Ask A Woman: Suit & Tie 5 Days a Week
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Hi Beth,
I am in my early 20’s, just graduated graduate school, and transitioning to my first real job. Not only does my job require a new wardrobe but I am also relocating from Ohio to Las Vegas. My job requires a suit and tie Monday through Friday and unfortunately my closet right now wouldn’t be able to cut it.
Do you think it wise to purchase what my job requires before moving? I was thinking at least 5 suits, 10 dress shirts, ties, shoes, etc. I am hoping to build a solid office wardrobe. Only thing I am afraid of, other than the bill, is if I should wait and see what styles and trends are in the office or Nevada before making any significant purchases and having to get them to my new place. My job is within Nevada’s U.S. District Court and may at times require me to appear in court.
Any help or even direction to a previous column answering a question closely resembling mine would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
– Zack
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Great question, and one we haven’t really had before so let’s dive in. I’m so excited!
If you’re starting your new job as soon as you get to Vegas, you need at least a couple suits/shirts/ties ready to go. Even if you’ll have a week or two to get settled, having a handful of ensembles already set is ideal. Moving + starting a new job = major stress. You’ll be finding your way around a new city, furnishing new digs, learning the ropes at work. You’ll be exhausted and frazzled. Best to give yourself at least a week’s worth of no hassle outfits. Then you can add gradually as you figure out what works best for your lifestyle, and what is expected at the office.
I know nothing about corporate Vegas styles–shocking, I know–but I do know about classic style, so I can at least steer you in the right direction for your first couple of suits, and then you can add to your collection later on. Navy blue is where you want to start. You can go solid or pin-striped. Charcoal is another great, classic color, again solid or pin-striped. Time out, am I suggesting wool blends during the very hot Vegas summertime? Yes–it’s been my experience that in hot places, they air condition the beejeebus out of every building, so you’ll probably be comfortable inside, and maybe make a mad dash between your car and your workplace to minimize your heat exposure.
For those not in a suit 5-days a week, less expensive suits will do. 5-days a week PLUS court appearances? Take the plunge. And keep it dark & wool in front of the judge. Left: Brooks Brother’s Milano Cut Solid Navy & Regent Fit Charcoal Pinstripe. Both $698.60, regularly $998, with further markdowns potentially coming next week. Credit to Kyle over here for that tip.
If you just can’t bear the thought of wearing a dark wool suit, this poplin suit would be lighter, as would this linen suit. The light colors make them not quite as formal or classic, but I don’t think they’d be a faux pas in the office by any means. If you get to Vegas with two suits initially, I think you’ll be fine because you can mix up the suits with different shirts and ties for different looks.
Sounds like you’re a man on a budget, so I’d recommend spending the bulk of your money on suits. They’re expensive no matter what, so may as well do it right. Go cheap on the shirts and ties, at least this round of shopping. Buy a handful of dress shirts, mainly white, and then some light colors or minimalist stripes/patterns/textures, all of which you can wear with both suits. Buy basic ties in stripes, small patterns, and solid colors that you can wear with both suits. Ask a salesperson to help you match if you’re unsure about it. Once you get to Vegas, take note of your co-workers’ style, but also ask around to find out where people buy their suits locally. Then over time, build up your collection of suits, high-quality ties, and dress shirts.
Finally, Zack, I leave you with a video clip that needs no introduction…
-Beth
Got a question for Beth? Send them to: askawoman@dappered.com
I assume by graduate school you mean law school. In that case, before you buy anything other than a solid wool navy suit, a solid wool charcoal or dark gray suit, solid white and light blue shirts, some conservative ties, and pairs of black and dark brown cap toes (park ave’s and fifth ave’s or similar, and if you are wearing them 5 days a week you might want to add a couple more shoes sooner rather than later), you are going to want to see what others in the office are wearing.
To start stay away from pinstripes, non-wool suits (get a lightweight wool, its actually much cooler than cotton anyways and its unlikely linen will fly in such a conservative office and certainly neither would be good in court) and patterned shirts, and consider adding those after you see what others in the office or wearing (though I don’t know about ever adding non-wool suits if your office is conservative enough to require suits 5 days a week).
