the suit

Once again, I am going to be super busy the next couple of days, so blogging will be minimal.

Part of my work the next few days will involve wearing a suit. I must be moving up in the world! When I was last applying for jobs, I just had a blouse and nice pants. Same thing for my other conference presentations. But now I'm at the stage where I think a nice suit is a requirement.

I had the damndest time trying to find a suit. First, I am built like a (young) teenager. Second, I wanted an actual suit, not a "come hither" club ensemble and not some sort of quasi-casual drapey outfit. Suits that fit me, that I can afford, and that are appropriate for a lower-level management interview are few and far between.

I tried jcrew, but the only suits they have in stores have these ridiculously short jackets. That's the last thing I need. And I'm not going to drop $250 on something from the internet I can't try on first. The other places I could think of that were suit-y and had stuff in my size (Ann Taylor's the only one that comes to mind, but I know there are others when I was trawling through the mall) didn't have actual matching jacket/pants combos that didn't have massive shoulders (*shudder*). I ended up finding something from a local store, but I had to get the pants hemmed 4 inches (?!) and the sleeves hemmed 2 inches. I just tried the jacket and the sleeves are still too long, but at least they don't cover my hands.

I can't be the only small female under the age of 40 who needs a respectable suit. I know lawyers my size and age who get their suits essentially custom-made, but I really wish I could find a decent option that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Same thing with tops - if I see something that's remotely work appropriate, I snag it because 90% of the time, what looks like a perfectly normal blouse will have all the buttons from midchest up missing. I don't get it...you only need 2 tops if you're going clubbing, but you need at least 6 work tops so that you can at least rotate them a little.

It could be worse - my grandmother's 4 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than I am, and she has so few options, she'll buy whatever will fit without regard to style or cost. One option is the girls' sections, but once you're 90 years old, having "hot stuff" written over your ass looks a little silly. At that age, though, you don't care so much about the right suit.