<p>My D called from college and says for one of her business classes they have to wear a suit for one of the class days each week. They will be having guest speakers and some field trips. I haven’t bought a suit in 20 years and D has no clue since we live in a town where few people even wear suits. Any pointers and how much should she be expecting to spend. She will need shoes as well. If she choses to wear a skirt they are expected to wear pantyhose. Should she go to a department store? She is in Denver if anyone is in that area and has shopping suggestions.</p>
<p>Does it have to be a matching suit, or can it be a blazer and a skirt or slacks? A simple black suit or grey, maybe with a pinstripe can work well. The shirts underneath will give variety. Maybe a suit with slacks and a skirt.<br>
As well, could she get away with a simple blazer and slacks. For instance, I wore a striped blazer and brown trousers today. It was two seperate pieces, but it was a suit look.</p>
<p>Where I volunteer, once a week, its televised, so the aides wear suits. All these grey and black pinstripes. Some wear the same suit every week, cause nobody cares,</p>
<p>If its simple, you through on different scarves, PEARLS, and a portfolio and you look good. Don’t forget shoes. </p>
<p>If she had time, some catalogues have great suits for reasonable prices. Newport-news, Lerners, Chadwicks.</p>
<p>I don’t own ANY suits, nor do my kids. One option is to look in the J Crew catalogue because they have classic suits that a young person would wear. The nice pants could be used for other purposes for your daughter with a nice top so it is not a purchase just for class. If the price is too high, another option is to look in the store called Express in most malls. I was in there the other day and they have many jackets and nice pants or skirts that are young and contemporary that might be cheaper than J Crew but certainly still quite nice. Your daughter could get a classic sort of blouse or plain top but then again, use the jacket for other things or use the pants with a dressy tank top for something so that you aren’t wasting money on some outfit that she won’t wear. The stuff I saw at Express was along that line of various options that way. Nice but not overly pricey. I don’t know Denver and again, I never buy suits. But she is young and so I think either of those two stores (or in the case of J Crew, the catalogue has lots of options) have age appropriate things, that offer some mix/match possibilities as well. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>I just assume it needed to match. Thinking navy or black or pinstripe. I will have her look into express. Did they have jackets and pants or skirts that matched. It would probably be reasonable and even fit her. She is only 5"1 and petite so fit is going to be an issue. I am assuming that she will wear the same one each week, since I am only willing to pay for 1 outfit.</p>
<p>I agree with your idea for shopping at Express - They have stylish suit components that are cut small-ish. They have nice dress pants that also match with the blazers, if she prefers. They seem to be cheaper than J. Crew, but are still more stylish than the boxy stuff she might find at department stores. And, I believe Express has “short” sizes for pants.</p>
<p>There are plenty of good suits for under $200. Choose something that she can wear year round since she will have only the one. Look up Talbots, Nordstrom. Lands’ End has some classic (and boring) looking outfits. It hems trousers for free, which is nice for someone who is 5’1.
I would suggest staying away from the power-suit look with the pin stripe and the bow tie. Depending on her coloring, all-black, navy or taupe would be suitable. She’ll need a blouse or two and court shoes and some accessories. Don’t forget a decent-looking bag. It does not have to cost much, but it should not look like it’s a hold-all and has been dragged through bushes.</p>
<p>You might want to remind your daughter to look for something that’s machine washable. A lot of dress clothes aren’t, and handwashing in a public sink is not fun.</p>
<p>AnnTaylor also has some good possibilities - AT and Talbot have petite stores and/or large petite selections as well.</p>
<p>Ann Taylor is good for this age and not too expensive.</p>
<p>Nordstroms sale is long gone but it might be worth a visit. Our local petite section has some really nice ladies. Maybe Denver has one also. If she explained what she needs and gives a budget the sales person might be able to help her. I save lots of money each year at the sale by letting the sales lady find stuff that works together. The store is about an hr away and so I shop only once a year.</p>
<p>Lands End has nice stuff, but it really helps to try it on.</p>
<p>Just a thought.</p>
<p>If you had a son, I would recommend Men’s Wearhouse-they helped our son.</p>
<p>If in your price range, Talbots has some nice choices sized for Petites. I’m 5’2" and I can wear their Petites without alterations. Take a look on line. They’re not as boring as they used to be but they’re classic enough to last for years. Light weight wool with a little stretch can be worn in all seasons. Ann Taylor is similar but a little more fashion.</p>
<p>If she doesn’t want to bother with stockings then I’d go with pants. Shoes can be just about anything – ballet flats, loafers or heels. A medium sized leather tote bag forgives a lot of carrying sins.</p>
<p>Underneath she can wear a refined t-shirt or light weight sweater, a mockneck in the winter. Faux pearls or a brooch pulls it all together.</p>
