Ladies Suits

[NinaBella]

I am retiring from the military entering the corporate world. For those who wear ladies suits to work, where do you find the best deals on 'quality' suits. I love the clothes at White House Black Market and buy items there on sale, but I need a few more ladies suits to add to my waredrobe.

 

[Northernlites]

as Anne Klein, Kasper all make great pieces. I find the clothes at the Jones Outlet are true over runs from Department Stores. Pieces that I have seen at the outlet I have seen at Lord and Taylor for 3 x the price. Also I find many ladies no longer wear a suit but wear pants and jacket or skirt from the same color grouping.

One bit of advice most clients/customers/co workers usually see you either sitting at your desk or standing up. Therefore most people are looking at you from waist up. Buy great quality for your tops and jackets and sweaters and go mid range or inexpensive for your pants/skirts.

 

[Pigeon]

If you have a Burlington Coat Factory anywhere near you, they often have great deals on Anne Klein, Jones NY and Calvin Klein. Macy's often has last season's suits marked down to $69.

 

[NinaBella]

One bit of advice most clients/customers/co workers usually see you either sitting at your desk or standing up. Therefore most people are looking at you from waist up. Buy great quality for your tops and jackets and sweaters and go mid range or inexpensive for your pants/skirts.

I've always had the opposite opinion. Pants are harder for me to find as I am 5'2, mom of four. I always spend more on good quality pants because they do not go out of style as quickly and I go for classic styles. Then I find I can get a lot of shirts on clearance inexpensive. Then for example, if I have 5 pairs of good pants and 15 tops, I can make a lot of various outfits. I think tops go more in trends than pants do.

I do appreciate the tip. I am looking to buy suits as a set and currently only have two (one black with pants, one gray with a skirt). I have 6 pencil skirts in my waredrobe right now and will add a couple more pants to wear with dress tops. Right now I need interview suits and then depending on the position I am hired as, I think wearing suits would be appropriate. I am seeking a mid to senior level HR position at a corporate headquarters. I am always cold, so even with dress pants and a top, I would keep a matching jacket/blazer/sweater nearby. Currently, I run a desk heater in my office and folks are always coming into my office asking "are you running a heater." LoL. Yes, I am.

My budget is tight row now so looking for quality at an affordable price.

 

[DaughteroftheKing]

I've been looking as well. Macy's seems to have a good, affordable (as suits go), variety.

 

[SueInBoston]

I'm 5'3 and I like Banana Republic's petite suits.

 

[sdjen]

Not sure where you are located but check to see if you have a Clothes Mentor store near you. They are a women's resale clothing store and usually have nice quality suits from name brands for under $40 total. Good luck!

 

[mhf]

On occasion you can find a few suits extra specially priced at Macy's One Day Sales. Pair the sale with the coupon from the paper or online or sometimes they even will mail you coupons. I bought a beige one this summer.

Burlington Coat Factory after season sales are good too. Bought a textured navy blue Calvin Klein there just a few months ago. Navy has no season, IMHO!

Talbots Clearance stores on special sale days, if you can find your size to combine into a suit in the separates. Good dresses there too, pair with a jacket. Sign up for their rewards program (free) to get postcards announcing the sale days ahead of time. These are NOT the Outlet stores in the Outlet malls, FYI.

A lot of suits are being sold as separates these days.

 

[disneylove69]

JCPenny, TJMaxx and Marshalls carries them.

 

[crisi]

Nordstrom Rack if you have one.

Also, depending on what your field is and what part of the country you are in, I wouldn't overbuy suits. I own a few and seldom wear them. I wear jackets and dress pants, or a top and a large scarf or shawl - separates. Get in with an interview suit or two, wear them again for the first day or two, and take a look at where you land and what the corporate dress culture is.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I am tall and always have a hard time finding pants long enough. Lately, I've had luck with Macy's and Jones NY.

I was recently in Dress Barn and found a lot of clothes that I liked. They even have Jones suit separates that were really nice.

 

[tvsdisney]

Banana republic is my fav...or the limited

 

[smokeyblue]

Congratulations on your military retirement! 6pm.com usually has a small selection of upscale brand name suits for very reasonable prices. They also have lots of other fine work wardrobe items to augment a professional wardrobe. The prices are right and the shipping is super fast. I've also seen some reasonably priced designer suits at younkers.com for good prices. I've always had good service from them too.

 

[MomToOne]

Another vote for Jones NY at Macy's or a Jones NY outlet. While I now work in a "business casual" environment, I used to work in consulting and had to wear a suit everyday, often while travelling. I liked Jones NY because I could get a bunch of mix-and-match separates from the same collection that all went together to give me a variety of looks. I once traveled in Europe for 3 weeks on 2 pairs of pants, 2 skirts, 2 blazers and a bunch of tops (don't worry - I utilized hotel dry cleaning!)

Luckily, Jones NY generally fit me well - although I did find sometimes one collection or another was just cut differently and wouldn't fit me right.

 

[java]

I recently lost weight and thought hey i bet my old tweed Jones blazer would fit. So I put on the jacket(from 1987) so happy it fit. But then looked in the mirror. While the fabric was still in style, those shoulder pads were NOT! That's what i get for breaking out an almost 20 year old blazer. (i may try to take out the shoulder pads) I had the best luck at Macy's. Calvin Klein makes an affordable line for them that I love. (around $200 for the suit)
Good luck on the job hunt!

 

[jenniy122]

Shop the sales at Macys. On one of their "one day sales" I got an entire Calvin Klein suit online for $60, and I'm plus sized, so that's no small feat.

 

[morgan98]

For what it's worth, I appreciate wanting one suit or so potentially for interviews. I work at a firm and while we still dress for work, we are much more casual than when I entered the workforce in 1993. Back then, we needed to wear actual suites everyday and I had quite a few Kaspar and Calvin Klein suits.

I just interviewed and was hired for a more senior management position at another firm. I had to visit and interview four separate days. I wore an actual "suit" one of the days. The rest of the days I wore jackets and skirts (professionally cut, appropriate length). The non suit outfits were all from White House, Black Market. For example one outfit was a grey pencil skirt, a place 3/4 length stand collar jacket and a top with a black and teal print. I wore black patent leather heals and nice jewelry.

I do not see many true suits any longer. These separates are more than fine. In my opinion, nice fitting fashionable clothing with the correct accessories matter more than a it being a "suit."