Accidentally got myself a professional job and have nothing to wear to it

[afishnotabird]

I have only ever worked in a uniform that was provided until now and had been planning to start my career in the third sector where my quirky scruffy clothing would have been acceptable. I've only gone and been accepted for a corporate role which is client facing and have no idea what I'm going to wear!

I'm waiting to find out the exact dress code, but the two people I met at interview were very smartly dressed in black dresses and jackets. I'm a size 18 - 20 with thighs that would scare you, so trousers tend not to fit well. I'm also pretty skint, though that will hopefully change soon so I'm willing to credit card everything until my new wages come in. I'm thinking Debenhams sort of prices, John Lewis would be pushing it a bit. Where else can I look for suitable clothing?

I live in black trousers (next) vest tops and smart jackets. All my jackets are Hobbs or similar and I get mine from EBay. It's well worth having a look on there for office wear, especially if you're on a budget

You may find that your interviewers were more formally dressed than normal for the interview process, don't panic yet! You don't have to buy an entire new wardrobe in one go, get hold of the dress code first. Is there any chance you can drop into the office before you start and check out what others are wearing? And congratulations on the new role!

Next go upto size 22 and a plus range with bigger sizes in a small range. I get trousers from next or Debenhams. Tops from Sainsbury’s sburys, Asda, Matalan or M & S. if you get a similar colour palette you can match everything together and gets more combinations.

Someone recommended this dress from H&M recently. I'm a 18/20 and XL is plenty big enough

https://m2.hm.com/m/engb/productpage.0550309006.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6oit-sjc3gIVYbXtCh2d7QuxEAQYASABEgIYrDBwE&efid=W-CiwwAABHcLssxf:20181117232243:s&s_kwcid=AL!850!3!269343299007!!!g!367116981080!]]

What did you wear to the interview? You must have created the right impression with what you were wearing. And congratulations.

Sorry, my link doesn't work. Try searching for "jersey dress" on the H&M site & it's the first hit

I interview people and I dress more formally on those days. So that would not give you a good idea of what to wear to our office day to day.

Also very few places actually require black, so I’d check that out unless it’s your best colour. I only wear grey and navy for trousers/ suits as I don’t suit black. I wear them with coloured tops and jackets , not white.

This is suitable for most workplaces except court. Can you say more about what type of company it is?