Business attire for women

For interviews I will always wear skirts, it is the more traditional way. Normally I am not a very traditional type, but when it comes to recruiting I think it traditional is the best way to go.
At interviews I will wear skirt, shirt and just a thin white-gold necklace.

I used to live in the US until 3 years ago, and while I was there I had not heard of Zara and H&M. Now I live in Europe, and when I moved to Europe I discovered Zara, H&M, Mango and Cotton and I like all of them a lot so I am really glad that these brands are also present in the US now.

Also, do you girls think it is appropriate to wear boots to interview?
I am applying to schools located in cold parts of the US therefore I think during the recruiting season the weather will be cold. I don't know if it is appropriate to wear boots & a skirt (I just don't like the way that combination looks). But on the other hand I don't know if it is appropriate to wear pumps when there is snow outside

You can definitely find Zara in the US

I still think that pumps is the way to go for interviews, I just don't like the look of boots with formal business attire, especially if you're interviewing with an i-bank or consulting firm.

My friend's sister has worked in IB for a couple of years, now she moved to HF, when she looked at suits.. she would only choose these 3 colors:
1. black
2. black
3. black

LOL.. this is what she said about grey:.. "oh, this is pushing it!"

Wow.. really, now I'm starting to wonder too..

But I'm pretty sure that this girl strictly only wears black.. she worked for a bulge bracket firm in NY, and now moved to a firm like KKR, Carlyle, etc.. so she's a reliable source I must say..

For those who have had school interviews, what would you recommend?

Suit w/ pants or a skirt? and what color?
Button down shirt w/ color outside the suit or a nice sweater underneath the suit top?

you mean b-school admission interview? I don't think it matters what you wear at these interviews all that much. Don't buy a new suit. I think anything deacent looking is fine for b-school interviews

What is the rule on pantyhose/stockings? If you wear a skirt do you have to wear icky grandma pantyhose? Haha yuck

The guys seemed to be buying new suits & ties for their b-school interviews.

Yes, I would really love to know about stockings.. what color? And should we even wear them?

I've stuck to pants for my bschool interviews precisely due to the hosiery quandary. I hate hosiery, but not sure what's appropriate for bschool. In my work, I go bare. Hell, I'm young and my legs look good...and I work in tech.

My suits are all from BCBG. Young, stylish, but still a suit.

I am afraid yes you have to wear them
and they have to be skin color, the less visible they are the better

Wait Im confused about this. I thought it needs to be darker. I thought I read somewhere that lighter colors are more "sexy" and less professional. Although I would stick to pants too just as mba2010, for the same reason.

Looks like pants it is! darn. I have a really cute skirt suit. But this whole stockings thing is just too confusing.

I wore pants to both my interviews. It gets cold in NE and i like it warm

However am debating if we shud leave or hair open or tie it back as tight as possible.

How long is your hair? I guess it depends on that. Upto shoulder length open should be ok. Anything longer, I might tie it.

if your hair tends to be frizzy/poufy, I'd consider wearing it pulled back - I think it looks more "put together" that way. In my case, if it's rainy outside, I pull out the straightener and have to pull the hair back or else I end up with hair looking like that of Richard Simmons (of 80s excercise video fame) - not quite the image I want to portray

I wonder why most women who are powerful executives or CEOs have their hair cut short.. I rarely see them with long hair..

hi girls,

I think skirt looks more professional than pants so I will def. wear skirt

And I did not say that the stockings should be lighter than your skin color, but as close to your skin color as possible. I don't think they should be darker/lighter but as exactly your skin color as possible.
Ofcourse you won't find some that are exactly your color, but an 'unnoticable' variation will not be noticed... so just go with something as close as possible

I personally think that too long hair is not professional. The longest my hair ever got is sholder length

Also, most older women (40+) prefer to have short hair, and the CEOs are normally older (at least 35+