where to buy business caz-oo-al

[helium]

It's looking a lot like I'm going to have a job this summer that requires some form of business casual clothes, which for me means collared shirts on their own or layered over other shirts plus dark jeans/other pants/simple skirts, nothing showing too much skin, etc etc blah blah blah. I've got a p good handle on what I think I should be wearing.

On the other hand, I have no idea where to get this stuff. I'm looking for tops mostly: either solid-color or simple patterned collared shirts, short sleeve and long sleeve. I'd really like to have a stable of moderately priced but not super boring shirts that I can mix up with jeans and slacks, especially something I could throw a skinny tie or a bow tie on in times of needing to dress up a little. I went to Good Will today and spent two hours trying to find something that didn't make me look like a dental assistant with limited results, but I noticed that everything I came away with that fit me really well is from the dreaded Banana Republic, which I definitely cannot afford.

So where do you guys get your businessy clothes on the cheap? Any brands you've had especially good luck with? I'm thinking of checking out Buffalo Exchange next but I know they're not always on the cheaper side of thrift. I humbly beg for your knowledge and suggestions!

[rowan]

You can sometimes find things from Old Navy or the Gap which are lower end scales than Banana Republic. Also I sometimes go into Banana Republic and come away with awesome stuff off their sales rack. No joke, you can find some good deals there.

But, for business casual, most any "department store" will work. I used to do JC Penny, they have some good stuff but I'm kind of ticked about the whole girl/math/thing from earlier (I think that was them. Or something like it). Otoh they're all dicks in one way or another, so...

Target isn't being so good on the business-casual side of things lately, so I'd skip that.

(I totally need to go buy new clothes so have been pondering this)

[monk]

Marshalls? My ex used to find good deals there but that was a long time ago. like rowan said any department store is going to have a sales rack with last season/years stuff discounted. Likely not quite as cheap as the thrift store route but in the short term if you need something they will be sure to have it.

[kelsa]

Penny's! They're lovely, have nice business casual-y clothes, and Ellen is their spokesperson!

[helium]

Penny's! They're lovely, have nice business casual-y clothes, and Ellen is their spokesperson!

Ooh, that's right! I should hit them up.

And it turns out that this job doesn't really have a dress code, so I turned out not to need all my fancy new stuff. But thank you guys for the suggestions!