Business Attire for Upcoming Job

[ajmanouk]

Hi all,

I am about to begin a new job in a few weeks. The hiring letter mentions that, "all employees are required to wear a business suit to work". Given the field that I am going into (Accounting), this is somewhat expected. This is my first real job in the field, and it is a co-op position (I am enrolled in a cooperative education University program).

At the moment I own two business suits, a black 40T suit with matching pants and a charcoal 42T with matching pants and faint pinstripes. I'm a pretty tall guy (6'4&quot and the 40T fits me a bit better than the 42. I have three dress shirts that I would consider wearing to work: white, blue and mauve. I have an abundance of ties so these are not of concern.

Having never really worked in a business environment, I am not sure if what I own is enough to not look too repetitive. I don't want to be "that guy" who wears his trusty old beat up suit to work every day for 20 years, and working at a company that demands me be dressed every day in a business suit, I fear that only owning two will be a bit redundant.

Also, I have not gotten any forms of alteration on either of the suits. I am not very familiar with the alteration process and I know that a lot of you members on these boards really know your stuff. Do you recommend I alter the blazers at all? If so, how much would it possibly cost and where could I go about doing this (would a store such as Cadet Cleaners be sufficient?).

So basically I am concerned about three things: having enough dress shirts, having enough suits, and having well-fitted suits. I would really appreciate any input/advice you have as I don't want to mess up my first job opportunity!

 

[blahman]

"I don't want to be "that guy" who wears his trusty old beat up suit to work every day for 20 years"
You won't be because just about everyone else would be doing that

Go to a proper tailor to get your suits altered to fit you right and you'll look 10x better than most people in the office. You'll be surprised at how many people just buy their suits off the rack really ill fitted, and sleeves covering their knuckles.

Probably about $50 for various seams taken in and $30 to do the sleeves and $20 for pants hemmed.

I have around 10 shirts on two weeks rotation at the moment good balance for me between not blowing all my money on clothes and not having to iron too often.

 

[ktrp]

The two standard business suit colours are blue and charcoal. Black is not as conservative and there is more division on how it looks. Anyway ...

I have a mauve shirt, I wear it a few times a month. Every third day would be noticeable.

You are going to be wearing your white/blue shirts like mad. Nobody will notice because you might have 5 identical white shirts and 5 identical blue shirts. They may suspect you don't own 3 identical mauve shirts.

Springing for a couple more white/blue shirts would make your life easier.

If you can stretch for a blue suit that looks decent on you, I'd do it. Its a staple item, you'll want it going forward anyway. At that point I'd alternate the blue/grey and wear the black on fridays, mix up the ties and mix up the shirt/suit combos.

If you can't afford another suit, or need to wait for a paycheck, so be it.

 

[Harold falcon]

+1 on tailoring.

Consider a pink shirt.

Go Navy suit next, then subtle chalk stripe. Get quality, especially is you're planning on wearing them for twenty years.

 

[Jay]

This is how a quick guide on how a suit is supposed to fit: http://www.esquire.com/style/tips/suit-fit-0708

Many tailors will choose a sleeve length that is too long for you (I took the several tailors' suggestions on sleeve length for many years because I didn't know any better), so make to specify that you want 1/4" to 1/2" of shirt cuff showing, but also keep in mind that the amount of cuff showing may differ from shirt to shirt due to differences in length/fit.

 

[ter1413]

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

+1 on tailoring.

Consider a pink shirt.

Go Navy suit next, then subtle chalk stripe. Get quality, especially is you're planning on wearing them for twenty years.

+1. Black really does not fit in as business wear..

 

[ajmanouk]

Wow thanks so much for your help everyone, I had no idea that black was not as suitable as charcoal for business wear. Would you suggest altering the 42T, then? Definitely going to go out and buy a few more blue/white shirts. For variety, would you guys recommend off-white shirts?

 

[Working Stiff]

This entire forum is about business attire. Go read the other threads.

Originally Posted by ajmanouk

Wow thanks so much for your help everyone, I had no idea that black was not as suitable as charcoal for business wear. Would you suggest altering the 42T, then? Definitely going to go out and buy a few more blue/white shirts. For variety, would you guys recommend off-white shirts?

 

[Achilles_]

I wouldn't shy away pinstripe's as you will be using them for business purposes. Then again they might stretch you out and make you look taller. It's always an option though.

 

[Klobber]

Originally Posted by ter1413

+1. Black really does not fit in as business wear..

+2 on black suit being a poor choice.

However, that does not stop a lot of people wearing solid black suits to work.

 

[blahman]

Originally Posted by Klobber

+2 on black suit being a poor choice.

However, that does not stop a lot of people wearing solid black suits to work.

Thus making it more acceptable to go to work in. The reasonable thing to do is keep your black suit in your work rotation until further down the track and just not purchase any more black suits. While it is a mortal sin to do so in the style forvm world, no one will even raise an eyebrow at work.

 

[mrhills0146]

This is a co-op position? Don't over-think it. The charcoal suit should be just fine. Black is not ideal, but perfectly acceptable. I would not spend any money on alterations or new suits until you are finished with school and employed full-time. Good luck. Focus on learning as much as you can at this stage, not whether your suit is impeccable. Believe me, as a co-op, no one is going to care about your suit.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Shirts that aren't blue or white solids yet still probably conservative enough:
Cream
Blue-white striped

White with pink stripes might be okay. No need to buy such a shirt now, though.