How to Build a Business Casual Wardrobe for Women

There are many reasons why a woman may need to build a work wardrobe from scratch … first job, new position, weight fluctuations, etc. And while a lot of us enjoy shopping, shopping for an entire work wardrobe in a short period of time can be stressful. With a little planning, we can eliminate some of the stress and come out looking like a professional! Here’s our strategy. There’s five days in the workweek, and we’ll assume casual wear is allowed on Fridays. The plan is to wear pants three days, a dress or skirt one day, and jeans or khakis to finish out the week. Based on the plan, let’s discuss the minimum you’re going to need below.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Suit with jacket and pants or skirt
• 2-3 pair pants
• 2 dresses &/or skirts
• trouser jeans or casual khakis
• 4-8 tops
• shoes
• purse
• jewelry

1. Let’s start our wardrobe with a dressy dark suit appropriate for a job interview. You’ll need a matching jacket and pants or a skirt in black, navy, or brown. Target often carries separates that will work as a suit by Isaac Mizrahi. You can find nice suits at TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshall’s, and other stores that carry discounted designer brands. Suits from Banana Republic and J Crew are great for a modern but classic cut, and go on sale at the end of each season.
2. Shop for two or three pair of pants in neutral colored pants, preferably in the same color family as your suit. For example, if your suit happens to be black, look for pants in varying shades of gray and charcoal. This makes mixing and matching tops much easier. So it doesn’t look like you’re wearing the same pants every day, choose between solids, stripes, plaids, herringbone, and tweed patterns and fabrics to add interest.
3. Next, pick up two dresses and/or skirts. A wrap dress and a pencil or A-line skirt are necessities and flattering for every body shape. Alternate wearing every other week.
4. For casual day, you can get away with one pair of trouser cut jeans in a dark wash or a modern cut khaki. If budget allows, get both and alternate wear.
5. The most difficult part of this exercise is completing outfits with tops, blouses, and sweaters. Ideally, you want to end up with eight to ten tops, roughly double the number of bottoms, and each top should work with multiple bottoms including jeans. To begin with, make sure you have enough tops to get you through the week and build up your wardrobe slowly. Because you’ll probably be wearing the bottoms every single week, you want to mix up top styles, fabric, and patterns. Don’t go out and buy five button-down shirts or five twin sets in different colors, otherwise your clothes will have the look of a uniform from day to day. By the way, jackets that you plan on wearing all day would count as a top.
6. Finally finish with shoes and accessories. If you’re able to stick with a single color scheme in your wardrobe, buy coordinating shoes in heels and/or flats, depending on the length of your pants and your personal preference. Invest in a nice wool coat to look pulled together year 'round.

Tips & Warnings

• As time and budget allows, build on these basics.
• Don’t make the mistake of buying items just because they are on sale. Only buy items you absolutely love because they make you feel sharp and confident.