so its not like I'm completely deprived). I'm 30, if that's relevant, and I don't like 'throw away' type fashion clothes (though like to look current and well turned out). I'm just curious to hear what well-dressed, professional people do! How much do you spend, and where do you spend it?

I don't buy "fashion forward" or "on trend" so my work clothes last a good few years. I probably buy about one pair of trousers, one dress, one jacket or coat and a handful of tops each year. That accumulates to a too full wardrobe :(
Pay about £50 for trousers, £50-£80 for shoes/boots, and maybe £75ish for a jacket.

Those who want to look professional but also be comfortable - come and join the "architect" thread in S&B.

Not that I'm justifying my spending but I wanted to add that I only really buy natural fibres (my Zara leather look skirt is an exception, after all, a real white leather skirt would be insanely expensive and ruined in next to no time!) and shoes made from good leather. So with this in mind, if I buy a nice cashmere sweater and a pair of shoes, that's quite a huge chunk of the money gone. Handbags also tend to be expensive - my best buy was a Prada saddle bag purchased almost 15 years ago during their sale. It was reduced from £600 to £200 and it's still one of my favourite things ever. I tend to buy bags during the sales, so they're a rare purchase
and use them till they fall apart. That said, I do love cheap canvas shoulder bags too!
Additionally I'd rather buy something expensive and wear it all the time instead of lots of cheap pieces I get bored of quickly. I wish I'd have realised this much sooner.

This is a really interesting thread. Thank you OP for starting it!

Have bought some lovely pieces over the years.nit £300 though and not jackets, have never bought/needed a jacket. But find that recently the quality is just not the same.
Wonder whether I need to try different shops?

Agree on bags" one of my best (non-work!) purchases was a red leather YSL clutch from the Harvey Nicks sale (first and only time I've been there!). It was about £200 but every evening do or wedding I go to, it is my first port of call. It does fine in the pub with jeans or at a black tie do and manages to survive drops and sitting in puddles of booze and all sorts. Have had it 5 years and can see it lasting 15 more. Obviously ludicrously expensive but cost per use? It will be pennies by the time I am done with it(I intend to spend a lot of my kids' teenage years going to nice places without them and with my little YSL number!)

I never feel the need to justify my spending on here. I am hoping to get a chanel bag for christmas - and I really would prefer that to a bench

University lecturer, so I can get away with jeans if I wear a smart jacket.

My "uniform" is either jacket or cashmere/merino cardigan, nice quality t-shirt or fine knit (big boobs so look bad in blouses), jeans and when I lose the eternal baby weight I will buy decent trousers again and heels. I often wear silk scarves too. Alternatively I wear a dress with a jacket/cardigan.

I buy high end of the high street in the sales -- L K Bennett for dresses, John Smedley outlet for all my knits (with the occasional Gap 100% merino or uniqlo), Noa Noa for statement jackets and cotton shirts, East (yes, really!) for plain high quality t-shirts, and the odd thing from Jaeger, Whistles, Jigsaw (good for t-shirts and camis), Hobbs (tho quality very variable), etc.

Shoes I buy from L K Bennett in the sales or Charles Clinkard. I currently buy all my jeans from Gap because I've found a style that suits me and until I lose the weight I'm buggered if I'm going to spend money on jeans (mind you the quality is awful), T K Maxx if desperate.

Check out Noa Noa if you have one near you - they're a bit unusual, the quality is excellent and it's good VFM.

For slobbing around the house I favour Dorothy Perkins t-shirts - cheap and they last - and men's PJ bottoms from TK Maxx!

Me too MrsCampbellBlack I'll be passing through Heathrow T4 just after Christmas and I'm already putting money aside just in case I give in to Chanel temptation!

But mrsc a bench is so much more worthy...

I'm a corporate lawyer, in house so no clients. Standard work outfit is a dress and heels, possibly with a statement neckless. I dress well (objectively speaking) but am neither confident or particularly inspiring.

Most of my dresses are LK Bennett, Reis, Jaeger or Michael Kors with the occasional stretch dress from M&S for travel.

For separates I favour ted baker, Marc Jacobs, monsoon, banana republic and whistles. I also like McQ where I get a good discount courtesy of MrP.

Having said that I probably have something from pretty much every hight st store.

