Had my investment bank business formal interview outfit improved. How is it now?

[RachelDalton79]

I want to personally thank everyone for suggestions and feedback givens in yesterday's thread. Glad the interview is scheduled next week so I still have some time to spare.

Some of you suggested that dresses are more popular than suits and shirts. I get it. But my style is a bit masculine and I love the powerful look of a suit outfit so I will stick to a suit.

Now I had improved my outfit combo based on your opinions. How is it now?

www.brooksbrothers.com/Non-Iron-Wide-Striped-Stretch-Cotton-Poplin-Fitted-Shirt/WV00966,default,pd.html?dwvar_WV00966_Color=BLUM&contentpos=21&cgid=0242

www.paulsmith.com/us/a-suit-to-travel-in-women-s-black-one-button-wool-suit

www.brooksbrothers.com/Leather-Point-Toe-Kitten-Heels/WF00479,default,pd.html

Yesterday's thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/3596713-How-is-this-outfit-for-an-investment-bank-business-formal-interview

And how about these 2 shirts from Thomas Pink?

www.thomaspink.com/product/womens-fine-stripe-poplin-button-cuff-shirt/47100018B1W

www.thomaspink.com/product/womens-multi-stripe-poplin-button-cuff-shirt/47100009B1B

The first shirt is the best, suit looks nice!

Sorry to say but I think those shoes are absolutely awful! Couldn’t you try a nice pair of brogues or a block heel? IME kitten heels never look good.

For an interview I would try to dress as similar to those who work there as is your natural style. So it depends which company, do you feel it looks similar, what do people generally wear?

I would stick with the shirt in the original post if you are going for this sort of outfit.

OP if you are insistent on going with the old fashioned suit idea, then please at least wear a silky top instead of a shirt, at the moment that outfit looks like a relic of the 1990's and not in a good way.

All of the people who work in the area you are interviewing in, all said yesterday that no one wore these suits anymore.

So I would look into silky tops, not sure where from but there might have been suggestions yesterday. I also think that is an awful lot of money to spend on an interview suit if you are not 100% sure of what you need to wear if you get the job.

I work in investment banking. You would be better off going to Hobbs / Jaeger / Paul smith and buying a stylish but fashionable dress suit in either dark blue or dark grey. Accessorize simply with simple but expensive looking gold or silver jewellry.

Women who wear shirts from men’s suit companies usually get the piss ripped out of them once they have left the interview.

I second a silk blouse or something similar with the suit. and go for a navy or a grey not black.

i don't like the shoes. but that's my personal taste.

agree that it's a lot of money for a suit. but if you get the job supposedly the salary will more than cover it.

dh treated himself to a paul smith suit a while back. it does look amazing but cost a bloody fortune. he only wear it for client meetings. the rest of the time now he's in jeans

Aside from dressing for the job you want, I think the other important thing is feeling confident in what you’re wearing and if that is a suit then so be it. You could do a ‘masculine’ look with an unmatched jacket, however.

If you are really set on a shirt and want a ‘masculine’ look then the way the Paul Smith shirt is styled looks less dated. But don’t try it with one of those striped ones! I love striped shirts and often wear massively oversized men’s ones casually, but I’m another one saying I haven’t worn a shirt to work for the best part of 15 years.

For shoes, brogues would be a better fit for that look.

You could have a look at the ‘Tailoring’ section of the Joseph website, might be useful for inspiration.
www.joseph-fashion.com/en-gb/womens/tailoring/#p=4

What industry are you coming from? Are you in the UK - just noticed your Paul Smith link was a US one?

I'm in US right now.

Ah ok, I wondered, because having done a bit of work in New York too, I would say the style is slightly different there and does look a bit dated and staid from a UK point of view, albeit much less so than 15 years ago when it seemed like high street fashion just didn’t really exist there!

If you’re American and I was interviewing you then I’d put your outfit choice down to you being American, to be honest. If you’re a returning Brit then I’d be less likely to, I suppose, unless I could see you'd spent a good chunk of your career out there.

I don’t think your choices are going to be the death of your career, my interest in clothes is fairly tenuous and it hasn’t done me any major harm, but if you’re trying to make a particular impact or look like you just ‘fit’ then maybe tweak them a bit. Or wear them, go in feeling your most confident, and the interviewers are more likely to see them as a quirk rather than wonder if you’ve arrived via time travel!

