Women's Interview Clothing (thread #2)

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i posted this in the class of 2104 thread but it'll probably get more attention here--

laydees of 2014... can you help me come up with stores where you can buy the pieces of suits separately? today i did the department store thing, and it did not work. my top is 1-2 sizes smaller than my bottom :lame:

i'm planning to go to ann taylor, banana republic... not the limited because there are none in NYC. other ideas?
 
dw2158 said:
i posted this in the class of 2104 thread but it'll probably get more attention here--

laydees of 2014... can you help me come up with stores where you can buy the pieces of suits separately? today i did the department store thing, and it did not work. my top is 1-2 sizes smaller than my bottom :lame:

i'm planning to go to ann taylor, banana republic... not the limited because there are none in NYC. other ideas?
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J. Crew is great, but the Columbus Circle location doesn't have many suit choices at the moment. Theory is also good, great choices at the UWS and downtown locations, but not cheap. Loehman's and Filene's Basement had some good, reasonably priced choices. Good luck!
 
premad said:
J. Crew is great, but the Columbus Circle location doesn't have many suit choices at the moment. Theory is also good, great choices at the UWS and downtown locations, but not cheap. Loehman's and Filene's Basement had some good, reasonably priced choices. Good luck!
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all excellent suggestions with locations in my 'hood. you get many gold stars 👍
 
Well, I went suit-hunting today, and the only store I could find in my area that had a good selection of suits on location was The Limited. That being said, most of their suits had pants, not skirts, so I still didn't find what I was looking for there. Most of them are also a little trendier than I would like. It looks like I'll be ordering online after all. Sigh. J. Crew has a really good online selection of "suiting" (new word for me), pants and skirts alike.
 
another question, ladies: how much does tailoring usually cost? i need a petite jacket but i found one i LOVE that doesn't come in petite. would it be super expensive to get the sleeves shortened a bit, etc.?
 
It's not expensive to get sleeves shortened, but working with the shoulders (which is often a problem for me at 5'2) is almost impossible. Also, if anyone is looking to buy their suit (pant or skirt) in pieces, try NY and Co. Pricing is reasonable, it's good quality, and you can mix and match to make something interesting and fashionable - I'll be looking for other occasions to wear my skirt and silk top for sure.
 
belle2010 said:
It's not expensive to get sleeves shortened, but working with the shoulders (which is often a problem for me at 5'2) is almost impossible. Also, if anyone is looking to buy their suit (pant or skirt) in pieces, try NY and Co. Pricing is reasonable, it's good quality, and you can mix and match to make something interesting and fashionable - I'll be looking for other occasions to wear my skirt and silk top for sure.
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thanks for the suggestions! shoulders are a problem for me too. i've decided i really need to be 6 inches taller and 20 pounds lighter to be able to buy suits like a normal person.
 
dw2158 said:
another question, ladies: how much does tailoring usually cost? i need a petite jacket but i found one i LOVE that doesn't come in petite. would it be super expensive to get the sleeves shortened a bit, etc.?
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Theory's expensive suits do include free tailoring. Just make sure that you and the salesperson work out all the tailoring that needs to be done, and she gives you a ticket for each alteration. Still may not work out the shoulder issue, though...
 
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Tailoring has always been an issue for me. I'm really pretty small, about 5 feet/5'1 and extremely petite. I couldn't find a suit that fit me anywhere, let alone the petite section, so I ended up getting the smallest size from The Limited, and I still had to get both the jacket and the pants altered. It ended up costing about $60 to take in the jacket, shorten the sleeves, hem the pants, and adjust the waist. Still, I'm glad with how it turned out. I got a nice professional looking dark grey pantsuit that after alterations, fits really well and looks good.

FYI though, The Limited does offer free hemming for pants, at least at my location, but that's all they can do.
 
NotSur and ksmi117 -- thanks 🙂 I'm going with the closed toed shoes
 
are red shoes okay? my suit is dark gray and looks REALLY good with the red shoes. they are pretty low heels (1.5 inches, maybe?) with a rounded toe, so they're not like "come fck me" shoes or anything.

these aren't the exact ones, but they're pretty similar. only mine are red 🙂

mary%20jane%20era%20black%20angle%20front.jpg
 
dw2158 said:
are red shoes okay? my suit is dark gray and looks REALLY good with the red shoes. they are pretty low heels (1.5 inches, maybe?) with a rounded toe, so they're not like "come fck me" shoes or anything.

these aren't the exact ones, but they're pretty similar. only mine are red 🙂

mary%20jane%20era%20black%20angle%20front.jpg
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Honestly, I wouldn't do it. There are a lot of things you want them to remember about you from your interview day, and the color of your shoes is not one of them.
 
