Have ever looked for a suit at H & M? It’s kind of hit and miss. Sometimes you find good things there, sometimes not. However for a gal who is shopping for casual work clothes on a budget, it can be a place to find an extremly reasonable jacket that can be worn as suit separates. You have to start building your work clothes wardrobe somewhere, and if you can’t afford the expensive brands, this good be a decent place to start. If your business attire wardrobe budget is very limited, go to H & M and shop only for enough clothes there to get you through one week. Then wash you clothes every Sunday, and SET ASIDE what you can, and save up buy one nice piece at a time. Don’t spend more than you absolutely have to. Once you have one week covered, then save your budget to gradually aqcuire a business wardrobe one suit at a time (and if you can’t afford a whole suit, then buy one nice suit jacket and wear it with mix-and-match pants).

Compare these two women’s business suits in light summer colors. One is rather casual and the other is more formal. They are of a similar colors scheme and follow pretty much the same formula – suit jacket with separate pants. What is it about them that makes one look like business casual and the other like formal business attire? Is one more expensive? No, not necessarily. The business casual outfit is made of fabric that wrinkles easily, and where the indentations of the wrinkles stay (until next time it is pressed). This doesn’t necessarily mean that it is less expensive – there are many women’s suits that are made of wrinkle-prone material that are high priced (often too high priced in my opinion).

The other suit, on the right is made of a fabric that wrinkles less, is less stiff, is more “flowy”, and has more “fall” as we call it. The fact that the fabric doesn’t wrinkle is the main thing that makes a business sut look more formal or casual. And this may or may not mean a big difference in price. You just need to check the fabric when you shop for your work cloths, and the way to check is to grab a handfull of fabric in your hand and squeeze it like an apple – then watch how much/little the wrinkles stay when you let go.

Note the pocket details before buying the suit.

If the seams pucker, don't buy the suit.

Make sure the buttons on the sleeve are neat, and have no loose threads hanging.

Inspect the general details and stitching, before buying the suit.

There are several things you should inspect when you buy a woman’s business suit. Just because the price tag is high, it may not be the best business attire for you. It goes with out saying that the suit should of course be fully lined. And super cheap quality lining will sooner or later rip, so stay away from that. Check the wrinkle factor of the suit material by grabbing  a part of the suit with one hand and crunch it all up with your fist – when you let go and the fabric falls out of your hand, you will see how wrinkle prone the material is. (Wool blends don’t wrinkle much; linen wrinkles a lot.) Inspect the seams at the lapels and the pockets – if anything looks less then perfect, don’t buy it. If you see a loose thread, pull it and see what happens. If there are too many loose threads, don’t buy it. Check the suit’s seams for any puckers (especially around the shoulder). If there are any puckers at all, ask the sales associate to steam them out – but if the puckers can’t be steamed out easily, it means the stitching was not done right to begin with when it was sewn, so don’t buy it. Inspect the buttons at the bottom of the sleeve to make sure they are neat and straight. Last, when you wear the business suit, look and see that the lining doesn’t poke out lower than the hem line at the edge of the  sleeves or at the bottom of the suit jacket.

Be a smart girl and get the most mix and match outfits for your shopping money. Think ahead. Don’t just jump on one lovely garment, that you just must have. Look around and see what else goes with it. Sometimes the designers make it easy for us by purposely creating outfits that that meant to be re-combined, like these classy ensembles of dresses with suit jackets from St. John. But other times we have to search around the store to match our business suits up. Do bother the sales staff to help you match things up – they usually enjoy helping shoppers creating outfits.