Hello everyone,I am joining a London strategy consultancy in September and would appreciate any advice on how to build a business wardrobe. At the moment I own three suits (dark grey, grey pinstripes, brown), some shirts, and two pairs of black leather shoes but not much else. I realise standards are likely to differ between firms but I expect to wear a shirt and possibly a tie around the office and a smart suit at client sites. How many suits do those of you who are junior consultants own? What colours? Are pinstripes OK for non-bankers or are consultants all navy and charcoal?What about cufflinks, and non-black shoes?Any tips about ties are obviously welcome as well - or indeed about places to shop, books to read, etc.Grateful for any help even though this is low-level stuff.

A good wardrobe is a great investment and will serve you well. Here are my biggest pieces of advice:1. Don't buy anything stylish, as it will only go out of fashion. Save those purchases for when you're earning the big bucks. For now, look for classic purchases.2. I would aim to have 3-4 suits for summer and another 3-4 for winter. Obviously, you can invest in summer suits now and winter suits in a few months...3. To keep costs down, I'd probably invest in a few classics that I knew I could wear all the time: single-breasted suits in charcoal or navy. Perhaps two solids and two in discrete pinstripes. Consultants can get away with a chalk-stripe suit when working for a City client, but they look out of place when working on a manufacturing site in Milton Keynes!4. Always buy a second pair of trousers with your suits. It will double their lifespan.5. Cufflinks are fine -- but one good pair is better than a handful of cheap / tacky pairs.6. You can't go wrong with black shoes and black leather accessories. Two pairs at least, and let them rest in between wearings. And leather soles, please. Shoes with rubber soles belong in the mailroom.7. Shirts should never have button-down collars or pockets. Ever.8. Now is a great time to stock up on suits. Look for the sales, and buy the best you can afford -- a good suit will last for 10 years, a cheap suit will be ruined in a year. And a cheap suit will never feel as good to wear.9. Brands? I think that Ede & Ravenscroft offer great value during the sales (£300-400 for a classic wool suit) and they can provide good advice. TM Lewin now sell suits, frequently discounted to £250-300 in their regular 50% off sales. Aquascutum is another good bet.10. Feeling a (little) flush and want a vacation as well? Have your suits made-to-measure in Hong Kong (where the quality is higher than other Asian destinations, in my opinion). Leave yourself at least 5-6 days to have the suits properly tailored and fitted (anyone who promises a suit overnight is selling crap) and expect to spend between £250-300 for a good-quality suit. Shirts in HK are around £20 each.If I had it to do all over again, knowing what I did now, I'd head out to HK and have 10 shirts, 3-4 suits with spare trousers, some trousers for "casual" Friday, and a jacket or two made. My bespoke suits are much more comfortable to wear, last longer, and look better than anything I've bought off-the-shelf in the UK. You'll save the cost of the ticket with the price of the clothes.Hope this provides a solid basis for starters... Good luck on your new career!

Many thanks Anon - your reply was precisely what I was hoping for. Very valuable advice. I look forward to doing a bit of shopping!

Anon's advice is excellent. I'd particularly reinforce the bit about buying two (or even three) pairs of trousers for each suit. Firstly, as anon says, you'll wear through trousers much faster than the suit jacket - so if you don't buy multiple pairs of trousers then the suit will need throwing away prematurely when your only pair of trousers bites the dust. But also from a practical point of view, a lot of your time will be spent jacket-off (ie. it will not need dry-cleaning that often). Having multiple pairs of trousers means you can always have a pair of trousers to wear with the jacket even when the others are in the dry cleaners.Other than that, buy quality shirts and quality ties. Anyone who's been at work for more than a few months can spot the difference a mile off. Feeling like you look the part is a great confidence booster when presenting to senior management at a major client, so this investment will pay back many times over in terms of career advancement and self-esteem.Good luck with getting your strategy career off to a great start. Tony

Excellent post; wry humour ("Shirts should never have button-down collars or pockets. Ever. "), sound advice, a slight hint of "let's sneer at the proletariat" - ("Shoes with rubber soles belong in the mailroom. ")....top marks.......keep it up.

