Budget: Uniqlo

Semi-budget: J. Crew (especially on sale), Spier & Mackay

More expensive but not luxury: Todd Snyder (especially on sale), Proper Cloth, Howlin', Meermin for shoes.

I personally like long sleeve polos and oxford cloth button downs better than s/s polos (too casual) or dress shirts (too formal).

Once you get your basics and measurements down, you can start picking up really nice stuff on eBay and other resale sites.

My advice here - buy a few outfits to get you through your first week. Business casual means different things at different companies in my experience so you’ll want to settle in and understand the vibe before investing in a bunch of new stuff.

For your first week - For day one, wear a navy or charcoal suit your first day (no tie). The rest of the week plan on a few pairs of nicer chinos / slacks with white or blue button collar dress shirt. All classic items you won’t regret owning even if your new job ends up being more or less casual.

Charles Tyrwhitt, Banana Republic, Spier & Mackay. 

Depends on your budget, but im a huge fan of lululemon's dress pants (a bit expensive). Uniqlo has alot of lower priced, high quality stuff.

My business casual wardrobe is built around the trad/ivy-look and could be reduced to some chinos, OCBDs, a few dress shirts, gray wool trousers, a sportcoat or two, and at least one suit (navy or gray). I do most of my shopping online at Spier & Mackay (wool trousers & OCBDs/dress shirts), Banana Republic (chinos), and eBay (misc sportcoats and outerwear).

J. Crew Factory. They currently have 50% off clearance + 20% off of regular prices. Buy through ebates (3% cash back rn) to save a little more. I usually get like a solid 6-7 things for around $130. Not bad.

Loft also has great business casual deals, but the sale selection is usually better in the store.

Agree with everyone else's comments about H&M having good blazers/work basics.

I agree - H&M has some great options, also Zara - really like their tailoring.

Surprisingly, I’ve found some cute and affordable business casual attire at Costco.

TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshalls, also Versona!!

H&M has cute/affordable business styles!

Honestly the key is fit, no one can tell the difference. Just buy cheap and get it tailored... that's one thing ive learned... I used to buy from Duggers a lot but I'd still have to replace them yearly...then I just went Walmart and a tailor looks the same no one can tell

Check Simons, their house brand stuff is at the same price level as RW&CO.

Winners/Marshalls would be the first spot to look.

Is the Bay still open? They might have some sales with the upcoming closing happening. Might be worth checking out if you are in the big mall

H&M, Moore's, RW&CO, Banana Republic if it's on sale....almost any clothing store in town will have good quality and affordable prices if you look.

Outside of that, try the thrift stores.

In order from least expensive to most (with quality somewhat commensurate) based on my experience and personal preferences:

H&M

Gap

Nordstrom Rack

JCPenney

Men's Wearhouse

Stallone's

I know when I left an airport ramp gig for an 'adult' job with the state I got black, navy and khaki slacks from Kohls to get me started and hit Nordstrom (that's how long ago it was) for some smart care shirts (they make a decent dress shirt that didn't require much fuss).

I'd hit Nordstrom rack and see what you can find there, Kohls and target honestly wouldn't be the worst.

What sizes you need?

Go through the thrift shops first ....

Thrift store, next to duluth on old Seward

Burlington used to have great dress shoes and pants /suits/everything for men at great prices, but I haven’t been to either location since they’ve moved/opened new ones so I’m not sure if it’s still that way anymore

Outlets at YVR and I like RW and CO, Uniqlo!

Go to the outlet by the YVR airport. You can get some cheap polos and pants from eg Banana Republic.

Uniqlo

I see you have some fine options, but if you are really trying to save, I suggest winners or marshall's.

Weird take: Costco. While they don't have a big selection, every time I go in there they have a couple items by Hilfiger or Calvin Klein or Banana Republic or Lucky or Ben Sheman... All for like $25 for a shirt or pants. Over the last few months I've completely updated my business casual wardrobe by just buying one or two items each time I go.

Ann Taylor has great business pieces, and they have different cuts so some styles that work for most body types.

H&M and Zara both have some fun business pieces as well, and I really try to shop their sales (because I don’t think the quality is always great). But I just got an amazing tweed pair of slacks for like $11 last week.

Also love J Crew, I’ve found their clothing seems to be geared towards middle aged bodies, especially more roomier in the arms. With sales and clearance you can get some great suit separates for amazing prices.

Nordstrom Rack can be a hit or miss as well, but has a nice mix of mid to higher end.

1. Banana republic factory (reasonably priced)
2. Ann Taylor
3. Express
4. Target
5. Kohls

… you can find suiting, beautiful blouses, and slacks for super reasonable prices or sales

White house black market.

I agree with all these nice brands, and I find them for less on Poshmark.

I’ve been loving LOFT lately.

Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have plus size that is professional and you can do well on sales.

My experience with career clothes is to spend more on quality and not quantity. A really good pair of black pants can be worn multiple times with a different top. A good blazer or jacket elevates most looks into a more professional style. Same thing wouid be true if a basic black skirt but pants tend to be trickier to look well

If I found a good pair of black pants I wouid buy multiples

I didn’t get anything that didn’t go with my black pants 🤷‍♀️

Universal Standard is great for basics. They are having a huge sale right now too.

Elloquii!

There’s an Australian company called City Chic and they have lovely plus sized clothes.

I'm here for the retailer suggestions as well! But I wanted to mention using Pinterest or Google to get ideas for a professional capsule wardrobe. That way you can mix and match to create lots of looks with the same few basic pieces. Great way to start if you're rebuilding your wardrobe and need to save $. However, don't let your frugality get the best of you when something out of the ordinary and magical presents itself (you'll regret not getting that purple dress I know from experience)

congrats on the job :) seconding h&m and uniqlo! they have great basics for pretty cheap, a lot of sale items can be decent-good quality and less than $5. they also carry fast fashion if you want more trendy items as well

thredup can also have some good deals if you'd like to shop secondhand online. I've found that the 'like-new' and 'excellent condition' items are pretty much like the ones that are new with tags. though honestly it can be pretty addicting to shop on there lol so be warned!

Congrats on the job!

I would look at examples of good business casual capsule wardrobes, to get an idea of how to make the least amount of stuff go the furthest. I find that Ross, TJ Maxx, Burlington etc can have good prices for pieces. I get camis to put under jackets and sheer blouses for super cheap at Walmart and Target.

I found a tooon of good work clothes at Uniqlo this weekend!

H&M

Other comments have lots of great suggestions. I would like to add, don't be afraid to look in clearance sections in some of the mid-range stores. I've scored a large number of great business casual pieces from Ricki's (not sure if they have them where you are), and other, similar stores for under $15 just by regularly thumbing through their clearance, and stores like that typically have frequent sales on top of clearance prices.

dd's discount. go hecka early in the morning. they open at like 7 or 8. get comfy shoes, 2 black pants and maybe 2 tops. rotate until the next paycheck, then head to ross or marshall to get 2 more tops. upgrade your wardrobe slowly until you have a good capsule going. do not buy all at once. Remember you'll need to complement/rotate some items for the winter months.

Easiest would be to get a white button up and another color button up/top for now if you don't already have any.

H&M ngl most of the best dressed people at my workplaces buy from there. Their clothes all go together and without much thought you will look well put together

i went to uniqlo for my fits when i had an office job.

don’t sleep on marshall’s or ross either.

buy shit you can wear multiple times or mix well together to stretch the fits furthe.

congrats btw

Costco

Marshall’s Ross and TJ Maxx for new clothes at good prices. Styles will be hit and miss, so it may take some time to find everything you need