Life Skills: Building A Lasting Work Wardrobe
Emily Gullickson ’10 was lead editor of MiddBlog during the ’09-’10 school year. She is the original writer of the Sunday Reading series. She is now a consulting associate at Cambridge Associates in Boston. This post is part of our life skills series.
When I graduated from Middlebury, I found that the three things most responsible for draining my graduation money and left-over summer internship stipends before I even received my first paycheck were the following: moving to Boston and setting up an apartment, being social enough to make new friends and keep old ones, and building a work wardrobe. The first ended up being a one-time set-up cost (though I should have asked Sarah for advice), and the second became a built-in line item in my monthly budget (Boston has way too many delicious restaurants for my own good). As for the third, I’ve had to figure that out as I go along.
When you embark on your first post-college job, you learn very quickly that those shiny new shoes/suits/gear/briefcases/backpacks you buy for Day #1 of your shiny new investment banking/art/park ranger/social networking/journalism job are barely enough to get you through the first real change of seasons (i.e. three months). Soon, you find yourself digging through old interview and internship outfits and (begrudgingly) even some college day-to-day wear (i.e. Sperrys) in an effort to save money. This means, however, putting up with worn elbows and frayed hemlines and a generally deteriorating quality of your self-presentation.
To avoid such deterioration, here are a couple of insights (5 to be exact) I’ve picked up. They’re a little more advanced than paging through the J. Crew catalogue. However, if adopted (and mastered) early, they’ll allow you to continue building a lasting, quality work wardrobe that’s entirely yours and maybe even a little enviable and trendy.
#1 Know your size in inches and centimeters.
The sad reality of shopping today is that a Medium isn’t a Medium isn’t a Medium. You’re going to be a Small at one place and an Extra-Large at another, especially if your job involves spending time in multiple countries. So, to make your life easier and to save yourself the expense of buying a million different pieces of clothing that don’t fit you, measure yourself. Go to the nearest hardware or craft store, buy a $2 fabric measurer, and figure out your dimensions—shoulder to shoulder, bust, sleeves, waist, hip, rise (waist to groin), inside leg (ankle to groin), feet, preferred length for hemlines. Write these numbers down, and you’ll never mess up an online order from Net-a-Porter or REI again.
#2 Find a (good) tailor.
Unfortunately, even if you do buy according to your exact measurements, your clothes probably won’t fit you perfectly, especially suits. Because, really, it’s not about the pieces; it’s about the ensemble. So find a tailor, any one will do but it helps if they’re good and you can trust them. (Best places to look are your nearest Chinatown or Little Italy. Americans are only slowly re-discovering the art of tailoring). Having your clothes (and not just suits, but dress slacks, leather jackets, dresses, too) tailored serves two purposes: 1) it makes your clothes look more expensive because they fit you well, and 2) it makes your clothes last longer so you end up saving money by buying less that looks better. Read more