There is a Hong Kong tailor who comes to London every 3 months to take orders- keep an eye on the evening Standard, he takes out full page adverts when he is on his way over

No no no! If you're going to buy bespoke, you need to allow enough time to have 2-3 proper fittings. The "bespoke" tailors who visit London then post you a suit won't create a good finished product and are a false economy. You'll also get stung with duty when they post the suits.Buy good off-the-peg suits here in the UK or go abroad and leave enough time to get fitted properly. The "in-between" options deliver the worst of both worlds...

This, frankly, is pathetic. Our industry is full of sharply-dressed preening idiots. Professionalism is one thing. Snobbery is another. Apart from banking, where it's worse, many of your clients will be completely turned off by a flash suit. You can get on with many clients much better if you model your image on their own culture.

That last comment is complete nonsense. If the poster had any significant MC experience they would realise that the reason they hire you is that they have come to the realisation that those "within their own culture" do not have the answers or the experience! Dressing properly is therefore part of the image which they seek.

There is a huge difference between a flash suit and a high-quality suit. I was suggesting that the original poster invest in the latter, not the former.

Doug,If I had any "significant MC experience"? I own a firm employing 11 consultants. Don't be so pompous.If you had any significant experience you would have read my post: at no point did I say to join the client's culture. What I said was model your image on theirs. This means dress in a similar manner in order to be non-threatening and collaborative. Avoid putting them in a position where it's 'them and us' or you will never get genuine collaboration.

My tip here is to avoid the HK tailors visiting here and instead make your way to Harringay, where a little shop called George's Tailor will make you a fantastic suit to measure out of top quality British cloths (such as Holland & Sherry) for around £600. It might be twice the price of off the peg, but it'll last three times longer and fit you perfectly. George used to work for Huntsman on Saville Row, so he knows what he's doing - plus he's an absolute gent.

i agree that u need monimum 4 suits for winter and 4 for summer..........(for me there are also suits for the time between also).............as the time goes by u ll see that u need more than these...for example, definitely u ll need 2 types of black, one more casual, and one for very official situations..........i d focus on that, that apart from colours, u ll definitely need suits that can give u the ability to stand in different occasions........i ll agree with anon, to focus on classic choices, high quality and not flashy at all..........colours like black, grey (dark and/or not), dark blue, brown are ideal..............but also beige, for me a beige suit with brown shoes / accessoriew and white shirt for summer is very elegant.........not only u can buy different shoes than black but u should so!!brown for example are also necessary..........

Probably a silly question A, but I would have thought that in todays modern world with air-con offices you dont need summer/winter suits just a coat/scarf when its cold outside.Unless of course I am decidedlly untrendy - which is a possibility

I think A is on a wind up tbh. Black suits are for gangsters or shop workers. Brown suits my be OK for Johnny Foreigner but surely the phrase "never brown in town" applies to suits as well as shoes. (I'll make exceptions for really old school chaps who have a 'country suit' for Fridays so they can whizz stright off to the estate - chin chin.

P, definitely the air con offices (and the air con cars let me add:-) gives u the ability to have more choices, as u don't understand heat or cold, but it's not a matter of weather only.........for me it's mostly the materilal of the suit , this is what i meant, that makes it appropriate for each season..........D, i don't understand the "tbh"u said..........ur opinion is respected, though trust me, at least from my side of view, black suits are as necessary as others.........to give u an example, when i have to visit a manufacturing house, or a warehouse, i mostly wear a more casual black suit, to be casual, also there is the possibility to get dirty, and u still want to look more than ok..........this is just an example........i consider black suits necesary, as brown shoes also.........excuse me if it;s my opinion, but not all suits match black shoes...........if someone thinks that, i don't have to see him to understand his sense of style...........and generally we shouldn't be narrow minded......who talked about old school chaps, and "country" suits???!!!.................we should be open minded and by the way, nice sense of style is an ability that u re born with it for me and follows u in every combination u make..................a person not with it, as many rules he follows or advices he gets, he ll still reflect hiw real taste...........anyway, for me whatever u do/wear it should reflect quality and class.............this is the golden rule that someone should have in mind when "investing" in wardrobe...............