.
 
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Oops. Wrong thread.
 
Ilovewater said:
What does everyone think of slit pencil skirts? Mine is just right below the knee, and the slit is not that high. Here's a picture:

http://www.express.com/catalog/prod...tCategoryId=2&categoryId=23&subCategoryId=364
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LOVE the skirt - so cute! But I think it's a little too unusual for a med school interview...remember the people interviewing you may be very traditional. I just wouldn't risk it. But for business attire after you get into med school?? Definitely! (All in my opinion...but you're right, it's not an outrageous slit)
 
arrivee said:
LOVE the skirt - so cute! But I think it's a little too unusual for a med school interview...remember the people interviewing you may be very traditional. I just wouldn't risk it. But for business attire after you get into med school?? Definitely! (All in my opinion...but you're right, it's not an outrageous slit)
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if oyu wear this with a matching suit jacket and professional blouse, shoes, bag then i think it will be good.
 
btw, i also had a slit pencil skirt; the slit wasnt in the front but the lenght of my skirt was about the same maybe a smidget shorter bc it was my mom's suit and she's 4 inches shorter than I

edit: taking another look at the photo i have to say that my skirt wasnt any shorter, actually pretty much the exact length shown in the photo
 
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also, you guys shoudl post pics of yourself in the full interview outfit. that is a whole lot easier to critique and you can find a bunch from last year's section of this thread, including me LOL
 
ar2388 said:
also, you guys shoudl post pics of yourself in the full interview outfit. that is a whole lot easier to critique and you can find a bunch from last year's section of this thread, including me LOL
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I'll probably pics of me in both my pantsuit and skirt suit, but my pants are with the tailor right now. They made it too short =[.

Thanks guys for the comment about the skirt! I really really like the skirt, but I was just concerned about the slit being in the front. Plus, I'll also be wearing flats, so I don't know if the whole outfit will still look as good.
 
Ilovewater said:
I'll probably pics of me in both my pantsuit and skirt suit, but my pants are with the tailor right now. They made it too short =[.

Thanks guys for the comment about the skirt! I really really like the skirt, but I was just concerned about the slit being in the front. Plus, I'll also be wearing flats, so I don't know if the whole outfit will still look as good.
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especially with flats that skirt will look even more conservative i think. make sure you have a suit jacket. on my interviews a rare handful of people didnt have jackets and they definitely stood out in a way im not sure they wanted to...
 
ok this might be a weird question, but is it ok to unbutton the suit jacket when you sit down for the actual interview part? My suit looks fine standing up but when I sit down the bottom parts under the button go off to the side and it looks a little funny. Or maybe everyone's does that when they sit down? (sorry for the dumb questions, as you can tell i haven't worn a suit a lot haha)
 
I know men that have gone to etiquette class were taught to unbutton the bottom button of their suit jacket when they sit. I would suppose it would be fine if a woman did it too...if it looks better and feels more comfortable, I'd go for it
 
Hmm, well camis are generally a no but that one almost looks like a blouse. Make sure it's not see through, and does not fit tightly at all.

But you would of course not be able to take off the jacket at anytime if you did decide to wear that.
 
I've buttoned and unbuttoned whenever I felt like it lol

Didn't seem like anyone noticed or cared, but I have seen men do the unbuttoning thing when sitting down.
 
What about a gray pantsuit? And i'm not talking about the gray-that's-almost-black kinda gray here. But the medium toned gray...I don't want to stick out in a bad way. I hear black is the way to go but I just don't think it looks good on me. Maybe the gray with a pastel blue shirt?
 
natfan05 said:
What about a gray pantsuit? And i'm not talking about the gray-that's-almost-black kinda gray here. But the medium toned gray...I don't want to stick out in a bad way. I hear black is the way to go but I just don't think it looks good on me. Maybe the gray with a pastel blue shirt?
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You should be fine with a medium gray, and you'll probably stick out, but not at all in a bad way. During the campus tours, I think that all of us black-suited premeds look rather like a funeral procession, but that's just me. 😉 Go with the gray if it suits you. :laugh:
 
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natfan05 said:
What about a gray pantsuit? And i'm not talking about the gray-that's-almost-black kinda gray here. But the medium toned gray...I don't want to stick out in a bad way. I hear black is the way to go but I just don't think it looks good on me. Maybe the gray with a pastel blue shirt?
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I'll probably try to find a gray suit as well. I think it's easier to pair shirts with gray than black, and it just looks nicer on me as well. 👍
 
natfan05 said:
What about a gray pantsuit? And i'm not talking about the gray-that's-almost-black kinda gray here. But the medium toned gray...I don't want to stick out in a bad way. I hear black is the way to go but I just don't think it looks good on me. Maybe the gray with a pastel blue shirt?
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I wore gray. It was much better for my complexion... I'm very fair-skinned, so black just makes me look... dead. If it makes you comfortable, wear it. 🙂
 
kac714 said:
Don't wear the cami. It's way too informal.
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Really? It looks like a blouse underneath the suit jacket, and the neck line is pretty high up. I didn't want to wear a collar jacket because my first interview is in Tucson, AZ...and it's almost 100 degrees. I already sweat from wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

I'll wear something else for my other interviews XD.
 
