frugal work clothes

[aaronc879]

I have worked blue collar jobs my whole life but due to a total hip replacement I have to start over with office work. I have no degree or experience so I was lucky to get a $13.50/hr call center job. I will have to wear business casual clothing. Any ideas on how to source office attire at reasonable prices? With a salary under $30K I can't spend big money for a new wardrobe but do need some acceptable business casual clothing. What do you think is the minimum acceptable amount of clothing? If it helps I am a thin, tall, 40 year old male. Thanks.

 

[Jerry1]

Go to Kohl’s and get some khakis and some polo shirts. Shoes can probably be “walking” type shoes. Not exactly sneakers but usually a leather look with a soft sole. I can’t imagine a call center will care much as long as it’s not jeans or a tee shirt.

If you’re able to go a little nicer, go with some dockers or hagger slacks. Mostly, try them on and make sure they’ll be comfortable for you.

 

[Senator]

I had an IT job that required "Business Casual". I wore jeans every day for 10+ years.

 

[aaronc879]

Go to Kohl’s and get some khakis and some polo shirts. Shoes can probably be “walking” type shoes. Not exactly sneakers but usually a leather look with a soft sole. I can’t imagine a call center will care much as long as it’s not jeans or a tee shirt.

If you’re able to go a little nicer, go with some dockers or hagger slacks. Mostly, try them on and make sure they’ll be comfortable for you.

Every Friday I will get an email detailing the dress code for the following week. If a client is coming thru then we have to wear slacks and a buttondown. With one particular client we have to wear a tie but that is only one day every couple months. The email I got for my first week said "no jeans and collared shirt required" M-W and "jeans ok with collared shirt" Th-F.

 

[pb4uski]

Costco or BJ's

 

[Aiming_4_55]

Congrats on the new job. Since this is an office job, how do you know you will like it and stay? Don't go overboard!

- Check Goodwill or 2nd hand stores or even Craigslist for ties, button down, and pants/slacks.
- Kohl's has Croft & Barrow pants and shirts on sale most of the time. Entry level stuff can be $20 and under.
- Sam's Club and Costco has entry level Dress slacks and shirts for about $20 each too.

Good luck.

 

[travelover]

Congrats on the new job. Since this is an office job, how do you know you will like it and stay? Don't go overboard!

- Check Goodwill or 2nd hand stores or even Craigslist for ties, button down, and pants/slacks.
- Kohl's has Croft & Barrow pants and shirts on sale most of the time. Entry level stuff can be $20 and under.
- Sam's Club and Costco has entry level Dress slacks and shirts for about $20 each too.

Good luck.

+1 Salvation Army and Goodwill have a lot of mens' dress clothing. Even Target has some really low prices on closeout merchandise.

 

[frank]

I have worked blue collar jobs my whole life but due to a total hip replacement I have to start over with office work. I have no degree or experience so I was lucky to get a $13.50/hr call center job. I will have to wear business casual clothing. Any ideas on how to source office attire at reasonable prices? With a salary under $30K I can't spend big money for a new wardrobe but do need some acceptable business casual clothing. What do you think is the minimum acceptable amount of clothing? If it helps I am a thin, tall, 40 year old male. Thanks.

I don't mean to get off point, could you post on how you like the call center job. I am in the same situation with blue collar work and now cannot do the work but inbound sales are availabe to me from home.

 

[aaronc879]

I don't mean to get off point, could you post on how you like the call center job. I am in the same situation with blue collar work and now cannot do the work but inbound sales are availabe to me from home.

It will be a few weeks before I am fully trained and working on my own. I won't know how I like it until i'm on my own for at least a full week. I will be making calls at my own pace rather than receiving calls which I think will be much better for me so that's good.

 

[Music Lover]

Outlet malls

 

[donheff]

Costco has you covered.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

My ER wardrobe is entirely thrift shop and Ebay. I have a size and style and manufacturer I like. I purchased a bunch of pants on Ebay for an average of $8 each including shipping. Thrift shop were about $4 each. You have to be careful with thrift shop as some: wrinkle easily, have no breast pocket, missing a button, collars wearing thin, etc.

For shoes, you must go for comfort. I buy new, although I have picked up some NIB duplicates of workout shoes at Ebay for about 50% of retail.

 

[Aerides]

For a man, costco should work fine. If you're looking to grow a new career, remember you'll strive to dress slightly smarter than your average peer. If everyone else is in jeans and tee's, then khaki's and polo's.

Everyone else in polo's - get some button front shirts. Since you'll want to have minimal quantity when starting, get colors and patterns that don't stand out, but allow you a week's rotation.

 

[bizlady]

Aim for a "capsule wardrobe", a few good pieces where most mix and match. Online with "ThreadUp" is another source for used clothing.

 

[GravitySucks]

+3 on Koh!s.
Picked up some Croft and Barrow polos for $10 and kahkis for $, a pair of Dockers for $12. They don't look like they'll last long, but will give me a reason to toss them when I get a stain. Weird store though. One shelf had shirts for $20, same shirts on another area for $10.
Find a friend with a Kohls card who knows how to work their "cash" back game and you can save on brand names too.

 

[Scrapr]

Just want to say good luck Aaron. You have been through the wringer

 

[CaptTom]

I had an IT job that required "Business Casual". I wore jeans every day for 10+ years.

Same here. Collar shirts though, never quite made it to T-shirts. I did tend to walk around the office in my socks though. Ever since my days wearing construction boots for long hours, I've hated wearing shoes. I did put on my sneakers to go to meetings, or to the cafeteria or rest room. If anyone challenged me, I told them they're lucky I didn't show up in a bathrobe and slippers.

My point is, find out what's acceptable before you buy a bunch of stuff. And certainly go up one notch if you're bucking for a promotion. I did that for years. Toward the end I realized I didn't want my boss's job anyway, so the whole wardrobe thing became less important.

Even WalMart has clothing that suits the "business casual" category.

 

[38Chevy454]

X4 on looking at thrift stores for the clothing cheap to get you started out. Should be able to find decent khakis and I agree get some full button front oxford type shirts

 

[candrew]

A third +++ on Costco for biz casual attire. Costco was my go-to for the last 10 years or so of w*rk.

 

[tmm99]

Congrats! I would go with goodwill type of places but I think they have days of the week when they lower prices so ask the when they have those.

If Kohl’s but they cost more.

 

[cathy63]

Old Navy and Target are also good for bargain clothing.

 

[Moemg]

Good Luck Aaron !

 

[aaronc879]

Even WalMart has clothing that suits the "business casual" category.

I am a bit limited as far as just buying off the rack. I need tall sizes when I buy long sleeve shirts and I need a 36 inseam. I also need to find shoes that are at least a size 15, maybe 16.

 

[OldShooter]

hanes.com is a pretty good place for inexpensive polo shirts. They always seem to have some kind of sale going on (today is 20% off everything) and free shipping. Recently I bought a couple of red pocket polos to wear on Red Cross deployments and they cost me $7 each. I just bought a couple of "Beefy Pocket Tees" today for $5.60 each.

 

[cooch96]

It’s been a couple years, but I last bought button-down shirts and khakis from Wal-Mart. Target has very affordable clothes too.

OP mentioned he is slim. My opinion is thin men look better in weaves than knits. And Since it’s October, I’d advise getting some long-sleeve shirts of light to medium weight weaves. Avoid flannel, which is more for work clothes or pajamas. Solids, stripes, and plaids are all great.

Maybe just buy one pair of pants and a couple shirts at first, then buy more as needed. You’ll likely have a good idea of what you prefer and is appropriate after just a couple days.