What do you think about M&S sutes/shirts/shoes? Are they not classy enough for a consultant?

TM Lewins has suits on sale for £250. Good compromise between cost and quality.

i don't know tm lewins, as i don't live in london, and in uk in general......prol: m&s is a joke right??if not then definitely no!a good choice for a junior or a consultant for me (good combination of price and quality, and mostly of style) would be for me some pieces from "massimo dutti"........just an example..........but at least is nice style and classy...this is the minimum for me........

i lived in london for a year and 2 things made me the worst impression in dressing style:the first was that too many people were wearing clothes that looked "borrowed" especially those in suits,definitely not cut out for themand the second was bad shoes!!if i were to pick in general the best in style shoes i d stick to italian ones...........italy for me is the mother of style, especially in shoes

A few notes....1. Started work as a freelancer this week on new (business-casual) client site and was told by client staff that "you can tell all the EY consultants - they are the ones in ties". Reinforces what I was told when at KPMG - dress like the client to fit in but always 5% smarter so that if there is ever a discussion about scruffiness, you are immune from it. 2. Female colleague once told me good shoes. And polish them! 10 years has taught me she was right. And good shoes are not the same as expensive shoes.3. Similar goes for the earliest respondent - good ties and shirts means that maybe you can save on the suits, if cash is restricted. 4. All my work clothes come from www.ctshirts.co.uk and www.josephturner.co.uk and TM Lewin. The one firm I would not re-use is Thomas Pink - how quickly can a shirt fall apart? Good luck with new job

Primark do new range "Start House"....worth looking at this offering....you'll be surprised at the quality vs. cost relationship.

I'll settle this dispute just head down to TK Max they'll sort you out haha

I've spent the entire day in my underwear. The client doesn't mind, my boss doesn't mind. Even the dog doesn't seem to mind.This wardrobe is best saved for the days when you work at home.

Hi Anon,I really liked your advice on male wardrobe, any chance to enlighten me on female wardrobe for a mature consultant-to-be?Thanks !

most of the advices for men can apply to women too.......u need to invest to suits also........i prefer suits than skirt-jacket........u can invest in dresses up to knee length that match ur jackets-coats......u need shirts too.....just remember NEVER EVER a skirt above knee.........personally, i am mostly dressed in a man-type look, meaning i mostly wear suits and shirts, same good quality as men, heels up to 2.5inches max, ....i just have the "freedon" to make "lighter" choices sometimes cause i am a woman...........and i have some dresses / skirts up to knee for variety...........i 'invest" 500euros a month (for the last 3 years) in business clothes, but after 3 years i have one of the best wardrobes..........golden advice: always invest in fewer pieces and of higher quality, perhaps higher price, but classy and "quality" looking than more so and so.........anna, quality and class always!ps are u greek?

Anna, let me add some more advices as u re a woman:make up: always light and discrete, (i am opposed to no make up at all)nails: not only cleaned, but manicured as well,hair: weekly hairdressing is a routine for me, but always in a very natural way, ur hair should look naturally perfect,needless to say, not clean but "fresh" clothes, well ironed, that suit u,and invest in 1-2 nice watces!

Thanks a lot A!It is great advice and I hope a trip to Italy later this month will help (at least with shoes+handbags). No, I'm not Greek, what makes you think so? Cheers, Anna

Anna, u don't have to go to italy just for shopping...unless u are combining vacation and shopping:-).......i hope i wasn't misunderstodd, i didn't say that someone should go to italy, just that i prefer italian shoes........all the best on ur new business 'trip'ps it's just that anna is a very common greek name