Possibly you're just on holiday, hence the mishmash of UK and US sites, and you haven't had time to 'catch American' yet I think I made that assumption because I think of Brooks Brothers as quintessentially American. Whenever I walk past their Regent St store I'm always astounded that it's still open. I suppose, like TM Lewin, it serves a niche, or maybe ex-pats.

Jigsaw has a very similar lightweight wool suit called Paris at a fraction of that price.

Nordstrom. Get dress suits.

So OP is the interview for a role in the US or is it in the UK but you're just in the US at present? This is important as there are style differences in banking between the U.S. and London.

The U.S. is more conservative frumpy and what works there will not necessarily work for a London interview whereas what works in London tends to also be acceptable (and admired as very stylish in my experience) in the U.S. If U.S., I'm assuming NYC rather than anywhere else?

Have you looked on Corporette.com, she has some good words on interview outfits and suits.

The outfit is absolutely fine op. I can’t imagine that a smart suit and shirt can be wrong for an interview. It shows you’re taking it seriously and making an effort. Maybe not everyone’s choice but absolutely fine. It’s not like they’re going to give it to the next candidate because the shirt is too masculine

But my style is a bit masculine and I love the powerful look of a suit outfit so I will stick to a suit.

Well you've got the ego for investment banking but you're not listening to feedback from people already in the industry which is foolish of you. For all you know, one of the posters on this thread could be your interviewer. An interview is not the place to make a statement about your personal style. Do this AFTER you've started in the job, not before. An interview is where you demonstrate that you fit in with the organisation and this includes looking the part. You must be aware how intense the competition is for these roles. Why would you even be considering putting yourself at a disadvantage just so you can show your "style is a bit masculine"?

Seriously hundred? You think op is jeopardising her chances of getting the job by wearing trousers rather than a dress?!?!

I never wear shirts to formal things - to be honest I get a bit hot and prefer to wear a plain cotton or silk top or something not too patterned.

The interview is in London (the OP said so in her previous thread).

The shirt is fine. Yawn but fine.

The suit is lovely but you can get it for much less!

Shoes are....unusually shaped. Look at Russel and Bromley for something a bit sharper.

I think the suit is quite cool (it should be, it's Paul Smith FGS!) but those shirts practically have a 2000 date stamp on them.

I understand you have a masculine look and you should stay true to your own style but I do think you may have to compromise with the shirt.

I would be wearing a shell top personally or something like this.

uk.monsoon.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/mon_1.4/6500231418

Good luck!

“For all you know, one of the posters on this thread could be your interviewer.”
And if that interviewer turned someone down for wearing trousers they would be a really shit interviewer!!

I am often in corporate environments in the City and Canary Wharf. I think a trouser suit, dress plus jacket or even skirt suit with a good blouse would all be fine. I see a lot of women wearing Hobbs, as well as L K Bennett, Phase Eight, Jigsaw etc. The blouse I really want right now is this one: great blouse
I think it would work really well with a navy suit, but unfortunately can’t justify the spend right now.

Shoes vary, but sadly many Canary Wharf banking types do go for high heels. I have a pair of L K Bennett navy suede Florets I get a lot of use out of when I am working in that environment.

Rooftree as someone who has been involved in recruitment for that industry I would say there is truth in what hundred says. The competition is harsh and something that fits in more with the corporate line and current style is less of a risk at the interview stage.

I can’t imagine that a smart suit and shirt can be wrong for an interview

Well, it's not "wrong" in the sense of being wildly inappropriate, but for an interview in the City in London it would be... um, frumpy and dated, and would read kind of like a grad on her first interview who's been let loose with her parents' no-limit credit card.

I can't help but think you're way overthinking the outfit aspect of this, OP. If you have such a strong masculine style etc etc, then surely you already have clothes you could wear, and why so insecure about a very basic and conservative outfit? All you really need is a knee-length dark dress and a contrasting jacket, job done. Fit in and focus on the actual job aspects or "make a statement" in strong masculine clothing you already own, up to you, but if this interview is in London you will look a bit out of step in the clothes you've been posting.