{"id":39107,"date":"2011-03-10T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/?p=39107"},"modified":"2025-10-18T10:00:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:00:35","slug":"dress-for-success-budget-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/fashion-trends\/dress-for-success-budget-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"8 ways to dress for success on a budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

People always tell you to dress for the job you want, not the job you have — that’s what it means to dress for success<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing is, dressing for success can be expensive. Worse, you most need to step up your career style game when you’re just starting out. And that’s also when you don’t have the bank balance to fund a new professional wardrobe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

But, hey, you’re a strong woman and you can tackle this challenge. You can achieve your career goals, and stay super stylish along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Woman<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first and most important element here is confidence. You know your job and you do it well, so flaunt that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now to address the more practical side of climbing the corporate ladder in style, here are ten rules for compiling a chic professional wardrobe on a budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Simple suits <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you work in a corporate setting, invest in a few simple black, navy, or charcoal suits. Choose classic cuts and solid colors. See my post on budget women’s suit brands<\/a> for inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t try and buy these at Nordstrom. Instead, head to the clearance rack at Macy’s or JC Penney. If you can’t find coordinated suits, choose separates — a few pencil skirts and blazers will work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You probably only need two or three suits. Yes, you’re going to rewear them. And no, no one will notice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Follow the 70\/30 rule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can add color and variety to your suit collection with shell tops and blouses. Macy’s routinely has Calvin Klein shell tops on sale. You can also look for inexpensive options at Target and H&M.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you invest in new work wear, try to stay in line with the 70-30 rule. The 70% applies to your classic basics — suits, pencil skirts, black pumps, white button-down tops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 30% of your professional wardrobe<\/a> can be more fun. Think work-appropriate jewelry, a trendy blouse, a cute bag. These are the pieces that prevent you from looking like a school marm at the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put these all together and you have 100% success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Think about cost per wear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been talking about the cost-per-wear formula<\/a> forever and for good reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladies, it’s all about value<\/em>. Take the price of a garment and divide it by how many times you think you\u2019ll wear it. If a piece costs $100 and you expect to wear it 10 times, the cost per wear is $10. Ten bucks per wear isn’t bad, but you can do better. (I have $50 jeans I’ve worn dozens of times.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point here is to not to get hung up on price. Quality work clothes can be expensive, but they will last. A $200 suit you can wear twice a week for a year? That’s a budget purchase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the $100 suit that falls apart after 10 years — yeah, not so much. The cheaper option will cost you more long-term, because you’ll have to replace it faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Swap with friends <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You probably have clothes in your closet that you don’t wear because you’re over them. Guess what? Your friends have the same thing going on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pick a day, get your girls involved and throw a Dress For Success clothing swap<\/a>. Don’t forget the wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Don’t pay full price <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shop the sales, period. Use Shop it to Me<\/a> or sign up for emails from your favorite store — or whatever method works for you to stay in touch with sale launches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might also download a browser extension like Coupert or Rakuten\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/g>\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/clipPath>\r\n <\/defs><\/svg><\/span><\/a> to help you shop online. These applications notify you when an item you’re shopping is cheaper on another site. That protects you from the old retail trick of exaggerating discounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Shop weekend and work simultaneously<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not every item you wear to work (or an interview) needs to be a traditional suit. There are exceptions of course. Bankers and lawyers tend to enforce conservative dress rules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have some flexibility, you can experiment with pieces that are appropriate outside of the office, too. For example, you can pair a sheath dress with a cardigan at work. Rewear the sheath dress for date night and don the cardigan with jeans for casual evenings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping for weekends and work together is an easy and fun way to save money<\/a>. You\u2019ll spend on one piece but get multiple looks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Shop used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can find amazing work pieces at thrift and vintage stores<\/a>. Most of the time the items are very discounted and unique — so you win on two accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online consignment stores like Thredup are also fabulous sources for blouses, jewelry, and chic skirts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Know your wardrobe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Take inventory of what\u2019s already in your closet. You may be surprised with what you find, but more importantly you won\u2019t make the mistake of buying the same item again. If you have three striped blouses, do you need another? Probably not. And if you know that, you won\u2019t be spending cash where it need not be spent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People always tell you to dress for the job you want, not the job you have — that’s what it means to dress for success. The thing is, dressing for success can be expensive. Worse, you most need to step up your career style game when you’re just starting out. And that’s also when you… Read More »8 ways to dress for success on a budget<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1641734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[303916,137],"class_list":["post-39107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion-trends","tag-what-to-wear","tag-work-wear"],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":1641734,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/smiling-business-woman-talking-on-phone-2022-01-18-23-32-22-utc-300x169.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1641734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}