Building a Business Casual wardrobe on a Budget

Hey guys,

I just started work recently and I'm looking to build my business wardrobe but need some advice.

What do you guys think of Costco Kirkland brand dress shirts and pants? Are they pretty decent for the money? I know Brooks Brothers and Nordstrom are having big sales right now so I'm debating whether I should pay more to buy several shirts from Brooks Brothers or get them cheaper from Costco.

I don't know how the fit is for Kirkland brand shirts but I'm really skinny so I may need to take tailoring into account. Also does anyone have any suggestions on where I should buy a belt and some slacks for work?

I'm on a really tight budget..

The costco shirts are pretty baggy (think BB regular fit, LE standard fit), and there's not a great size range. Same thing for the pants, afaik (they don't have my size at all). They're cheap, though. LE tailored fit on sale is comparable on price, and a slimmer fit.

How tight is really tight?

Buy belts from Beltmaster. Better than anything I've seen at the mall for similar prices.

FYI, Kirkland has a slim fit available on the Costco website.

I have no experience with them though... I am in a similar situation.

EDIT: I can attest to the parachute quality of the regular Kirkland fit.

YRR92 said:

The costco shirts are pretty baggy (think BB regular fit, LE standard fit), and there's not a great size range. Same thing for the pants, afaik (they don't have my size at all). They're cheap, though. LE tailored fit on sale is comparable on price, and a slimmer fit.

How tight is really tight?

Buy belts from Beltmaster. Better than anything I've seen at the mall for similar prices.

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Thanks for this. My budget is around $50 per dress shirt max, pants for maybe $50-70 max, also need to buy another pair of shoes to rotate with.

Maybe it's worth it to just get 4 shirts from Brooks Brothers, but I don't know how the fit is going to be so they might need to be tailored. I'm a really skinny so I might make a trip to the store to try out the sizes.

Do you know how quality of Kirkland brand shirt compares to Brook Brothers? I was reading from an earlier thread that they were almost the same.

Not really. The Costco shirts are a notch or two below BB. The material isn't quite as nice.

I'm 130 lbs and 5'10", with a large neck for my build, and BB extra slim looks good on me (not too tight). The Costco shirts hang off of me, but are slimmer than BB regular fit.

You'll probably want more than four shirts. I'd want six, at least.

YRR92 said:

Not really. The Costco shirts are a notch or two below BB. The material isn't quite as nice.

I'm 130 lbs and 5'10", with a large neck for my build, and BB extra slim looks good on me (not too tight). The Costco shirts hang off of me, but are slimmer than BB regular fit.

You'll probably want more than four shirts. I'd want six, at least.

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I'm 5'10 about 140lbs with around a 14.5 neck size. So seems like BB extra slim might be the best value for the money (on sale) and best fit. I actually have two dress shirts so I would have six total if I buy four more. Now for slacks... any recommendations where I should look? Looking for something slim and tapered.

edit: Actually I was wondering.. I started working out recently, do you think I should buy a slightly larger size than what I need?

Cloths really matters in every occasion good thing you though about putting this business.

Charles Tyrwhitt shirts. 4 for $200. Good quality, definitely better than Costco with a wider selection.
They have slim and extra slim (although they call it something else)

Subutai said:

Charles Tyrwhitt shirts. 4 for $200. Good quality, definitely better than Costco with a wider selection.
They have slim and extra slim (although they call it something else)

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BB are around $200 for 4 shirts right now with the sale.



dgsdm said:

BB are around $200 for 4 shirts right now with the sale.

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Good to know! Didn't realize that was the deal they are running. CT seems to always have that sale so I find myself just going with that for shirts and not necessarily looking at what other sales are up.

Sadly Costco kirkland's non iron shirts that I bought online still needed some ironing.

Men's warehouse tends to have good sales. I just got a buy one get one free on 100% wool trousers. $125 regular price each. They have wool blends for $80 as well.

Uniqlo is a good bet, their oxfords are solid

stevent said:

Uniqlo is a good bet, their oxfords are solid

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Ahh I forgot about Uniqlo, definitely worth checking out, thanks!



dgsdm said:

Ahh I forgot about Uniqlo, definitely worth checking out, thanks!

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They will put out the tasmanian wool stuff for the fall hopefully relatively soon as well

Another bet is Ralph Lauren Custom Fit shirts you can find them on sale for $50-75 at RL stores or $30-35 at Marshalls. They were my go to shirt back when I used to wear a lot of business casual