I spend aprox £500 PCM and for that should probably have a better wardrobe but I'm a bit magpie-ish picking up things I like with no regard as to how or with what to wear them.

I do like a nice bag, mulberry and Celine are current favourites and those purchases push up the monthly spend.

DD and I are off to see the Nutcracker in London in December, have already scoped out which Chanel shops are nearest the theatre - yes, I am that shallow

Professional job, mostly office baseEgypt but occasional. External meetings, am 30.

Probably spend a couple of hundred per month.

I get skirts and coats in Karen Millen, they fit me well. Blazers from Reiss. Have a few dresses but mostly skirts and tops. Knitwear would usually be from Reiss or Whistles, tops and blouses from Reiss, KM, Mango, Oasis, and occasionally even Warehouse.

Woul spend about £80 on work shoes, egKurt Geiger or Dune type brands.

I used to spend more, but I'm now equally happy to buy these brands off EBay as in the shops, so I save a bit now.

I spend half of what I did as my job now requires that I look approachable and professional. Previously I had to look more aspirational

Wow, absolutely never, ever work in Egypt.

No idea where that came from

suits from Austin Reed - spend about £250 each in the sale, they would be £400 or so at full price ; I buy one or two new each year, and they all get a lot of wear.

plus tops that range from BHS to boutique, but tend to be high street.

I like dresses but get too hot in them. I have some lighter summery dresses from M&S.

all very, very conservative, but that's the job.

Another solicitor. Interesting that most people have a different budget pre and post children. My eldest child is 9 now so its been a long time since I had a pre-children budget. I probably spend £50 a month on average. Maybe I wont spend anything for 2 or 3 months then spend say £200 on boots.

My office clothes are a few pre-baby items but have supplemented that over the years solely from a local dress agency and charity shops. I only buy good quality items (usually LK Bennett, Toast, MaxMara, Jigsaw, sometimes Coast, Planet) but they are obviously second hand so a fraction of the price. For casual clothes, I buy in the sales Zara, Mint Velvet etc.

Sweet dreams Mrs CB - you have made me laugh so much today!

I realise that the IT bag thing sounded twatish
but....I have no idea how or why I ended up buying so many of them and as an excuse I can pretend it must have been some form of illness/virus as I'm completely over it now and think I was certifiable at the time

Learning a lot from this thread! I am not a natural when it comes to clothes and I'm pretty sure I'm a style free zone. This, and because I can't bear shopping, means that I buy clothes sporadically throughout the year and I think I spend maybe £400 annually, £500 tops.

I've recently worked out a 'formula' for my wardrobe in an effort to save time getting dressed. To work (university lecturer) I wear dresses, or skinny jeans/ trousers with floaty silk tops. Flats and boots.

So spending goes like this: every Christmas sales period, I stock up on comptoir des cottoniers silk dresses. Throughout the year, I am on the look out for silk tops in tk maxx. That's about as much shopping as I do. bought a classic max mara coat two winters ago (also sales) for £250, so that will see me thorough about 10 winters I reckon! (I hope!) I buy quite expensive items, relatively speaking, but I still wear silk tops and dresses I bought 6-7 years ago. I try to buy items that don't date quickly. This is why I find labels like Comptoir des cotonniers and Nicole Fahri (from
Tk maxx, :) ) appealing.

I'm 31 and working life is split between service manager in the charity sector and psychotherapist. I dress smart casual and try to stick to quality brands so that my clothes last several years. Don't follow trends as such. Lots of Boden, White Stuff, M&S, People Tree, TK Maxx random finds.

I think I spend around £150-200 pcm on average. Sometimes more, sometimes much less. I know I spend a lot on clothes but there are many other things I spend hardly anything on e.g. no car, don't really do expensive holidays.

I am late 30s and really, really need to look smart in my current job. I don't buy throughout the year. Instead I do one big shop a year on average and I use a personal shopper. I make a note before I go of what items I have that are still in good shape and what I need to make a complete wardrobe. I spend a lot in that one session but it gives me a complete wardrobe and I think, on balance, I spend less than shopping in dribs and drabs. I might might buy a pair of shoes in between but nothing else.

I work in the public sector.

