Where To Find Career Wear (Part One)

If you ask me, finding clothes for work is far easier for "tweeners" than finding trendy or fashion-forward wear. Here's where we have LOTS of options at every price point.

Today, I'm going to start off with the el-cheapo end of the scale (up to $50-ish). Having a limited budget is no longer any excuse to not find a decent suit or dress for work. Bargain hunters will also find some great pieces at great prices. These are all places where I often shop for work clothes.

Burlington Coat Factory--Billed as a discount chain, it does have some recognizable labels from elsewhere like BCBG and Tahari. In fact I saw on a couple of occasions gorgeous Calvin Klein suits...alas, the biggest they had was size 10. But many are obviously made to sell at the chain. Frankly, it's one of the best places to find complete suits cheap (average $49.99), as well as separates like blouses and trousers. The quality varies but you can find some awesome deals, like a pair of brown trousers for $12.99. Plenty of stuff up to size 18 misses.

Target--Grab Isaac Mizrahi's wonderful line (up to 18/XXL misses) while you can, because he's splitting for Liz Claiborne soon. Generally, his line is a little on-trend and a little classic at the same time, making it just conservative enough for the office. And the pieces are easy to mix and match. Aside from that, Merona has put out a lot of great pieces for work too, including skirts and dresses (up to 18/XXL misses). I've written a bit about the ongoing Go International line, which can fit up to 16 misses even though it officially goes up to XL/13 juniors. For example, I just bought a very nice Jovovich-Hawk For Target skirt in size 13 that fit me just fine.

Wal-Mart--The careerwear-oriented George line has put out some great blouses, suits, and skirts. A few months ago, I got a complete nice-looking suit for under $40. It doesn't look cheap at all and it fits great. The line is also easy to mix and match. I'm not crazy about the dresses--they're usually made of that horrid stretchy-jersey stuff that sticks to your every hump and bump--but everything else is worth checking out.

Steve & Barry's--Specifically, the Bitten line. Jackets, trousers, and dresses sell for $19.95, while shirts run for $9.95. (Plain tees for summer run for $7.95). Fit can be erratic, so try before you buy, but for what you get, the price is unbeatable.

H&M--H&M is tricky for anyone over size 14, since the clothes tend to run a little small. But I've found skirts that run true-to-size and have had little trouble with large or extra large shirts or jackets. Euro style on a budget.

Old Navy--For years, ON was known as a store to shop for casual stuff but lately it has put out more work-appropriate wear ranging from chinos for the business casual set to lovely pencil skirts. It's also a great place to find summer dresses. ON has carried up to size 20 misses for several years, so it's always been a "tweener" friendly stop.

Review: GO International Alice Temperley for Target

The latest GO International line debuted at Target on Sunday, this time from red hot Brit designer Alice Temperley.

From what I saw--and it's not everything in her line--most of it looks a little too small and youngish for me. I really had wanted the sailor pants but even its size 13s looked waay too small.

But there was something on the racks that grabbed my eye...the ruffle front blouse in gray.

Normally, I'm not a frou-frou kind of gal but this blouse was a stunner. I'm no fashion expert but I know good design when I see it. It's close to what you'd find in the high-priced line, Temperley London. The great thing about the blouse is that you can wear it to work, wear it to a party, make it casual with skinny pants, modernize it with a sleek pencil skirt, or go all gothic lolita with a short skirt, striped hose, and stacked lace-up shoes.

Oh and it's 30 bucks.

I bought one in XL and it fit perfectly. I have a feeling that everything in this line runs small, so purchase accordingly.

Libertine For Target

The latest in Target's popular GO International line, Libertine, debuted on Sunday. The line seems to be best described as the love child of goth and preppy, as exemplified by items that have cute little whales and little skulls on them or the argyle vest sweater with skulls.

This is actually my favorite of the GO International lines so far, probably because Libertine is close to my personal style. Some people have reported the dresses running small, but I bought a very cool tea-stained top with all of these graphics on it in a Large and it fit true-to-size. The downside seems to be that the skirts and shorts have hemlines waaay up there. A couple of those shorts look like they'd get the wearer arrested if she didn't have anything on underneath. I imagine that like the rest of the GO International stuff, the bottoms run in smallish, junior sizes.

I love the accessories. The bucket hat is adorable (bought one) and the long scarves are quite pretty (bought one too). If I was in the market for a carry-all or overnight bag, I'd would have bought the whale/skull duffle bag too.

Update: I broke down and got the striped blouse with the bow too; very cute!

Patrick Robinson for Target Go International

Targét has a winner in its popular Go International line, featuring high-end designers--many of them young and upcoming--making affordable stuff for the masses.

Unfortunately, it's a juniors line, not a misses line. I can fit in the XL tops but I've shied away from skirts, dresses, and pants. I've been concerned that the size 15s might still be too small. (Usually I size up in lower priced stores.)

But the other day I was looking at Patrick Robinson's crop of clothes for Go International and I really liked the medallion print baby doll dress. The largest size they had left was a size 13. Yet I could tell the cut of the skirt was really generous. Since I was short on time, I decided to buy the dress and try it on at home. If it was too small, I was planning to take it back.

I tried it on at home and I was amazed. It fit just fine. The dress bodice is definitely not for the big n' busty but otherwise, it's great for the booty-full. Not bad at all for 30 bucks! A great sundress for summer:



Obviously, that's not a picture of me.