Business professional is a suit (and by a suit I mean a skirt, pants, or dress and a suit jacket in the same color and fabric OR a blazer with a contrasting skirt, pants, or dress) with a blouse, dress shirt, shell, nice t-shirt, etc.

What you're describing is what I would call business attire. Take it down one more notch with a casual shoe or nice jeans and it's business casual.

IME, interviews, meetings with clients, or court call for business professional. Most other days, business or business casual seems to be fine. But it depends on your office and your local culture.

(BTW, after you buy a suit, you always send the pieces to the dry cleaner together. You need to make sure they fade at the same rate so they continue to match.)

I also want to add to the already good advice provided: don’t be afraid to ask! You’re an intern you’re there to learn. Also don’t feel the need to go out and splurge or buy a bunch of new clothes. Use what you have for the first week or so and adjust your outfits as you learn the vibe. Good luck! You’re gonna kill it:)

Wear a suit and then see if everyone else is doing that. I have much success thrifting suit pieces that don't match officially but match enough where people think it's a proper suit, so that's worth a try. Just be sure to get solid colors (black beige grey or navy) 

Business professional generally means suits. But to be safe, just ask — no harm in checking with your hiring manager or HR about dress code before you invest in any new clothes. Suits are expensive, a pain to dry clean, and every office is different.

Observing what other women are wearing during your first day will help, too (you should definitely wear a suit on your first day, regardless of whether cardigans are tolerated), as will checking the company’s website for clues.

If suits are mandatory, remember that you can get away with rotating just two or three in neutral colours, then adding variety with your blouses / shells and conservative accessories.

The great thing about work “uniforms” is the, er, uniformity … they make mornings a lot easier. No-one really notices repetition because the entire team is dressed the same way. That’s the point of business professional: the focus is on the clients and the team’s collective work, rather than expressions of individuality.

Bonobos is 30% off sitewide right now. Go to one of their stores and you can try everything on, get your sizes, then you order and it's at your place in a day or two.

Otherwise, Nordstrom Rack is not super consistent, but often has decent stuff including shoes. Same with Century 21.

Boss has a couple lines that are reasonbly priced and designed to be easy wearing (slight stretch, breathable fabrics, etc) formal office wear. It's sharp looking and pretty conservative. Bloomingdale's 59th sells it and their salespeople are helpful and they have in-house tailoring.

More complex tailoring you can take up to Ignacio's on 60th.

Dress Shoes - buy any leather bottom you can afford. Go to Saks Off Fifth or Nordstrom Rack. Two Boot is good, Allen Edmonds.

Dress Shirts - CT probably has a sale right now. I’d go to the store and try what fits best and then buy them online.

Pants - Can’t really help you there, again Nordstrom Rack or Saks Off Fifth, don’t buy the slacks that have pleats.

Ties - I like Haines & Bonner. You used to be able to buy them at C21.

I'd start with Macy's or Bloomingdales. Both have large selections (Macy's being more affordable) and you can get everything in one place. I like being able to peruse multiple brands at once too, especially handy if you're new to the market. If you want some extra flair, check the tie bars on the lower level in the men's accessories.

Just a heads-up..."business formal" often means a suit, not non-matching blazers and slacks (even though you can make this look great).

It's not always like this, so check with people in your company/industry on what's appropriate.

Brooks Brothers

I love Eloquii for business clothing. Their list prices are high versus the quality, but they have frequent sales.

I would get one or two nice pants and or pencil skirts, a couple of cute blouses, and a blazer or two that you can mix and match.

I'd say a nice fitting structured dress\skirt and blouse with a jacket, heel appearing shoes (I've got some 2" heel Mary Jane's that are comfy as hell), tights\nylons, and a statement necklace would be business formal! Or a pant suit.

Talbots. Sizes go up to a 24, when I was practicing law that’s where I got all my court clothes. A dress with a jacket is good, or just a dress with sleeves. For business formal avoid bare arms or open toed shoes.

Nordstrom is also good if you live near one. The sales staff are phenomenal. I had a lady there I could call before coming in and ask her to find suits in my size, and she’d pull stuff for me to try on.

You could think of making a capsule wardrobe, so all of your business items match each other, and you can mix and match to make outfits. So maybe something like this. 5 blouses: white, navy, black, pink, and blue. 3 pairs of slacks: black, khaki, navy. Two skirts: black, pink. Two blazers: black, navy.

I love to get just a few pieces! Find a few amazing dresses and a blazer or two, and boom! I find a shift/pencil dress is super easy to match with a structured blazer. Also, honestly? Some slacks are better than jeans lol. Ponte knit is super nice.

I end up in a few business formal events a year and am also in the Midwest. Don’t spend a ton of money on them, but it is worth it to get it fitted for you. Torrid has some good stuff in their studio line. Lane Bryant has decent stuff. I really like Maurice’s blouses though! I’d also recommend thrift shopping and second hand stuff, assuming it is in quality condition.