<p>At Talbots or Ann Taylor, you could expect to spend about $500 for the whole top to toe put together look, including accessories. J Crew would be more. Landsend and Express less. Department stores are priced all over the place, but it’s a lot more work to find what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>I don’t know specifically about Denver, but many malls have Petite Sophisticate stores (the petite section of Casual Corner) and their clothes aren’t too expensive. They often have merchandise on sale. They sell coordinate pieces, so you can get a good fit by buying the jacket and skirt separately. Also, it allows you to buy a coordinated skirt or pants to go with the jacket in addition to the matching skirt. She can look online for Petite Sophisticate locations and to browse their clothes and prices.</p>
<p>Agree with J Crew. They have really good suits right now. Also agree with Express and Limited, but they aren’t quite as nice as J Crew.</p>
<p>My daughter is a 3rd year law student and needed several suits this year. We found VERY reasonably priced ones at JC Pennys that she’s gotten compliments on from female lawyers she’s worked with. Also, any department store (in their mid-range price section) usually has separates – jackets and pants/skirts that match, but you can buy each in a different size if you need to. On sale, you can probably get a suit for under $100. Good luck.</p>
<p>Try the Spiegel catalogue at <a href=“http://www.spiegel.com%5B/url%5D”>www.spiegel.com</a>. Also, a thrift store might be a good resource.</p>
<p>You can just go to like any department store and look for a business suit. If she likes the junior styled clothes, there is usually a business section in the juniors department. You can usually get a pair of pants and a jacket for about 30 bucks each, and throw any kind of shirt under neath. theyre seperates so you can choose what size you need in both parts. Or just check out thrift shops. a good place also to check is the Deb. they always have cheap jackets on racks for like ten bucks, and pants for about 20. I’m cheap. I just bought seven pairs of dress pants at Ross (grey, black, black with white pin stripes, etc) for 45 dollars total. and they look really nice and are extremely comfortable. I have a pin striped jacket, and a regular black jacket. both of them look really goo dwith any of the pants i bought… it’s definately not something you need to go out and blow hundreds of dollars on. My one roommate got her suit at target for 50 dollars.</p>
<p>i’ve presented in front of many people wearing my suits, and looked just as professional as jane doe who was standing there in her 200 dollar suit.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.anntaylorloft.com/atlShowCategory.process?RestartFlow=t&Section_Id=35[/url]”>http://www.anntaylorloft.com/atlShowCategory.process?RestartFlow=t&Section_Id=35</a></p>
<p>Ann Taylor Loft is less expensive and I believe skewed a little younger than Ann Taylor. She could probably find suits on sale at both stores right now.</p>
<p>The reason I suggested J Crew was that it is suitable (sorry for the pun!) for a young person whereas some stores or departments stores might have suits that someone a little older would wear. I think of Talbots that way. Express is less classic than J Crew but also geared to someone this age and actually costs a bit less than J Crew but still being nice. The mix and match of looks is possible with what they have. I don’t think the jacket and skirt/pants must all be the same color. The skirt or jacket might have a pattern or texture and the other piece more solid but still have a suit look. Or stick with classic all one color like in J Crew and pick a contrasting blouse or light weight sweater and as mentioned earlier, pick something where you can use the pants or the skirt with some other top, like a camisole partyish shirt and get another outfit out of it, not just for the class, I mean. </p>
<p>Looking at the J Crew catalogue I have here, I think you are talking $300 for a blazer and skirt or a blazer and pants…so that is no shirt or shoes (if needed). That is why I suggested Express as I don’t know your price range and their clothes are pretty nice and while I did not price these items there, I think the total would be less than J Crew, as an option there. (EDIT: I did not realize they were online but I just looked and the two basic items would be in the $200 range total there). There are other mall stores that are worth looking at like Ann Taylor Loft. J Crew sells petites. Talbots does as well, though again, you’d have to see if the suits are appealing to a college kid or not…I have not looked at their catalogue lately but they are classic and high quality. Express is more “fashionable” (that really is not the right word) than J Crew or Talbots which are more of a classic look. Actually, The Limited might be worth a stop at as well…still on the young side, but they tend to have more “working” sorts of clothes… I mean not the typical teen fare.</p>
<p>Susan
(can you tell I have two girls?)</p>
<p>I’m in debate, so I wear suits pretty frequently (more frequently than the average adolescent, anyway). I think I have one from Express and one from the Limited. If it’s hard to find pants to fit (I have incredibly short legs), you could try a skirted suit, which is just as professional.</p>
<p>Get some inexpensive scarves, and jewelry from target’ (you know that french store), and a set of fake pearls, a broach or two</p>
<p>They can add class and character to a simple suitm and give it a more polished, finished, but clean look</p>