Dressing Professionally for Less

It's that time of year again! The time where students everywhere scramble to revise (or start) resumes, search for suits in the depths of their closets, and pretend to know what they want to do in life. Yep. It's career fair time (…..yay….!).

Lucky for us kids in Iowa, ours got post-poned because of a blizzard (not surprising), so we were blessed with a whole extra week to prepare! Tis the night before the fair and I'm…not even close to prepared. But I did make some time to go through my closet and come up with a few possible outfit combinations to choose from (so I'm technically a third of the way prepared…?)

Anyway, I thought this would be a great opportunity to show off some of my more "professional" looking thrift finds! I love looking for business and dress clothes at thrift shops because 1) there's usually  plenty to choose from and 2) you can score some of the biggest deals on quality pieces at a fraction of the price. Suit jackets, for example, can easily run over $100 and I've found some of my favorites from Goodwill for maybe $6 a piece. And because dress clothes usually tend to have higher quality fabrics, many times the pieces will stay in good shape even after being worn (ex: I have no idea how many times my favorite thrifted black blazer has been worn, and it still looks brand new. I'll take it). 

A few of my favorite things to thrift for when I'm looking for professional clothes...

1. Blazers: Check back often because the good ones get snagged fast, but when you find a good one it's totally worth it! 
2. Button downs: There's always a TON at Goodwill, get one in every color! Keep an eye out for the wrinkle free ones that won't require ironing (who has time for ironing in college…)
3. Slacks: Again, always a ton to choose from, but you'll have to dig. Look for familiar brands that you know fit you well to reduce the amount of guesswork since they all kind of look the same. Also keep an eye out for pants that match blazers (many times they come donated as a set, but get separated when put on the floor). 
4. Skirts: I just recently discovered the skirt section--I'd always envisioned it as having all strange floor length denim numbers and out of style minis (which a lot of it is), but I've recently had a lot of luck (two favorites in the pictures below!). If you like skirts, it never hurts to give it a look!

Below are some outfits I came up with, all items that I thrifted or found on super clearance (minus the first blazer that was a b-day gift from mom, and the dress pants in the last one…but trust me, most thrift stores have enough black pants on hand to clothe a whole town). In reality, I'd mix up these pieces with more colorful items but for the purpose of this post I really wanted to stick to strictly thrifted items. 

Left outfit: Black Merona Skirt (Target clearance, $12), Gap boots (Gap Outlet, $1.95), black blazer (A. Byer, gifted)
Middle outfit: NY Collection shirt (Goodwill, $3.49), grey Ilyse Hart Ltd skirt (Salvation Army, .79), black Cable and Gauge cardigan (Goodwill, $3.49). boots (Gap Outlet $1.95), watch (eBay, $3.99)
Right outfit: Merona top (Stuff Etc, $1.99), necklace (eBay, $4.99), skirt, boots and watch same as previous. 

My favorite find the above three is the gray (or is it grey..?) skirt. It fits perfectly in the waist and comes just above my knee (my fellow short people can attest to this being a semi-rare find). Plus, it's 100% wool which makes it great for the colder months. Fun fact: I wore this exact middle outfit to an interview aaaaand got the job, so I'm proud to say it's got some extra luck woven in from here on out :).

Also, the 1.49 boots from Gap Outlet? Not a typo. Found them years ago at an after-Christmas sale--best purchase EVER. I wear them all the time, I'm not sure how they're still in tact.

Left outfit: Black La Belle shift dress (Salvation Army, $2), black A. Byer blazer (gifted), Charlotte Russe booties (Plato's Closet, $7)
Middle outfit: Black Merona top (Stuff Etc, $1.99), The Limited red skirt (Salvation army, $2), Roommates cat (free)
Right outfit: Black Saville blazer (Goodwill, $4.49), turquoise New York & Company button down (Goodwill, $3.59), pants (…have been in my closet forever) 

My favorite find in this second set is  the black shift dress (left) that I found at a Salvation Army for less than $2--the picture doesn't really give it justice as you can't see it too well, but it's so versatile and I love the classic cut. I've worn it plain (it's sleeveless underneath the blazer), with colored cardigans, with tights…my only complaint would be the amount of cat hair it attracts, but then again most of my wardrobe fights the same battle. Other than that, two thumbs up!

Of course, not all of these outfits are career-fair worthy--but I could see myself wearing them in a work setting. My main point here was dressing professionally doesn't have to be expensive. I spent less than $10 on almost all the outfits above, and I'd like to think that you can't tell. I'd encourage you to go out and give Goodwill and Salvation Army a try if you're looking for some variety in your business wardrobe--you just might be surprised at what you come by!