I’d check out DXL.. it’s fashion for bigger fellas..respectfully…I used to shop there and it won’t break the wallet .. as far as time and ironing..it’s unfortunately a time we HAVE to spend or you can dry clean….i would just iron Sunday during football…a few pieces until Wednesday then knock out the last 2 days Wednesday night..or however your schedule works…men’s warehouse is very cost effective too and they’ll have but one get one 50% sport Coats etc…. And they can tailor to you… That’s the options I know of.. also happen to live where we have a Dillairds Clearence store so they go up in size and everything is discounted.. Also for slacks I’m being serious here try Costco…I know it sounds crazy but they have a nice selection…seriously you can LOOK like you spent $$ and no one will be the wiser…

Hope that helps!! Good luck and have fun with it!! It’s a whole new you!! Congratulations on the promotion too!! 🥂✌️💙😎

Shirts, chinos, and dress shoes.

Although you sound frugal, I would suggest investing in the shoes and buy full grain leather. It may feel like you're paying 5x the price of the cheap sh*tty counterparts, but they'll last 10-20x longer if properly cared for, ending up cheaper in the long run.

Spend 4 bucks on tailors tape to learn your measurements and scour eBay. Look for people who take returns and send lowball offers on stuff that will fit you without tailoring.

I’ve gotten dress shirts for like 10 bucks and sport coats for 30. The deals are there you just gotta dig.

https://putthison.com/suggested-essentials-for-a-starting-wardrobe/

As other people suggested. You can also start looking for blazers/sorts coats. You can find them in the sales and have them adjusted if needed.

Buy a few wrinklefree dress shirts (Van Heusen, Uniqlo, Costco, etc.), dark chinos and one pair of solid dress shoes. Rotate neutrals so it looks like you have more outfits. Always hang them right after washing to skip ironing.

Congratulations on the new job! I’d wear a full suit, but a shirt that will look good without the jacket in case you want to take it off.

Better to be overdressed, so I’d probably do a suit on the first day! But I bet you’ll find business casual pants and a blouse will be fine long term.

Better to be overdressed. Full suit and dress shoes but maybe bring a cardigan or make sure youre comfortable with a jacket off.

Local government attorney here, my office has a pretty lax dress code if you don’t have court that day (I’m usually in any kind of dress and heels or flats; we can wear sandals or flip flops around the enclosed office area), but for the first day or week I would stick with wearing suits until you get the lay of the land. And being new, if someone has court, it’s more likely they can ask you to come along without notice. (I keep an extra blazer at my desk in case I have to cover something unexpectedly on a day I wasn’t assigned to court.)

Go more formal in government. You can always scale back and adjust accordingly.

I would wear a full suit but with a blouse underneath so you could take the jacket off if you notice people don't wear their blazers in meetings, around the office, etc. Layering is key for your comfort here.

Props to you for making the jump after 18 years, that’s huge . For work clothes, stick with a few solid button-ups, chinos/slacks, and some wide-fit dress shoes (Rockport, Clarks, Ecco are comfy). Brooks Brothers, J.Crew, Monte Carlo all have good stuff that’s not cheap but not crazy pricey either. And yeah, a nice western shirt with clean boots can definitely fly in an oilfield IT office you’ll look professional but still like yourself.Good luck...

"business casual" has a really really wide definition and it's very dependent on the place where you work. From your description, I'm guessing that your workplace would be pretty conservative but with a bent towards blue collar - so, not really slacks so much as chinos (maybe five pocket pants that aren't denim), button down shirts tucked in although you may get there and find a lot of golf shirts or even fishing shirts.

Fishing shirts wouldn't fly as "business casual" in my current office, but based on.... office workers I've seen in agriculture/ethanol production it wouldn't be unusual. Western stuff would also work, but again more conservative, not so much the embroidered or pearl snap, but a nice pair of boots (not your shit kickers) yeah sure. Depending.

Get some chinos and an oxford cloth button downs, see what it looks like in IT for an oilfield company. I would be surprised if it is not conservative but casual.

Spier & Mackay, Proper Cloth and Charles Tyrwhitt are some of the places I'd start looking, at least for putting your first foot down in this type of clothing. Pretty much everyone makes some sort of button up dress or oxford shirt and chinos, slacks, or dress pants. I'd wait to buy from companies like Brooks Brothers, J Crew, etc. when they're on sale and I'd, generally speaking, take something from the first three companies I named before I'd take something from the others.

It may take some time to figure out what works but you can definitely swap out a dress or oxford shirt for chambray or denim.

Boots wise, unless you're wearing an actual suit, there's no need to get black oxfords. Check out Chelsea boots, or loafers, anything that can be slipped in and out of easily sounds like a good solution for your needs. There are many types of dress boots that you can work with and there's no reason why you couldn't just wear cowboy boots with your office wear.