Since vegas is super hot, I suggest getting two pairs of pants with each suit, keeping the jackets (and even the ties) in the office and putting them on when you get in (you may have even misunderstood the requiring suit and tie every day, it might have been more of a requirement that you have a suit an tie on hand in case needed, in any case there is nothing wrong with leaving the jacket in the office). This way you can cut the amount of suits you need down to around 2-3.
In sum, start with the basics, keep in really conservative, expand after you see what others are wearing.
Why’re you making that assumption?
Graduate school that requires you to appear in court is most likely law school. Either way, i think the same principles would apply if an office is conservative enough to require you to wear a suit 5 days a week.
This sounds like a law clerk to a federal judge to me. You won’t find many workplaces anymore that are more formal than a federal courtroom, and the judges and their staffs tend to be the most conservatively dressed in there. I’d stay away from getting a non-dark-wool suit until you see whether anyone else wears poplin or linen (and by “anyone else,” I mean other clerks [or whatever role you have]).
So stick with navy and charcoal for your first couple of suits. A muted, wide-patterned chalkstripe (along these lines: http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/sa/savile-row-charcoal-chalk-stripe-two-button-classic-suit-jacket.jpg) could also probably work.
Opening a statement by nitpicking semantics? Classy. For what it’s
worth, several Universities clump their Law School/JD program under the
School of Graduate Studies (hence…the potential of being apart of a
Graduate School).
Furthermore, your assumption also implies that anyone/everyone that has
to appear in Court or work in a District Court setting is an attorney.
The writer never mentioned one way or the other.
I couldn’t tell if “within” met “at” or something more like “within the jurisdiction of” giving it a re-read “at” seems much more likely.
Either way I would reiterate multiple pants with the suits. In a conservative office everyone will be in dark navy or gray and you will get by fine with 2-3 suits if each has 2 pairs of pants. No one will notice or care that you are wearing the same couple of suits in this environment .
“My job is within Nevada’s U.S. District Court and may at times require me to appear in court.”
That about wraps that one up. Something tells me that he didn’t get his Master’s in Art History.
Ummm, i wasn’t nitpicking anything, I was just making an assumption based on odds. Nice little ad hominem there though.
Wow guys. Move on. Thanks.
Wardrobe issues aside good luck in Vegas, I lived there until about 5 yeares ago. You should find it very easy to find your way around town (it is truly a grid), but beware of traffic. It has the congestion of a city twice its size and the gridlock happens at random times throughout the day.
Bravo for all the SBTB links. Now I’m going to spend all day watching clips from the show…
Also, I laughed when Mr. Belding showed up on Mad Men and Max showed up on How I Met Your Mother.
Born and raised in Vegas! You’ll love the courthouse, but the cops by the front gates are a-holes (jury duty, been there). Follow Beth’s advice and your instincts and you’ll be fine! I’m also in my mid 20’s.
You don’t need the caffeine pills, Beth! You don’t have to sing tonight!
I think he can START with four suits and spend the rest of his budget on shirts, ties, etc. Nobody will care if he wears the same suit two times a week. If he takes care of them, hangs them up, etc., he can get away with that. Of course, more suits over time, but you really can start with fewer. Also, Lands End will let him order suit separates, so he could get a couple of pants with a suit jacket, letting him stretch out those suits since it’s usually the pants that need cleaning before the jacket.
Thanks for the answer Beth and all of the advice everyone. I purchased two of the Thrillist rewards for Indochino. Never purchased from them before so we’ll see how it works out. Thanks again.
Thanks. I’m still apartment hunting and trying to keep a reasonable commute in mind.
Hey thanks. Any advice on locations for an apartment? All I’ve been told so far is to stray from toomclose to the strip, UNLV, and North Las Vegas.
Thanks. Still searching for an apartment and trying to keep a reasonable commute in mind.