Back to School: Business Dress Essentials by: EVP Manni

As our summer drags on and school approaches, moments at the mall should be seized in order to start back to school shopping early, and when in DECA grabbing a few business dress staples would be extremely beneficial. The art of shopping is to start small, and when building a professional wardrobe one must always start with the basics: solid colors, neutrals and anything that matches your blazer at first glance! Make sure that all that you buy; you feel comfortable in, nothing too tight but again nothing too big. Sometimes just making the purchase won’t be enough and alterations will have to be done, but just ensure that everything is as close to the right fit for YOU as possible.

Tops: My best bet is to start off with the most basic item: the white button down. You can never go wrong with this top and some dress pants, in most cases simplicity is key, and in a professional setting you want to let what you have to say do the talking instead of letting others base your qualifications off of your appearance.

Where to buy: Express, Macy’s, JcPenny : Higher end stores will sometimes have great sales and the higher quality will allow for longevity of this necessary item.

Bottoms: To cater to both my ladies and gents I personally think that a nice pair of dress pants is the way to go, whether loose or slim fit, dress pants allow for a polished and poised look. I always recommend to buy dress pants too big than too small so you have room for alterations and hemming. For an initial purchase, khaki pants are a good choice as they match many tops and also look great with the DECA blazer.

Where to buy: Gap, Mens Warehouse, Forever 21, NewYork & Company: Make sure you pick the right fit that you feel most comfortable in.

Shoes: I could go on for days about shoes, but the most important thing about getting a good pair of shoes for a business setting is that you can stand in them for long periods of time, sometimes we have to play the waiting game at competitions and it’s important to be able to focus on our presentation instead of how bad our feet hurt, flats and loafers are prime options.

Where to buy: Aldo, Burlington, Call It Spring

I hope you learned something! Happy Shopping!

 Extra links: http://work.chron.com/etiquette-rules-dress-business-environment-4737.html