Business attire for women

I've been looking at Hugo Boss and Brooks Brothers. I can't seem to find a Hugo Boss skirt suit, though.

The comments upthread about too-high high heels made me chuckle because I am totally that person tottering around in 4.5/5 inch heels. In my defense, I am really short, as in barely 5'2", and a lot of the male attorneys I've worked with over the last five years have mistakenly asked me to get coffee the first time I met them or assumed that I was the secretary or the paralegal ("when's the attorney going to get here?" was a routine question for my first 2 years). It sort of became a defense mechanism for at least being able to look them in the eye.

What about hair during interviews? If your hair is longer than shoulder length, how did you wear it on interview day? Pony tail, bun, down, put up with a clip, etc?

definitely get your hair back if it's longer. i was back on campus to do Mock Interviews and two of the women had their hair down and it really did distract from their faces. you don't want to be tempted to fiddle with it, and you want to be sure the interviewer is focused on your eyes and your message.

retailgirl, you rock, thank you. I was looking at Theory suits on the Bloomingdales website but my impression was that the style "skews" a little younger/edgier and I was worried about the issues cited above about looking too young and unprofessional (exacerbated for me due to my height). I plan to get my wardrobe this summer, in any case, as the last year was very hard on me, healthwise, and I gained 20 lbs doing the whole b-school thing (yuck). I am in the process of getting back to "myself"-however my normal weight is approximately a size 4.

Brooks Brothers looks like it has the requisite conservatism but it looks like I'l spend additional money tailoring it down to my frame.

On a seperate note, you wouldn't by any chance have any good recommendations for tailor made button down shirts in petites?

Thanks smadge. I debated about saying this explicitly in the initial post but one of my issues with button down shirts, which is why I asked as obliquely as possible, is that when I am slim (which, heh, is not the case right now), my chest size is out of proportion to the rest of my body. This has long condemned me to wearing nice tshirts under suits, but I am guessing that will be unacceptable in finance interviews. Unfortunately, in the past, either I've ended up wearing a shirt that is far too big for me size wise, or I wear my size, but have the dreaded button-gap over the bust. I ended up googling for this issue and discovered a company called Carissa Rose that makes shirts for women with this problem. If anyone has any other recommendations short of getting a shirt made, please let me know.

My girlfriend and I went to a Hugo Boss outlet store a few weekends ago thinking it'd be reasonable.

Yeah...

Quickly sidestepped out and over to Polo.

Banana Republic, Zara, H&M are my favorites for business attire.

to clarify, you meant that the prices were unreasonably high, right?

Yes, I didn't mean to quote that portion about wearing heels.

The stuff was just crazy expensive, men's and women's.

Hello, my busty sisters. I have completely given up on wearing button-downs, but my work isn't especially conservative and all my interviews in b-school were GM roles. I do wear lots of nice, fine-knit pull-over type shirts under suits. But if you definitely want button-downs....

https://rebeccaanddrew.com/

Warning - these are not cheap, but I saw them on What Not to Wear once and now have a friend who raves about them.

anything formal attire...it depends on you as long as you can manage to have that attire.

I'm pretty tiny as well (size 00 is usually too big for me) and usually have to look quite professional at work. Most places like Banana don't fit me at all.

However, I just discovered that Brooks Brothers does free tailoring, and I am absolutely in love with their shirts!! I got a size 00P and they tailored it for me so it fits perfectly. I am never going to buy shirts from any other place

Zara sometimes works for me, so does Theory and Hugo Boss.

Question: For bschool interviews, is it better to wear a collared shirt underneath your suit or not? Does it look TOO formal?

Well, after 8 years work in a laboratory I finally need to refresh my wardrobe.! The closest I get to business attire at my current work is a cashmere with a button-down shirt. I have two interviews coming up and I've had to buy a new suit, a couple of shirts, and a handbag that fits a laptop. I don't have the guts to take my usual L.L. Bean tote to the interview.

While I still need a leather handbag, right now I opted for the suit and got a more affordable Longchamp canvas tote:

Before school begins, I would really like to have this one:


And if I had some more cash lying around (one can always dream!), the Mulberry Bayswater...

Regarding business wear, on a previous page somebody had posted wonderful knitted dresses with long sleeves. What a wonderful idea - and they must be so comfortable! Thanks for the tip!

Slightly off-topic, but can anyone help me understand the distinction between a "cocktail dress" and a "party dress"?
My friends think all the dresses I own cannot be classified as "cocktail", especially if I wear them with knee-high boots

So what attire is appropriate for the fancier events at admit weekends where cocktail dresses are required?

A cocktail dress IMO is a little more sophisticated than a party dress. Cocktail dresses can be worn when the dress code says dark suit / black tie, so think of some Hollywood glamour parties and what people wear there. Most often a cocktail dress is not a full-long gown, but rather a little shorter, everything from calf-long to above-knee short. Even a mini could go for a cocktail dress, as long as it is sophisticated, and is worn with sophistication (think accessories). Cocktail dresses are when women get to play: wear bare backs or a slit up the leg, flaunt a little, but always remember to hide more than you show. Match with a little fancier jewelry, and for a true cocktail occasion, a large cocktail ring on your right hand -> the hand that holds up the glass. Cocktail rings are also good to clink on the glass with when asking for silence for a speech.

Boots are in my opinion not cocktail attire. However, if the party is otherwise very casual (suits or black tie not required), I could imagine wearing boots to a bar or another similar party venue in the winter.

I started a new thread because the old one was too long:

I ran across an acquaintance recently (investment banking consultant) and upon discussing the appropriate attire for professional women, she said "it should demonstrate the promise (but not the delivery) of sex."

LOL.

What do you think?

I'm sure this conversation happened. Go troll somewhere else please!