what to wear: summer internship

Reader Question of the Week:

I’m a college student starting my first full-time job this summer.  It’s in an accounting office, so I will usually wear business casual attire.  I have the basic pieces, but now I need help putting together fashionable, but affordable outfits. Thanks for your help!

Wardrobe 911’s Style Prescription:

Whether you’re still in college and found a summer internship or you’re graduating and starting your first “real” job, your working wardrobe will set the tone for whether people will take you seriously or not.  Most of us early in our careers don’t realize the power of our image until we want that first promotion.  If you run into the office in the morning with your hair wet, pulled into a ponytail and wearing a cardi, a skirt and flip-flops it communicates that you don’t take your job seriously. And putting together an entire working wardrobe on a shoestring budget is certainly a fun challenge.

Most often quality is compromised but if you search, you can find great items on sale at some of the nicer department stores or at online purveyors such as Bluefly.com and for shoes, 6pm.com. It’s a secret worth sharing.  So here are some key things to get that will work with your pants and essential tops to create a stylish business casual wardrobe for the summer.

Every woman needs a black jacket in their wardrobe. It is easy to mix and match with various pants and skirts and looks great with jeans for a night out. Here we show something stylish and well-priced, the boyfriend jacket in a stretch gabardine for $117 — it also comes in navy.

For other options, Banana Republic has a stylish suit jacket on sale for $45 or if you’d like something that doesn’t wrinkle, try this stretch 2-button jacket at New York & Company for under $42.  And would you believe Bloomingdale’s has a cute short-sleeve version for under $60?  There are tons of options right now.

If you don’t have a nice work skirt, it’s time to add a tan or khaki stretch cotton pencil skirt ($37) – they look great paired with jackets, cardigans and even dress up simple tops.

You also want to have a nice cashmere cardigan in a pretty color (this one is for $72) as well as a lighter neutral short-sleeve version for the warm months.  The white cropped sleeve pocket cardigan by 525 America is $53 and looks great open with a long necklace or with a stretch belt. Banana Republic also has some well-priced sweaters to pull your business casual look together.

If you already have the basic neutral colored tops (check out our Recipe Box for what you should have for your body type), then add some color with a sleeveless drape neck top – in a red violet or teal.  When you belt it, it looks effortless paired with simple black pants or a skirt.

Accessories are where you can up the style factor so add some cute wide belts like this stretch python belt ($14) and yellow stretch Michael Kors buckle belt($33.)  Make sure you have some interesting necklaces and some great black wedges that work with skirts and pants.

These items are all great for building a business casual wardrobe that will get you noticed for the right reasons.  And the best part?  Everything shown in the picture totals to $420.