smart clothes for work

fretted

fretted

fretted

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I start as new job in the new year and it looks like the dress code is smart attire - this is just based on my interpretation as its a large consultancy and everyone I've seen there is wearing a suit and tie (I've visited the office three times now).

I usually wear casual clothes for work and don't really have many suits or formal trousers. How much money should I budget to buy enough smart clothes to last me for the first month? How many suits do I need to rotate before people start commenting on my clothes?
 
Not been in an office with ties (unless going to customer facing meeting) since about 2007

Formal trousers, decent shirt and smart shoes is the minimum, what is the job?
 
do you know if it has to be suits or are shirt & trousers ok too?

For cheap shirts - TM Lewin are doing 5 shirts for £100

Charles Tyrwhitt also do cheap, reasonable quality shirts

M&S are ok for work trousers

for suits you want whatever fits best rather than focusing on brand names...
 
It's an analyst consultant job for a top four firm. I don't think it matters what the job is though, I would expect nearly everyone is wearing a suit and tie because of the nature of the company
 
I would go for three suits but start with two and get the third later. I'd suggest a grey suit and a blue suit. Also try to get a couple of pairs of trousers with each as they will wear faster than the jacket.
 
I work for one of the big 4. Shirt, trousers, smart shoes. Most people wear a suit jacket. Some people wear ties all the time, others just with customers. Can also get away with a shirt and a smart plain jumper.
 
I was in this position a couple of months ago - after ten years of not having to wear my own smart clothes to work, a role change meant I had to start from pretty much from scratch - I had one decent suit, a few shirts and ties.

I looked at M&S and it was either poor quality, old man style or overpriced. The only thing I bought from them was a jumper for £20.

Next was a different proposition - their suits and smart trousers are decent quality and fairly well-priced (I bought several pairs of £29 trousers, a £79 suit with 2nd pair of trousers and a £129 suit).

I bought 8 shirts from T.M. Lewin for £25 each, and the quality is fantastic - you can also return/exchange free of charge.

I bought decent silk ties from T.M. Lewin and TK Maxx, to add to and modernise my collection.
 
2 suits on rotation is fine, nobody will care.
Good shouts about getting extra trousers, in hindsight I should have done this.
In my experience in the city suit jackets are common but ties not so much, personally I always used to wear a tie if on customer site however.

In terms of budget as mentioned get 5 shirts for £85 from Charles Thyrwitt (down from £100 this weekend), two suits £100 each, then say another £100 for extras like ties, cufflinks, belt, dry cleaning etc.

You can spend more, you can spend less, but the above would be fine unless there is any particular reason you want/need high-end attire, or need to save money.
 
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Although I've worn suits for around 25 year s I was recently in a situation where none of them fitted (I lost a lot of weight). Although I've now bought a couple of suits again I've also started wearing trousers and a number of wool and tweed blazers/sports jackets. It's a little more individual and I've noticed a bit of a trend for this in London now.

But if unsure just get a couple of suits.
 
I need to find myself something new for work, only ever really need smart stuff when going to see customers (which can be anyone from a bunch of network analysts up to director/c level people).

Now I have the dark grey suit that I can wear when going reasonably formal, but what I need is some sort of jacket and trousers combo that is a bit more casual yet still smart (that make sense??).

Thinking a lighter jacket of sorts, but struggling to find stuff as yet. One of the other guys in the team tends to wear a rather light jacket with some dark trousers and seems the right amount of smartness.

Hades, trousers and sport jacket I think is the sort of thing I'm after, any recommendations of place to look?

Just had a look on M+S and this sort of thing might be ok http://www.marksandspencer.com/pure-cotton-2-button-moleskin-jacket/p/p22307820
 
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Hxc said:
I work for one of the big 4. Shirt, trousers, smart shoes. Most people wear a suit jacket. Some people wear ties all the time, others just with customers. Can also get away with a shirt and a smart plain jumper.
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This is pretty much standard consultancy dress.
Turn up for the first week in a suit and get the feel of the place, if it is genuinely ties and jackets all the time, then you can purchase something new at the weekend.
 
So, from the suggestions I'll need to add:
A blue suit, some additonal work trousers, new work shoes and several shirts. About 400-500 quid... Once I factored in dry cleaning I'm beginning to think that I'm not going to see very much of the extra pay rise from the new job for a while
 
Urgh why do businesses in 2014 expect people to wear suits and ties for sitting in an office?

I'd never work anywhere that has that dress code and I've walked out of interviews when I asked what the stress code is and they've said ties must be worn, it's so unecessary
 
MrMoonX said:
Urgh why do businesses in 2014 expect people to wear suits and ties for sitting in an office?
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Because other businesses do... a consultancy is going to be sending people to banks, blue chip companies etc.. By convention a suit and tie is 'smart' and so when meeting clients in these businesses that is what they wear.

These sorts of places are all about sales/billing the clients... progression at a senior level is less about professional knowledge experience in a particular area but the ability to close deals/bring in revenue. Plenty of companies out there buy into it.... Somehow the partners/senior guys at these places manage to convince senior execs at established companies that paying ridiculous daily rates for a bunch of fresh grads from their consultancy can somehow add value.
 
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MrMoonX said:
I'd never work anywhere that has that dress code and I've walked out of interviews when I asked what the stress code is and they've said ties must be worn, it's so unecessary
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Out of interest - do you wear a suit and tie to the interview?
 
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