Anything else besides a black skirt? what about prints? I think the whole black thing doesn't make me stand out. I want to catch attention and be memorable. I'm think of a nice professional flower print?
 
Ilovewater said:
Really? It looks like a blouse underneath the suit jacket, and the neck line is pretty high up. I didn't want to wear a collar jacket because my first interview is in Tucson, AZ...and it's almost 100 degrees. I already sweat from wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

I'll wear something else for my other interviews XD.
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I don't think it really matters. Plenty of women wear shells under their suit jackets and a cami doesn't look any different, especially with a nice neckline. Just realize that you will not be able to unbutton your jacket at any point in the day.
 
Alwaysbehopeful said:
Anything else besides a black skirt? what about prints? I think the whole black thing doesn't make me stand out. I want to catch attention and be memorable. I'm think of a nice professional flower print?
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You really do not want to stand out because of your clothes. It will rarely be a positive thing. If you think black is boring, pick a grey or brown suit and/or get something with pinstripes and a bright shirt to go underneath.
 
diosa428 said:
You really do not want to stand out because of your clothes. It will rarely be a positive thing. If you think black is boring, pick a grey or brown suit and/or get something with pinstripes and a bright shirt to go underneath.
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Totally agree. You want to be remembered for your comments and answers to questions, not your loud printed suit.
 
Exalya said:
I hear a lot on here about skirts being better than pants. I personally dislike skirts... particularly walking around in skirts, like on a tour of a medical school. >.> I bought an awesome pantsuit, and I think it really works for me. If you feel confident and professional in what you're wearing, it shows. Whether it's pants or a skirt.
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Why is it that people think skirts are more professional? I personally feel that pants are more professional: they are more masculine looking, are more covered-up, and you don't have to worry about tugging your skirt down when you sit or stand.

😕
 
CupcakeMD said:
Why is it that people think skirts are more professional? I personally feel that pants are more professional: they are more masculine looking, are more covered-up, and you don't have to worry about tugging your skirt down when you sit or stand.

😕
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i feel like it's all about what you're more comfortable in. i knew i shouldn't look for pantsuits because i am waaaaay more comfortable in skirts (i wear them almost every day). i think pants and skirts can look both professional and unprofessional depending on the cut, fabric, etc. go for pants if you feel better in them!
 
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CupcakeMD said:
Why is it that people think skirts are more professional? I personally feel that pants are more professional: they are more masculine looking, are more covered-up, and you don't have to worry about tugging your skirt down when you sit or stand.

😕
Click to expand...

It's more conservative.
 
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Thanks, girls! Somehow, that makes me feel a lot better.
 
CupcakeMD said:
Why is it that people think skirts are more professional? I personally feel that pants are more professional: they are more masculine looking, are more covered-up, and you don't have to worry about tugging your skirt down when you sit or stand.

😕
Click to expand...

If you have attractive, athletic looking legs, then wear a skirt. If you have cankles, then wear pants. Accentuate your best attributes, and cover up the rest.
 
Alwaysbehopeful said:
Anything else besides a black skirt? what about prints? I think the whole black thing doesn't make me stand out. I want to catch attention and be memorable. I'm think of a nice professional flower print?
Click to expand...

As much as I would love to do the same, I spoke with several different people about this (both students and admission committee members), and the consensus is to wear a solid color or pin-stripe suit. The next-best thing I can think of is to wear a pretty blouse (perhaps floral print) with the suit.
 
my suit is dark grey and i wore a blue shirt underneath. i was SHOCKED at how wild i looked compared to all the other females at my interview yesterday. and trust me, i looked pretty conservative.

god, premeds are boring 😛
 
dw2158 said:
my suit is dark grey and i wore a blue shirt underneath. i was SHOCKED at how wild i looked compared to all the other females at my interview yesterday. and trust me, i looked pretty conservative.

god, premeds are boring 😛
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I know!! My suit is lightish grey with a light (but bright) purple shirt underneath. I stand out so much, but I don't mind.
 
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