I'd look through Ralph Lauren and RRL look books for ideas.

Are you shopping for when you were in good shape?

Don’t be western

I love that you're evolving your fashion as you win in life. Meeting the moment, congrats on your career. Reading through this a couple of thoughts -

Harris Tweed is for the countryside. An awesome casual look but in an office you may come off as someone who only has a job because you were employee number 6. Remember the point in an office is to look like you're part of the machine - an important part. It seems like you appreciate patterns so a wool blazer with a more toned down checkered pattern may work for you. Very general example

Now that you're well on your way to CEO, lose the button down and go for button up. I say this cautiously because in some casual office environments you may look a bit too executive at the moment.. But keep this in mind.

You could go the chino way (I love Theory Neoteric pants), sweaters, layers with collared shirts. But if you're looking to get into the two-piece aesthetic, check out some lookbooks maybe from J.Crew for some ideas. A failsafe look is charcoal wool pants, white button up, and dark navy wool blazer. Dark brown belt and ankle boots. You can mix in that pattern blazer I noted above. Truth is, you can get by with only a couple of pieces and mixing/matching. Shirt is your wildcard, but plain white and powdered blue are timeless. This is patented middle-management.

Good luck man it's a nice feeling having a purpose to expanding your closet.

Start wearing sport coats. Find a nice fine pattern that can dress up or dress down. Pair them with jeans and a nice shirt. You can switch to chinos. I find sport coats are very flexible and never travel without at least one. They make airport security much easier. They also allow you to regulate your temperature between hot and cold rooms.

Chinos are a good start, spoke-london offer them in three build types, they are on my top ten workwear brand guide below

https://us21.campaign-archive.com/?u=13a0f2884830bbec32d6dbf4f&id=edb6073aab&fbclid=PAAaYAUE8rQrgwaU0HYCPfyn4SLZrHc6lt3CT3NUd0adqWydZQZ5-atc8g8tQ_aem_AV8Z7qJCfkrr5oT8fZF4bXsUd_R_7tFPZwGCmKDyq9FHKRtTuz2o1kSIKOwFq2BC22w

Happy to suggest some outfit ideas if required

A pair of Chinos, smart brown shoes, a nice shirt and a quarter zip jumper is all you need.

Basically this is the look you want to go for

https://www.charlestyrwhitt.com/uk/merino-zip-neck-jumper---forest-green/KNJ0321FRG.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA1fqrBhA1EiwAMU5m_1eB9rCpD80yv763PD7eLgLrZZKVQi7J9eFTrlCEYI8uOanqES_dLBoCTr4QAvD_BwE&marketing=true&utm_campaign=UK-Shopping-Smart-shirts&utm_medium=cpc&marketingCode=ukpm99&utm_source=google

Chinos are a great next step. They’ll be easier than a sport coat as a transition. Sport coats are hard because the garment itself is more formal than just a button shirt, but it’s easy to get them in super casual fabrics, like brown tweed, so there’s a risk of hitting a College Lit Professor look instead of an Up and coming business leader look. It’s a fine line to walk. Consult with a professional to help you pick the right first coat. Somewhere on the Blazer end of things might work better for business than a straight up country hunting style sports coat.

In the meantime, swap out your zip fleece for a merino wool sweater, thin and shiny rather than thick and chunky. Zip fleece says super preppy college golf bro, versus merino vneck in dark solids says more mature old money kind of vibes.

All of these outfits are amazing and a great fit for a public service type of workplace.

These are all good outfits for what you’re doing, the only thing I’d change is tucking in the strings from the green pants — just to be slightly more professional and I try not to show my shoulders, but it sounds like that isn’t a big deal at your workplace and the shirt isn’t at all revealing so I think it’s fine. It would be cute in the winter w a mock-neck/turtleneck!

Thank you for everything you do!

I think these all look great! I also think there is something to be said about conveying competency through your appearance (even if we shouldn't judge a book by its cover) and it feels especially important to me that victims, etc feel that when meeting you. It sounds like you care very much and your clothes reflect that. :)

These are all well put together, classic and stylish looks. I think they are perfect for the setting you describe. I think it conveys a level of respect for those with whom you work and, hopefully, a warm, welcoming personality will put co-workers and clients at ease.

I love the white top

Your first 3 suits should be Navy, light grey and Charcoal (maybe a mid blue instead of light grey). You probably want 3 suits to start if you’re going to be wearing them 5 days a week. Once you have those then consider other colours/conservative patterns. Don’t wear the same Suit 2 days in a row (you want to hang the jacket and pants between wears so it can recover). Don’t buy multiple suits of the same colour, it will look like you’re always wearing the same suit.

