This post is part of a series on dressing for new (or temporary) office jobs. See the whole series.

Last week, we talked about navigating the office dress code in a new environment, including the often-mystifying differences between the “official” dress code and the on-the-ground sartorial norms. This week, we’ll talk about what to do with those guidelines: some thoughts on shopping strategies, accessorizing, and “essential” wardrobe items.

First, a few things to consider:

1. Your time horizon and repeat tolerance: If you’re just acquiring a few things to get you through a summer job or internship, your perspective on what kinds of things you should have and what quality they need to be will be different than if you’re starting a permanent job after leaving college or graduate school. Likewise, the size (and fashion-awareness) of your office, the number of people you come into contact with every day, and your personal preferences will affect the percentage of the time you want to spend wearing (or feeling like you’re wearing) different outfits.
2. Your budget. This goes pretty much without say.
3. What the dress code in your office is really like.
4. Other considerations that restrict the size of your capsule wardrobe. For example, my dear friend K. commuted from New Haven to D.C. every week so she could see her husband on the weekends while we were working over the summer, and didn’t have access to anything you could meaningfully call a closet for much of the duration. It didn’t prevent her from having great style, but it did place some obvious restrictions on how many pieces she had in her rotation.
5. Any particular rules in your office regarding accessories. Your office may or may not allow peep-toed shoes, dangling earrings, etc. Accessories rules tend to be ones that can be bent more easily, but your mileage may vary.

A few truly essential pieces:

1. Your interview suit. Should be as basic as can be (and therefore almost endlessly remixable). Ideally, you have multiple pieces (e.g., pants and skirt that match the same blazer, or a skirt and a shift dress).
2. For goodness sake, a pair of sensible shoes. This is just common sense, but particularly true in the law firm/consulting summer program context. People will take you places, you will walk a lot on terrible city sidewalks, and there is nothing professional about desperately sore feet or heels that have been demolished in sidewalk grates. (Take it from someone who ruined a pair of brand new heels on the first day of my summer program as a 1L walking halfway across the city to go to lunch with my mentor. Sigh.)
3. One, possibly two, pairs of basic “office” pumps. These are the shoes that match your interview suit and, hopefully, virtually everything else in your work capsule wardrobe. Maybe not the most exciting pair of shoes ever, but the ones that will be unobjectionable in virtually all settings in which you think you’ll find yourself.
4. A day dress (or two) in a solid fabric that you really, really love. There are two schools of thought here about neutral or colored, but this is another question for common sense and good judgment about where you fit in your professional universe. Ideally, this is also a dress that can go under a blazer of some kind, or a cardigan, or be worn by itself when the occasion calls for it.
5. In a more formal office, a second and possibly a third suit. How many suits you need will depends on the availability of suit alternatives in your office and your closet, other things that might be considered business formal, and how many pieces you’re able to acquire in a given suit.
6. In a business casual office, a few key separates that hold up well and play well with a variety of colors. Depending on your preference, this may mean more skirts or pants, but should probably also include one additional blazer, perhaps in a more distinctively colored or textured fabric.

Different approaches to building a work wardrobe:

1. The cohesive capsule. If you’re really starting from scratch, and you’re confident about the dress norms in the office you’ll be working in, and your budget permits this approach, you might consider acquiring a capsule wardrobe that all more or less fits together all at once. Personally, I tend to struggle with this one, mostly because I like being able to react to changes in my circumstances (and my mood!) as I get used to a new environment.
2. The gradual approach. Just like it sounds, this one works best if you know your closet better than you know the environment you’ll be working in: figure out what you’ll need for the first week or two, and then fill in the gaps as you get to know the environment and what your peers and superiors are wearing.
3. The not-so-conformist approach. Riskier, but an option when you’re (a) working in a smaller office and won’t be part of a large, identifiable peer group, (b) already have a significant stable of workplace-appropriate items in your closet and (c) have a longer time horizon. Edit a capsule of items that fit these genres, but don’t necessarily all fit together quite so tightly. Want to try to be a little nonconformist but still blend in where necessary? My favorite place to start is with your shoes.

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This post is part of a series on dressing for new (or temporary) office jobs. See the whole series.

Almost every office has one.

No, not that slightly nosy coworker who somehow manages to know everything about everyone’s lives (those too, though). A dress code. Unfortunately, for a document that’s intended to provide clarity of expectations ahead of time, the average office dress code is riddled with unwritten (and often unspoken) rules and norms. So, how do you develop a strategy for navigating appropriate dress in these muddy waters? Here are a few questions to consider in assembling a “capsule wardrobe” of work essentials.

1. Does your dress code define office dress as “business casual” or “professional attire” or ”business formal”? Obviously, you’ll have greater flexibility in a business casual environment.
2. If the dress code says business casual, does it really mean it? For example, at many law firms, the dress code will say something along the lines of, “our office is business casual, but many attorneys prefer to wear formal business attire most days.” Pay attention to the norms that appear to apply to your peers, rather than the blanket guidelines for the office as a whole.
3. Even if the dress code is business casual, will you be in situations that otherwise require more formal attire? Even in a business casual office, if you’re a lawyer, you have to go to court sometimes. Or if you’re a consultant, you have to meet with clients. Or [insert important outside-the-office obligation here]. How often do these kinds of settings come up? Do you usually know ahead of time, or will you need to keep an emergency suit stashed in your office?
4. How does your office define formal business attire? In some offices, formal business attire would include a dress (usually with sleeves) on its own, without a jacket or other topper. If this is you, consider investing in a few (remixable) dresses that can be worn on their own. If formal business attire means you’re wearing a jacket but not necessarily a suit, consider what kinds of suit alternatives might be appropriate.
5. If you’ll be working during the summer, does your office support the Right to Bare Arms? If it doesn’t, is it just a “no tanktops” rule, or are short sleeves also considered inappropriate? Are jackets and cardigans equally acceptable arm coverings?
6. What are rules about footwear? Are peep-toes permissible? How high is too high? Are flats famed or frowned upon?

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to Narrowly Tailored via RSS or bloglovin’, or follow me on Twitter to be the first to know what I’m up to.