Possibly entering the workforce again; tips on getting dressy casual clothes

[ourbabygirl]

on a tight budget?

I may be interviewing for a .2 position teaching high school. Since I've been a SAHM the last 10 years and don't have much in the way of professional clothes, and won't be making much to afford a whole new wardrobe, do you have any tips on where to shop and what to get for a minimal dressier wardrobe overhaul? I usually like stores like Loft, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Old Navy, and Madewell.
Also, any blogs you could recommend? I'm going to check out Putting Me Together and Get Your Pretty On.
I could use help with cute but comfortable shoes, pants, tops, jewelry- you name it.

Thanks for your help!

[hillview]

honestly try on everything you own is a great but PITA starting point.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Don’t invest much time of $ yet. The high school teachers at ds1’s school do not get dressed up at all.
You might already have an appropriate wardrobe.

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[PunkyBoo]

I always recommend Express for work pants. The cuts are current, fabric and quality is great, and machine washable. That said, I recommend waiting for one of their sales- they often run BOGO50% off on pants. I still wear the pants I bought 6.5 years ago from there! They often have cute, colourful blouses too.
I went to work after 8 years at home, and started with just black and gray pants, and one black pencil skirt, which i paired with a variety of colorful tops and a few cardigans. That made it easy for me to have a good starting capsule wardrobe. I find that with a cute cardigan or soft blazer, I can get away with wearing a lot of the nicer tee shirts I also wear on the weekends.

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[westwoodmom04]

Don’t invest much time of $ yet. The high school teachers at ds1’s school do not get dressed up at all.
You might already have an appropriate wardrobe.

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Agree with this.

[lizzywednesday]

When I started working, I used H&M to get what I thought were "office-appropriate" clothes. They were, but my office leaned a lot more casual than I'd anticipated.

While I wouldn't necessarily want to go teach/sub in yoga pants & a sweatshirt, I might think about upgrading a couple of tops, checking that my jeans didn't make my backside look awful, and getting a nice blazer or cardigan (assuming it gets cold where you live!) and maybe some lightweight scarves to punch up my look to a little more "grownup" but not overly formal look.

[niccig]

Don’t invest much time of $ yet. The high school teachers at ds1’s school do not get dressed up at all.
You might already have an appropriate wardrobe.

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I work in an elementary school and I wear chinos/nice jeans/cropped pants all with a nice top, then add cardigan/sweater in winter. I get many of my clothes from Loft. When it’s my preschool days, I’ll wear Athleta style pants with sneakers- I’m sitting on the floor and the little ones are fast runners!


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[WatchingThemGrow]

I went back to teaching this past spring and found that a lot of what I had worked well when coupled with some new shoes, a couple $9.99 shirts from H & M, and a few random items like necklaces and sweaters (and rolling briefcases) from the thrift shop. I put together 5 outfits per season and had plenty without using up my income.


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[ourbabygirl]

Thanks for the feedback, Everyone! I think shoes are key, as I have fussy feet, so it's hard to find things that are comfortable for me to be on my feet all day, but also cute and not frumpy. . I live in my Vionic flip flops in the summer but definitely need something better for the school year.

[RiverRat]

Thanks for the feedback, Everyone! I think shoes are key, as I have fussy feet, so it's hard to find things that are comfortable for me to be on my feet all day, but also cute and not frumpy. . I live in my Vionic flip flops in the summer but definitely need something better for the school year.

I have Dr. Martens that I love for teaching. I also like Cobb Hill. Vionic also makes some nice looking non flip flops. I wear FitFlops when I can, my feet are so picky!


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