Hello everyone. I’m so glad that you stopped by today. Its been a busy few days for me but it’s been really good. I trust that you are in good spirit. For the last few days, I’ve been thinking about what young ladies coming out of school and getting their first job and thinking of what I believe should be the first set of clothing items that she should buy. Let’s call it her wardrobe foundation. I’ve done a post on this before so this is an update.
So let’s say you just got you first big pay cheque and you want to update you wardrobe from that of a girl to that of a young woman. What are the first things to spend your money on, assuming the said cheque isn’t blank?
The White Shirt.
Popular convention says that you should start out with one white shirt. Experience has thought me that that is not adequate. You need at least three white shirts to start with. Idealy, these should include a plain, formal looking botton down, long sleeved white shirt, the other two can have some kind of feminine details like frills, pleats, lace etc. Just remember not to go too crazy if you want to wear them to work. When purchasing, be on the look out for quality of fabric, cut of the shirt ( to be sure that it flatters your figure and washing instructions. You don’t want to end up with a ‘dry clean only’ when you are on a budget.
Blue shirts.
After you have you most basic white shirts, you need to own at least two blue shirts. As in the case of the white, you can’t make do with only one. The particular shade of blue should be based on what shade suits you the most. One plain, formal looking, botton down, long sleeved blue shirt and another more feminine, more detailed shirt. Look out for the quality and feet and washing instruction as above.
Camisoles
One of the most important elements especially for work, are camisoles. You can never have too many of them. It is with your camisoles that you can really go crazy with different colors. Just remember that they should always be worn under a jacket to keep from looking unprofessional because of the fact that they show your arms.
Suits.
You need to start with at least two pencil skirts. One plain black, preferably high waisted pencil skirt and the other can be either black pin stripped or some other neutral like navy blue, gray or brown. There are those who think that you can buy trousers in place of skirts. I don’t agree. I think that because of the conservative nature of the avaerage workplace, you want to own at least one skirt. Ideally, you should not start with Trousers until after at least two skirts. Of course you start with black and work your way through the other neutrals. I think that at the foundational stage of your wardrobe, you should think more in terms of separates than an actual suit. So next should come two jackets. First a black plain jacket and then either a black pin stripped or a navy jacket. Note that with jackets, fit is key. The bodice of the jacket should fit your body closely but not be tight. The shoulder of the jacket should also not extend beyond your natural shoulder. Also, with formal jackets and skirts, you have to be very careful with the care label because so many of them are better dry cleaned and so you have to be sure of whether it’s hand washable or mashine washable depending on what your resources are. The wrong cleaning process and your jacket, skirt or trousers will not just last as long.
Accessories.
To start your wardrobe you need a pair of COMFORTABLE black shoes. I know a lot of people say court shoes/ pumps, but I think that they have to be shoes that you can be comfortable with. Just be careful that they are formal. Anything from the court shoes/ pumps to ballet flats to loafers to stiletoes are adequate. You also need a neutral big handbag. It could be a grab bag, a tote, a shoulder bag, what ever as long as it is somewhat formal looking. With both items, it is important to buy the bast quality you can afford as it may not be ideal to to have to change your basic bag too often. Your basic bag should be able to hold its shape through the abuse of everyday use.
With these, you have started your journey into your adult wardrobe. As a lot of older women will probably tell you, building an enviable wardrobe is a marathon, not a sprint. As long as you nail the foundational items, you can take a bit of time to start to build a wardrobe that will have pieces that you can still enjoy even after.
I hope that this information has been helpful. Remail fabulous.
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