Quote:
Originally Posted by QEDed
I'm going to be a junior in college this coming year, and will likely interview at a decent number of finance and consulting type places so I'll need to look decent in the interviews. The only suit I have is a pos (it still fits though) I got from men's warehouse for my high school graduation. I basically know nothing about dress clothes.
Money is not a huge issue, but I'm not looking to drop 5k on a single suit. Thinking 500-1000 a suit and looking to get 2-3 plus maybe 1 blazer to wear to slightly less formal events like employer networking events. I will also need some new shoes. I am looking for advice for specific brands and styles as well as good places/times to buy them. Also from what I've been read it seems like everyone advises getting anything you get off the rack tailored so thats what I plan on doing.
I realize this is a pretty long post, but I'm pretty clueless and would appreciate some advice. Thanks in advance for the suggestions.
I'm 23 and have gone through that whole finance/consulting interview process before. The image you're looking to portray is a confident, trustworthy young person that has his sh*t together.
You need to buy an age appropriate suit. Going to a men's warehouse and buying what the sales person recommends is going to guarantee a suit with poor fit/fabric and will probably look like your father's handmedown.
For the types of jobs you're interviewing for I'd recommend:
-A solid lighter charcoal suit, no stripes or windowpanes. I say lighter charcoal because some charcoal suits appear black, and these should be avoided.
-A non-iron white shirt. The collar should not button down.
-Dark brown shoes with a matching plain leather belt.
-Boring striped or dotted ties. Avoid complex patterns and yellows and pinks.
The fit of the suit and shirt is where most people fail. Rather than write a novel about things to avoid in suits, I'll just direct you to
styleforum.net where they tend to be fairly helpful.
Before you start shopping you should really have an understanding of what is appropriate and what isn't, and what's a good fit and what isn't. But you don't need to spend a lot of money to look exceptional. I have a $225 on sale suit from jcrew and some $100 allen edmonds shoes, and I don't think I could be noticeably better dressed for under $1500.