Professional wear on a tight budget

[NCembarassed]

Help me S&B!

I'm 5'7", apple shaped, and an 18/20.

Currently working as support staff in a school, so tend to live in leggings and tunics. Yoga pants/trousers and tops when it's colder.

I'm hoping to retrain, and am told I need to "look professional". I don't want to wear suits though. I do prefer to be covered up (but polo necks are uncomfortable). Also disabled, so can only wear flats.

I need ideas for style. Currently I mostly shop for clothes in Poundland and High Street sales, as it's what I can afford.

My confidence on what suits me is through the floor.

Have a really good search through Vinted. Loads of ‘once worn’ jackets and dresses, I suppose because many of us but for interview or events and wear just once.

I find button up dresses with a collar really easy wear either alone or under a jacket. I've picked up Hobbs, Phase Eight and M&S jackets for as little as £5.00 ( plus post and fees - around £8.00 total). I tend to know what fits - through trying on in store first ( so I know an M&S jacket in a particular size is a perfect fit).

Shoes too.

You will be much better with a bit more quality than cheaper brands and fabrics.

I'd hit the charity shops of the nearest wealthy town

Go to more expensive high street shops you like the style of, and try loads of things on. Shops like H&M etc. use multiple different suppliers so you can't rely on their sizing, but if you go upmarket a bit to places like Hobbs and Jigsaw they tend to stick with the same suppliers and sometimes the same styles in different colours/fabrics from year to year. Once you know what size reliably fits you, you can pick up stuff on ebay and vinted that you know will fit.

Something like this with a plain jacket?

https://www.vinted.co.uk/women/clothes/dresses/midi-dresses/3283654176-ms-summer-shirtwaister-dress

I have a black jacket and a navy jacket with a pair of shoes in each colour and a range of dresses that go with either. Easy to put together.

However, along with loads of dark coloured jackets on Vinted, there are also jackets like this. Something smart but not as formal perhaps as the darker colours.

https://www.vinted.co.uk/women/clothes/suits-and-blazers/blazers/3247218247-dusky-pink-formal-jacket

Definitely Vinted Some things are only worn once then sold
Perhaps a shirt dress and jacket with whatever flat shoes support you best
I'm disabled too and buy Clarks Mary Janes( bought a gorgeous leather pair Brand new in box for £15 recently)

What field are you hoping to retrain in Op?

These are fab ideas, thank you so much.

I'll install the Vinted app, and try some things on in the more expensive shops for an idea of size.

I'm hoping to retrain either as a SLT, a mortgage adviser, or in IT.

I'm in tech, it's very casual. Some wear t shirts, jeans and trainers others are in a dress, tights and trainers. It's up to you, very easy going.

I personally prefer a nice dress, tights and trainers so my feet are comfortable and my legs aren't stuck in jeans/trousers.

Try vinted, eBay and Primark etc.

"Looking professional" means different things to different people. Do you need an interview outfit to start off with or are you doing a course and need a professional capsule wardrobe which you can mix & match?
Either way, I'd try Sainsburys which can have surprisingly good work wear in the bigger stores. I'd got for a couple of pairs of black trousers (or a pair of trousers & a skirt), some non-t-shirt types tops and then a couple of jackets. That should give you over a week's worth of outfits.

Just read the school part - eurgh, they're tend to be more strict eye roll

Charity shops in 'naice' areas tend to have a good range of professional wear.

You can get away with practically any blouse just throw a blazer on top (again, Invest in a couple of nice ones and wear whatever underneath as long as it's not a t-shirt').
Wide leg trousers

'Tech', like HR is one of those things that almost every company has nowadays... any individual company dress code is meaningless. Unless of course OP wants to work for a tech company, which you're also in.
I'm a dev for a large firm with several locations and while the 'tech' hub is casual there are a lot of jobs also based at head office which is more traditional professional.

Yeah, I don't work in head office. We have our digital hub office, but even HR is casual. People aren't that bothered where I work. Depends on each company I guess, I'm only in 1 day a week so its ok.

I would start building a wardrobe that you can add to as you see items vinted, charity etc. If you've got time to go on a trying on trip just to experiment with shapes and colours, then you'll get an idea of what suits you. Pick a key colour to build around and then everything you buy should go with everything else. Look on Vinted for better brands for items you'll wear more often (eg jackets) and spend less on things like tops. If you can pick up a good pair of shoes (you said flats) they will help seal your look. All that said you need to feel comfortable in what you are wearing - the confidence will come. Good luck!

Charity shops, eBay and tkmaxx - also outlet stores if any near you
Go looking full price at what suits you and sizing first then shop elsewhere
I’m currently similar size and know what size I am in jaeger, sandwich, baukjen, etc and shop accordingly

How about think what you feel comfortable in, and then what the dressed up version would look like? Eg a longer length wrap dress or kimono style tunic with opaque leggings and sandals, belted long cardigan over shirt and long skirt or dress and flat boots?

I'm hoping to retrain either as a SLT, a mortgage adviser, or in IT.

That’s quite a wide range of possibilities, @NCembarassed. What stage are you at in narrowing down your options, and who is advising you?

Don’t know if you’re aware of the Mature Study and Retraining board on MN? Browsing a few threads there might prove useful - there are probably threads on all those career paths.

I’d say generic ‘professional’ dressing involves avoiding leggings (unless for a job involving sport) and looking for more structured garments. Doesn’t have to be a suit, but jackets, trousers, skirts or simple plain-ish dresses, not maxi length. Supermarkets are an easy place to start.

If you’re looking on pre-owned sites it helps to know which brands to look out for, otherwise it could be an arduous task.

Sainsbury's "Tu" clothing is very good. They usually have a shirt dress in the autumn /winter.,

Yes. This shirt dress is £20 and 100% cotton. Tbh I’d wear it with trousers. But it’s a good buy.

https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc142568911

This one is £22. Polyester, but it looks nicely crisp.

https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc143367264?clickCSR=slp:cannedSearch

This is £40 and only goes up to an 18. It’s a lovely look though.

https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/product/tuc143028502

@NCembarassed good question! Agree with Ebay and Vinted. Basically all my clothes were second hand when I started back after mat leave and you can pick up some lovely things.

My other top tip is keep things lower cost is to starr quite simple as you build up. Keep to no more than three complementary colours. You can even get away with just buying black clothes. This allows you to mix and match and rotate. Then focus on one or (possibly) two jackets, couple of pairs of trousers/skirts and a plain-osh dress. This will be more than enough to get you started if working full time. Then use shoes, scarves, bags and belts to jazz up an outfit.

I have a friend who does this and only wears black at work, with a lovely pop of colour or pattern through her accessories. For her it means she gets an extra 10 mins in bed as she never has to think about what she combines on any given work day, and also means that she keeps the overall costs down.

This is exactly what I do!

I don’t know if Community Clothing is widely available on Vinted or other ore-owned sites. Really good, plain simple clothes that would be fine for most workplaces. (Plus beautifully colourful loungewear.) Trousers go to size 18.

Next Clearance have a lot of brand names and the usual Next workwear on their pages

this all doesn’t make sense, the job is the poster mentions that she might/not move into )although this is vague) don’t necessarily mean that you’ve got to dress up.