I strongly recommend if you’re going to wear a suit, wear shirts with cufflinks and a tie, (the tie at a minimum) and choose spread collar shirts. Wearing a suit without a tie looks sloppy, like you forgot to put a tie on, or you took it off at the end of the day. If the office is a little more casual and nobody is wearing ties, the better way to do business casual is to buy trousers (either woollen or cotton chinos) and pair them with blazers and sports jackets and OCBD shirts.

as a general rule, provided you’re hanging them for a day between wears, expect to get 10-15 wears out of your suit between dry cleanings. the jackets can go longer, and that plus the fact that pants wear out much faster means you might want to consider getting a second pair of trousers with each suit.

classic business shirts are white, light blue and light pink. You can also get those colours in thin stripes. I suggest having at least 6 shirts - you always want to have a new shirt each day, and be able to get through the workweek without having to do laundry, plus have an extra for emergencies. If you intend to get your shirts done at the dry cleaner along with the suits then you need a few more, since you might need to leave them with the dry cleaner for a few days.

you also need a second pair of shoes - proper Goodyear welted shoes should be left to rest on shoe trees for a day after each wear to maximise their lifespan and keep them in good condition. grey suits need black shoes, navy can be worn with black or very dark brown, other colours can have Lighter brown or even burgundy;so decide on your suits then decide what your second pair of oxfords should be. Since you already have a plain oxford its fine imo to have a little bit of brogue On the second pair.

I don’t work in such an environment, but…

1. I would own at least 3 suits…navy and charcoal is where I’d start and if I repeated colors it would very likely be in a different shade and after I’ve exhausted the different colors I like. This isn’t just for variety, but they should rest between wears. Also, I consistently see advice to buy two trousers per suit because they wear out faster than the jacket.
2. I would consider whether or not I could get away with trousers and a sports coat to mix it up.
3. I would absolutely get white and light blue shirts at a bare minimum. I’d maybe get a white and blue in a subtle pattern/check. I’d consider getting other softer neutral colors too.
4. I’d consider how many days I could get away with not wearing a shirt…maybe a crew neck jumper would be in the mix…but I’d get enough shirts so I don’t absolutely have to get laundry done every weekend. So maybe 10 or so would be my minimum.
5. I really dislike the tech/tech bro/tech oligarchy/technofeudalism connotations I have with quarter zips so I’d consider that too.
6. Unless forced to, and maybe you are, I would really resist buying everything at once in order to minimize the cost/effort of the mistakes I’m certain to make and to get a better feel for what they’re wearing day to day in the office.
7. I’d also get at least three pairs of shoes starting with an oxford, derby, and maybe a loafer if you can get away with it. You need to let them rest between wears.

I'll see if I can help, as someone who works a corporate job, wears suits to the office 4-5 days per week, and was in your position not too many years ago.

You're starting out in a grad role, so you'll be ok just to have the one suit to start with - definitely get some more shirts (white, pale blue, pale pink if you like it) and some ties (solid colours, stripes and simple patterns in dark, versatile colours like blue, burgundy, purple etc.). Get as many ties as you can - charity shops often have great deals on wonderful vintage silk ties. Aim to have at least five work shirts to start with, so you can wash and iron them at the weekend - you can add more over time, gradually adding variety as you get the feel for your office and how people dress. Charles Tyrwhitt multi-buy deals are great for adding multiple shirts at a time.

Definitely buy a second pair of black Oxfords, and alternate days so each pair has time to breathe and rest between wears. You can add more in future, but two will sort you for now.

Once you've settled in, saved a bit of money, and taken the tone of the office, you can add your next suit. Simon Crompton's guide to the ideal 'first five' suits is a great way to plan how you will slowly build your wardrobe over time. Do not rush; it's an expensive way to find out what doesn't work. I would suggest adding a charcoal suit and a mid grey suit to start with; rotate so that you never wear the same suit two days in a row. Keep them plain and simple - notch lapels, flap pockets, nothing flashy or 'out there.' Get some socks to match your suits - cotton or bamboo for the summer, merino or cashmere for the winter.

Brush your suits, polish your shoes, and iron your shirts. Non-iron shirts can be helpful, but you will likely still need to give them a light pressing. Hang your suit jackets on hangers with shoulder padding, and your trousers upside down from proper trouser hangers. Get unvarnished cedar shoe trees to help your shoes keep their shape, and to absorb moisture - put the trees in the moment you take the shoes off, and don't take them out until you put the shoes on. Look after your clothes, and they will last a long time.

Finally, I and say this as a massive proponent of the three-piece suit and someone who now wears one to the office every day several years into a career in finance, leave the waistcoat at home for now. It will give the wrong impression as a grad, and wearing a standard two-piece to start with will give you time to get to know people, and for them to get to know you. After you've put in the hours and established your reputation, you will have earned the right to a bit more personal style and flair.