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How to dress for your first job without blowing your paycheck

Rachel Premack   

How to dress for your first job without blowing your paycheck

woman working

WOCinTech Chat/Flickr/Attribution

Go for simple separates that can be mixed and matched.

  • Whether it's an internship or your first job, creating a work-appropriate wardrobe can be pricey and time-consuming.
  • It doesn't help that most work-friendly clothes can be expensive - and your first gig isn't likely to be particularly lucrative.
  • Personal finance experts and stylists told Business Insider what to buy, where to buy it, and how much you can reasonably expect to spend.
  • The major takeaway: Buy a few, high-quality pieces.

Going from $10 Forever 21 tops and Salvation Army sweaters to the corporate uniform is one of the more jarring aspects of leaving student life and entering the professional world.

The fact that yoga pants and ripped jeans are no longer a key part of one's wardrobe can be an adjustment - and it's also expensive to stock up on sensible button-downs, slacks, and blazers.

"Work appropriate styles do not change much year to year, so provided you remain around the same size, investing now in some basics can sustain your wardrobe for years to come," Lauren Bowling, an editor at the Financial Best Life and author of "The Millennial Homeowner: A Guide to Successfully Navigating Your First Home Purchase," told Business Insider.

For the best tips on how to make your first "adulting" wardrobe, Business Insider talked to Bowling, image curator Scarlett De Bease, style coach Stasia Savasuk, and Kat Griffin, founder of Corporette, a blog about women's work clothes.

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