Suit Yourself

In my last budget post, I mentioned that I'm in the process of looking for an internship for the summer. That means I've been thinking about what I want to do when I (eventually) graduate, updating my resumé, writing a new cover letter, talking to students in my field who are already working full-time, and making a shortlist of companies that I'm interested in. It also means that I need to get a new suit. My last one was from about 6 years ago, so you can say it's looking a little out-of-date. In fact, I wore it to a recent career fair and felt super frumpy! That's the opposite of how a good suit should make you feel, which is powerful and confident.

Anyway, I started researching women's suiting options a few weeks ago and came to several conclusions about what I like and dislike. First of all, I know that I want a pant suit and not a skirt suit. A skirt suit is more conservative, and a skirt would be easier to fit, but it also labels me as "other" in an already male-dominated field. Also I just feel more confident and less self-conscious in pants. Secondly I prefer a two-button jacket. I looked at some pictures of jackets with one, two, and three buttons, and overall two buttons seem like the perfect balance. Three buttons look a little stodgy, and one button is too casual. Thirdly (and this is a personal preference), I like black best as a suit color. I think navy is hard to pair with shoes, and charcoal gray looks a little too casual. Lastly I'm looking for pants that aren't super baggy. For some reason, suit pants are always ill-fitting! Maybe that's fine for men, but it's very unflattering on women.

From my preliminary search, I narrowed my options down to a few mall retailers that fit me decently well. The early front-runners are:

1. Banana Republic

This jacket and pant combo is a relatively affordable option at $308 full-price. Since Banana Republic frequently has 40% off sales (although watch for the exclusions), this could potentially be as cheap as $185 before any additional discounts. That's not bad at all for a suit that's 95% wool!

2. Ann Taylor

Most of the pieces from these two suits are online exclusives, which means no try-on unless I order them. The first one is made from tropical wool, which is kind of misleading when you consider that the material is actually only 41% wool. The price is similar to Banana Republic at $327 full-price, and Ann Taylor also frequently has 40% off sales. I really like the silhouette of the jacket, although the pants (which are lined) don't seem slim enough. The second suit is made from all-season stretch fabric, whatever that means. Apparently it's 49% polyester, 48% viscose, and 3% elastane. I'm a little concerned about how breathable the material will be, but the jacket and pants are the cheapest option at $267 full-price.

3. J.Crew

Of course this list would be incomplete without my beloved J.Crew, even if their quality is iffy at times. This is the only suit mentioned here that is 100% wool. Of course you pay for the quality; this jacket and these pants cost a total of $396. J.Crew sometimes has 30% off everything sales, but I suspect those might be getting more rare in the future as J.Crew tries to wean us off the perpetual discounts.

So these are my top contenders. I wish I could afford this Theory blazer and pant combo, but I'm afraid my student budget just isn't up to the task.

Do you have a suit that you like? If so, where is it from? What do you look for in a suit?