15yo work experience clothes

[PrincessOfPreschool]

DD has work experience coming up in law firm. They said "smart casual" but she's 15 and everything she owns is "casual casual" or "party". The best she's got is a cropped fitted T shirt (not a high crop, just on the waist). Really at a loss as I work with little kids but I'm sure some of you can help.

Don't want to splash too much cash, so we'll probably end up on Vinted. But any examples / ideas of what would be appropriate for her age plus environment would be a start. She needs a week's worth of clothes.

What is her uniform ?

could she wear uniform skirt and a blouse . Maybe a couple from primark ?

When DD did WE in an office she got some black trousers from Uniqlo and a couple of tops that were t shirty but smart.

If her school skirt/trousers are black or navy, she can wear those with smart top/blouse from primark. Waistcoats are in at the moment & will smarten an outfit without the need for a jacket. School shoes are fine to wear. Primark and HM are your friends here.

M&S do good trousers: www.marksandspencer.com/slim-fit-ankle-grazer-trousers-with-stretch/p/clp60506664#intid=pid_pg1pip48g2r1c1

And you can get bundles of shirts from brands like Charles Tyrwhitt or Hawes & Curtis cheaply on Vinted. Gap and Lands' End shirts are also good and available on Vinted. Preferably not plain white or black shirts to avoid the school uniform/waiter look.

If it's smart casual she probably doesn't need a blazer and could wear ballerinas shoewise.

New Look have got some decent dark/black skirts and trousers some in the 9-15 range.
I’d buy 1 - 2 ‘bottoms’ and 2-3 tops, ideally those that can be re work or reused in the future.
my dd’s like a slightly loose cotton/linen shirt (ironed) worn over a vest top, crop top, or dress. It’s a slightly less formal look than a jacket.

H&M shirts - the photos on the website show how they can be worn with jeans to dress down (and on summer holidays perhaps). but for work experience could be dressed up and worn with trousers, skirt or over a dress perhaps

Thanks all. These are great ideas. Her school skirt is a great kilt but it has a school logo on it. She would probably rather die than wear it! Gosh, I hadn't even thought about shoes. School shoes will be fine, they're just black Clarks. She also has a few smartish sandals as luckily we're the same size. Waistcoat sounds interesting. What would you wear under it? T shirt? Blouse?

*grey kilt

Probably not sandals at least not the first day until she sees if others are wearing them?

Ah OK. What would she wear the shoes with? For school she has black ankle socks.

If short skirt, tights.
longer skirt might be ok with bare legs.
if trousers, black ankle socks.

She’s at the age where a pair of smartish black trousers and a white and black fitted top will come in useful (my daughter has worn similar for hospitality/retail/FOH part time jobs.

It depends on the sort of law firm. A high street one is going to have different expectations to a top city firm.
Plain trousers or a skirt ,and a shirt or plain fitted tshirt with neat hair and flat shoes for the first day will be fine. After that, she'll know what's appropriate. No one expects a 15 year old to be in a proper suit. The main thing is not too much flesh on show - so not an even slightly cropped top or very short skirt .
And not ankle socks with shoes and a skirt. Could she wear trainer socks or tights?

@Comefromaway
Yes absolutely.
plus useful for interviews or any other occasions where party/jeans/casual isn’t suitable.

My dd’s 6th form is business/casual so the black trousers etc are useful.

She needs two dark trousers or skirts. 3 smartish tops. Tights with skirt. No need for jacket. Proper shoes. Also tell her to always carry a notebook and pen with her, stay off her mobile phone, ask how she can help and a few sensible questions.

I've worn jeans before for smart casual and not been berated over it. I guess it depends on whether she's looking to make a longstanding impression with the company or just trying to pass the time.

I'd guess though, with the fairly industry-specific nature of a law firm its the former.

Keeping that in mind, and further keeping in mind clothes that she wouldnt want to nuke afterwards, I've seen this shared here and think its cute but smart.

Good luck aha

sorry, this the link didn't sticks

Black trousers are so versatile, Asda have them for about £10 (ladies) cheaper if she still fits into girls. Wear with a shirt or smart non logo or picture top

When it comes to formal formal clothes I'm always unsure about going cheap. They say that you can always tell a cheap suit not sure if thats data we can extrapolate aha

It's work experience, she doesn't need a top quality item, Asda trousers would be fine.
I would say black trousers and shirt or smart plain t-shirt or top will be more than fine.
DS just did his at the HQ for a huge banking organisation. Smart casual trousers and non branded lain t-shirts were fine. He just wore his black school trousers with a couple of cheap short sleeved (primark) shirts and a plain dark grey heavy weight t shirt.

Well it's in London but it's more like an agency for lawyers.

I know she'll figure the dresscode out but it'll be a bit late to go shopping once the week has started as I expect her to be exhausted from commuting (1.5 hrs each way).

Do you mean black tights or flesh ones (😱)?

I don't think trainer socks will work as they are Mary-Jane type shoes.

Oh gosh. She really wants to get it right and she's very keen to impress.

What kind of skirt? She likes short skater style but assuming that's not OK.

Also I googled waistcoats and they were all worn with nothing under which is definitely too much flesh. So what do you wear under?

I’d say black tights with black skirt
skater style might be ok as long as not to far above the knee
i know nothing about waistcoats!

I take kids in for legal work experience. Def no jeans or sweatshirts. I’ve seen both and think could you not just try and smarten up?! Some back or navy trousers and a shirt or blouse. Doesn’t need to be a suit or expensive just that you’ve tried to look smart casual.

New look have a lot of teenage black skirts maybe have a quick Google. Kind of school uniform types but the more fashionable end - not for strict schools but probably good for what she needs. Perhaps order 2-3?

Examples: