<p>50 year old lawyer, in a “business casual” environment (meaning mostly dress slacks and jackets):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Shoes: zappos.com exclusively. I have a D width foot and but for zappos, I would own no shoes</p></li>
<li><p>Purses: TJMaxx. </p></li>
<li><p>Work clothes: Mostly Ann Taylor Loft; they tend to use more color than regular Ann Taylor. Banana Republic has great sales.</p></li>
<li><p>Jeans: Banana Republic.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Fun thread!</p>
<p>I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom/pt-time-work-from home mom for a few years, so haven’t shopped retail, much, on our single income. But, as they say, you either have ‘time but no money’ or ‘money but no time’ so with my extra time, I’ve gone through racks & racks at Plato’s Closet & Good Will. I’ve come up w/a nice selection of dress & casual pants & shirts that fit perfectly from Express (from $6 to $14 each, original price $60+)… I’ll also second the Gap sale rack, although lately I’ve been unable to find the “$8.50” khakis that I used to get there a few years ago. I’m sorry, $28 for a $58 pair of pants isn’t enough of a sale for me…</p>
<p>When I do shop retail (for occasional dress up affairs) I confess to going to ‘Joyce Leslie’ – trendy, young women’s store – for fitted tanks, dressy shirts and fun/inexpensive accessories. </p>
<p>I’ll second Lucky Brand – my husband bought me a pair of jeans at the Vegas Lucky store 5 years ago – $96!! But, they are my favorite & I wear them all the time. There are Lucky outlets, too, where you can find things at about 1/2 the price. </p>
<p>When I worked full-time before (& wore suits) I found Nordstrom’s had incredible tailoring and Barami’s (now only in NYC, I think) had beautiful, flowing suits that were body-conscious but still elegant and professional. </p>
<p>Interesting to read about all these other stores…I’m going to check them out, esp now that I’m back working…</p>
<p>Jolynne - How is job hunting going, or are you working already?</p>
<p>I am sitting here reading this thread, realizing there is a huge sale going on at most of stores today. Should I be conservative and stay home, or should I help out the US economy?</p>
<p>Thanks for asking, oldfort! Worked my first week at new, temp-to-perm job last week. It’s 35 hrs a week, easy commute, & in the area of law that is my expertise (not easy to find). I might have a few court appearances, but primarily am working in the office (interesting, hectic, small-law firm environment!). The job is projected to go 6 weeks, but could turn into something permanent, we’ll see how it goes for both sides. </p>
<p>Long answer to your question, LOL. But, I’m still job-hunting. Although, I think this temp-to-perm thing is a decent transition into the full-time work environment.</p>
<p>Edit–oldfort, you can always get a Starbucks, browse & vow to purchase only if it’s an insanely good deal!</p>
<p>oldfort, I guess that depends on the state of your finances. If you have the money, there are some amazing bargains to be had out there. I went to Macy’s a couple of days ago and got a $400 Calvin Klein coat for $79.90. :)</p>
<p><am i=“” the=“” only=“” female=“” on=“” this=“” planet=“” who=“” owns=“” one=“” purse=“” at=“” a=“” time=“”>></am></p>
<p>you are not alone. I do have a ‘vacation purse’ that is summery and that is when I tend to go on vacation (purchased new at yard sale for $3)</p>
<p>My current purse is Fossil that I got at Macy’s. I think it just celebrated its second anniversary of daily wear :-)</p>
<p>I hate shopping, but forced myself to go to Macy’s this weekend. I got a bra for 75% off and I had a coupon for another 20% off so it cost $10. A bra is my LEAST favorite item to shop for.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’d have to say bathing suits are worse. With bras, once I find a style I like, I keep buying the same thing again and again (until it’s discontinued). Bathing suits are just terrible. I really liked the tankinis with boy shorts that were popular a few years ago. But now, no more boy shorts…it seems to be either french cut legs up to the waist, or long skirts! I may be on the slim side, but my upper thighs would prefer not to expose themselves.</p>
<p>I’m the same re: purses. One daily-wear and then a few, random dress-up ones for evenings out. </p>
<p>Ditto, sueinphilly – definitely the hardest item to find. “Needle in a haystack” comes to mind re: locating the right one.</p>
<p>Bathing suits are terrible to shop for, but give Land’s End a try. Living in Land’s End country, there are sufficient discount Land’s End stores around that it has become my mainstay. Their jeans as well work for the less than svelte, though there are plenty of options for all sizes. Some of the other stores mentioned sound much more fun, however.</p>
<p>I haven’t bought a bathing suit in a long tim. I don’t swim in pools or the ocean. I have a bathing suit from 10-15 years ago for the few times I have needed one. yes, I’m sure finding my next one will suck.</p>
<p>Regarding bras –</p>
<p>I finally took myself to my town’s very expensive lingerie store to get myself “fitted.” Once I got over having the saleswoman touch me in ways most people don’t, I tried on something like 20 bras. Wound up buying the most expensive bra I’ve ever encountered, but it sure made a difference. Bought three of them by taking out a second mortgage. They’re now getting upwards to two years old so it might be time to go again. But this time, I’ll spend less. (It would be impossible to spend more.)</p>
<p>I found Lucky jeans at Marshall’s for $35. They are the classic fit with lycra, my favorite. I also love Anthropologie. They have great sales. I used to buy a lot at the Gap, but no loving it lately. Chicos has great microfiber camis and they just marked them all down. I heard that Ann Taylor loft was going out of business. Lord and Taylor has already gone out of business in Florida. Bloomingdales and Nordstrom are good for dressy clothes. Macys and Dilliards are also good. I buy my sweat pants at Aeropostle, just marked them all down. I only wear the plain ones, no writing on my rear.</p>
<p>“No writing on my rear”</p>
<p>That made me laugh!!! :)</p>
<p>My daughter’s rear is way smaller and cuter than mine!</p>
<p>buying bras was depressing- cause Ihad a breast reduction a few years ago- so I figured I had to have gone down in cup size.
No- ( so before I must have been wearing the wrong size too)
However the fitter at Nordstroms had me go up a cup size and down the chest size.
It made a big difference in how my clothes fit.</p>
<p>Regardless of the bra- it has been a lot easier to find clothes since I had the reduction ( which my ins paid for 
)
However- re: colors, when lines started to include brown I liked it- cause I have red hair and it doesn’t clash- but now I would like to find things in other colors!</p>
<p>Sometimes I have great luck at consignment shops- they are often clothes that I don’t think were even bought in this area-</p>
<p>I bought one swim suit at a swim shop- off season- but D was on swim team and she wanted to practice more.
I also have a bathing suit from Jcrew online- they have sizes and styles online that they don’t have in the stores.</p>
<p>I have a couple bags from Roots canada I bought online, after lusting at them in their Vancouver shop- very reasonable price considering the quality.</p>
<p>but mostly I use the same nylon compartment bag from REI, I like to have a very small bag that I can wear all the time, otherwise I forget something.</p>
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<p>This was my D’s experience when she was sized at Victoria Secret. I wonder if most women size themselves wrong to begin with. Her clothes seemed to fit better after the new bra also. It was amazing!</p>
<p>LOL! I go to great lengths to make my rear as invisible as possible. No writing on my rear either :D</p>
<p>Swimsuits are a pain, I agree. I gave up on finding something that does not make me look like a beached killer whale and wear a Speedo polyester suit.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago, Oprah did a special on bras and the expert said the vast majority of women are in the wrong size bra. I went to the Nordstrom fitter after that and mine was wrong too. I don’t have any friends who got fitted who was choosing the right size on their own.</p>
<p>From what I read somewhere, one of the reasons so many women use the wrong size, and that when they go to a fitter they’re usually told to go down in the band size and go up in the cup size, is that the standard size charts you see on most websites are wrong. Most of them say that to get your band size, you’re supposed to measure around your torso under the bust, and add 5". What I read says that you should really add only 3" to get the band size, and figure out the cup size from that starting point. </p>
<p>I know that worked for me. According to all the size charts, my band size was supposed to be 36" (31" + 5). But that size band always seemed too big, and the cup size too small. Ever since I changed to a 34" band size (31" + 3), and went up a cup size, what I buy fits much better. (There’s a particular bra I found at Target, their house brand, that seems to fit just about perfectly, so I bought a bunch and that’s basically all I wear.)</p>