Business suits for women??

Any suggestions or recommendations for a college student looking to build a business wardrobe? What is considered an acceptable business attire for women these days?

Where do you normally shop?

I live in the US and it appears that Banana Republic and J.Crew are standard go-to brands.

What kind of work? Different professions have different standards of dress.

Posted by sultrykitty
What kind of work? Different professions have different standards of dress.

Banking 🙂

I have a dark grey suit, I have a black with ivory suit, I have the dark navy power suits. The colors most employers love.

Posted by Peachykeen

Posted by sultrykitty
What kind of work? Different professions have different standards of dress.

Banking 🙂

click to expand

Look for separates and medium height heels, pant suits or skirted suits that will look good with the jacket off or where the jacket looks good with a different set of pants.

Colorful tops but conservative, also neutral tones.

The above named stores will all be good choices. No Abercrombie or Gap.

Oh, and while we're at it, is it considered unprofessional to have your hair down if it's past a certain length? I've got waist length hair, and am worried whether that would look TOO amateur.

Make sure if you get tops and dresses that don't have sleeves that you wear something over top of it. No open-toed heels. I usually go to Macy's. Their small size clothing is a bit too big for me, but they do have business professional clothes in the junior section that fit. : ( T.J Maxx is where I found all of my cardigans, but I would think cardigans are more business casual.

Posted by Peachykeen
Oh, and while we're at it, is it considered unprofessional to have your hair down if it's past a certain length? I've got waist length hair, and am worried whether that would look TOO amateur.

Alicia had good suggestions. I've also seen women looking very professional with a single braid as long as it's neat.

Posted by xXxAliciaXxX

Posted by Peachykeen
Oh, and while we're at it, is it considered unprofessional to have your hair down if it's past a certain length? I've got waist length hair, and am worried whether that would look TOO amateur.

My hair is very long also.

I usually wear my hair in a bun at work.

A high bun or a low bun with a side part.

Simple, easy, and professional.

click to expand

This. ^^^

I used to love buying my suits from Club Monaco or Theory. My Theory pants are great, as they do not wrinkle, are stain resistant, and always hold their quality and shape, year after year.

I have a hard time fitting into J.crew and BR... the bottoms are too big, and I don't fill them quite as nicely. I hear you can often find great steals at places like Nordstrom Rack or TJ Max, but I personally have low tolerance for sorting through racks and racks of clothes. Nowadays, I go bespoke or made to measure.

As far as hair length, short to medium length hair tends to look more polished, hence, professional. I work in a relatively conservative business environment, and a lot of my co-workers maintain a "nothing past the chest" policy. I like to keep elbow length hair that I just pull up into a neat low or high bun (as others have suggested).

Another tip is to try and keep everything minimal, as far as accessories, make-up, nails, perfume etc. go. If you don't want to look like a complete bore, you could always spruce up your outfit with a bold, high-impact handbag. Just avoid prints. And always keep a bleach pen and lint-roller handy!