I love clothes, trying on clothes, looking for clothes, clothes shopping, and buying new stuff. My style is feminine, elegant, classic.

However, I shop strictly high street. And probably cheaper end high Street, at that. I resent spending $$$$ on an item, that I can get for a fraction of the price at another shop.

I'm not in the UK anymore (and man, do I miss your shops - I buy online from the UK a fair amount), but would far rather spend time and money in the likes of, say, H&M, Zara, Mango, even Primark (albeit mainly for accessories) than the more expensive shops.

As I say, I work in the public sector. Most people here dress pretty causally. In fact, they very much dress down, and dress comfortably. Which is fine, but I don't get any enjoyment out of that. I definitely stick out, I'm practically the only one in heels.

My wardrobe is pretty extensive as a result. I mix and match a lot, and own way too many accessories. I do have clear outs reasonably regularly. I am 5'10" and at 40, now make a very concerted effort to stay slim. Probably the main area I am willing to stretch the purse strings is the hairdressers.

MrBearleigh & I have had annual allowances for our personal expenditure (clothes books CDs) for the last 20 years. We have a joint account for everything so this is a way of giving us what we want without feeling guilty. Mine has always been more than his, because I 'need' to spend more on clothes (!!) and the annual amount has varied between £1,000 & £2,400 in that period. My spending in real terms has fallen as I no longer have to wear suits (I am an accountant) and with the making of clothes in China - silk blouses in Jaeger haven't changed in price in that period. The quality has fallen a bit but not that much.

I recently stopped working in the centre of London and as I can't pop out to the shops after work so easily I find I am spending far less - quel surprise... I used to be a bit of a label queen 20 years ago, but am now more relaxed about buying some clothes from the likes of Uniqlo, M&S, Jigsaw and Cos as well as Margaret Howell, Joseph, Agnès B, Max Mara. I do spend money on shoes from Russell & Bromley, & Emma Hope (though also now from Geox): not cheaper ones after Zara shoes gave me corns and the extra chiropody would have paid the difference for some R&B ones.

This year since moving offices I haven't spent all of my allowance which is amazing as I always used to overspend - MrB has always been very understanding. I have so many clothes now, it'll be a while before I have to buy anything, so have decided I will only buy really special things that make a difference. I am also that bit older too, so am not as interested in shopping as I was -I'd rather spend my Saturday with my family or gardening than shopping which is quite a change. I do still like being well-dressed, and getting a bargain in terms of something stylish and good quality, which is good value for whatever the money is. I do also keep things for a long time.

I'm still reading through all the responses but wanted to say Elfina I read your post and thought you sounded just like me then read a few posts down and realised we do the same job! I'm moving to a hospital job soon so want to look smarter from the start. I'm thinking of getting a personal shopper at House of Fraser to get a small capsule wardrobe. Either that or cheap clothes from H&M and Sainsburys [more likely]

Fascinating thread. Like Bearleigh I am an accountant with an allowance. I spend a lot of it on clothes and accessories - probably about £250 a month on average.

My office is smart casual (no suits) and I struggle with the balance between weekend clothes and work clothes - obviously buying weekend clothes is way more exciting, but I wear them less often so should spend less. It doesn't always work out this way!

Reading the thread has made me realise I don't have any shopping "rules" about spends per item, or a uniform, and buy stuff from a wide range of shops. In theory I would love to have a capsule wardrobe, but I know I would get bored. Even with work clothes I am always buying new things.

And yes, I do consider myself well dressed - I love fashion, so for me that is the whole point. Being at work in an outfit I feel comfortable and stylish in makes me feel more relaxed, and like MrsCB, if an outfit's wrong then it's just distracting.

Reading BlameItOnTheBogey's post made me think of my favourite client from my personal shopping client. She was a QC (I think she's a judge now) and she used to come to see my twice a year and spend £6000 - £8000 in one go. She wore a lot of McQueen suits as they 'always made her feel powerful in court', Miu Miu and Prada separates/shoes and Bottega Veneta bagsand loved Marc by Marc Jacobs coats for the weekend. I remember one time her calling me from chambers because she was looking at Net-a-Porter and wanted my opinion on something! (This was back when internet shopping was a new thing and any free moment she had at work she'd be online looking at clothes!

Apologies for the slight off topic post!