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Where to buy corporate/business clothes for plus size?
Hi F&B 
Please pardon my barging in. I'm an occasional lurker but now I have a burning question.
My sister got a new job and she doesn't have good clothes for it.
She's a size 1x or 2x. I'm thinking Banana Republic or Ann Taylor type styles.She is round. Like, her torso looks like an apple. (She would kill me if she knew I said that).
Do you know of a store that sells affordable pieces that are professional? The company has a traditional business wear dress code that they're strict about. She's thinking mix and match suit separates to make her clothes stretch into more outfits?
A challenge is she despises shopping online. She would prefer an actual store she can go into and try things on.
She dislikes Macy's selection and Nordstrom's is too expensive for her.
Thanks in advance.
PS: Budget info:
She would prefer to buy several versatile pieces at $50-$100 each.
She needs to buy some clothes now (has a couple of appropriate outfits) but she's coming off being unemployed and doesn't have a lot of money to spend.
Thanks again.
Re: Where to buy corporate/business clothes for plus size?
Ugh, this is so, so tough. Honestly, I end up spending some big bucks on my work wardrobe because it is so freaking hard to find nice plus size suits. About 90% of my suits and business casual separates are from Talbots. That was the case even in my first job right out of school when I really couldn't afford Talbots prices. When you have a body type that makes shopping difficult (plus size, very busty, whatever), I think it's worth it to splurge to get a few nicely fitting suits.
I've gotten a few pieces on sale at Talbot's for $80 - $100, but it typically is at the end of the season. I typically spend $300+ on a suit, which is painful when I see suits for half that price at Ann Taylor. Unfortunately, unless she has some type of speciality store near her, she just isn't going to find Ann Taylor prices in her size for a decent suit. Trust me, I've looked high and low, and have found that I either have to settle on poor fitting and/or crap fabric, or spend some money. It sucks.
I did once get a nice suit at Dillards, so that is another place to try, although what I bought still was out of her price range.
Oh, another store is Dress Barn. The quality is NOT good, but sometimes they have cute and inexpensive suit separates. She might be able to get a few inexpensive pieces there that will tide her over until she can buy some nicer items.
Here is a link so you can see some of the stuff. Some of it is fug, but pieces like the black sheath, stand collar blazer, and simple skirts are versatile and could be good pieces. Some of the shells are cute, too.
http://www.dressbarn.com/womens/suits-separates?items_per_page=74
Nordstrom is NOT too expensive for her if she is willing to shop the sale rack. Also you can get a ton of quality basic pieces at Nordstrom in the $40-$100 range. I just bought a ton of basics this past week for my wardrobe and found some great pieces at Nordstrom in that price range. My 2 most expensive items were $120 for a matte jersey floral print dress and $100 for a MICHAEL Michael Kors short sleeve belted cardigan. All my other pieces were $70 or less--I got 2 mid calf length skirts @ $48 each, 2 button front sleeveless tops @ $20 each and 4 sleeveless MICHAEL Michael Kors tops @ $70 each.
If she shops at Lane Bryant and needs to stock up on some basics I have a shitton of Real Women Dollars that I will not be using. You can use them online now and I think I have about 10 of them; if she can use them I will glady send you the coupon codes. I think you can use them after the 29th of this month.
Wow, thanks so much. That would be wonderful of you and help her out immensely!
And thanks to all for the suggestions. It's much appreciated! We went through all her clothes over the weekend and were only able to come up with enough outfits to last this week and that's by repeating a few pieces. She's got some good stuff, but unfortunately she gained weight over the past several years and they no longer fit.
It seemed like 2-3 years ago I was hearing a lot about more stylish plus-size fashion and stores were getting more into it, but they just don't seem to be anymore. She went into a couple of stores that used to carry plus sizes on the rack and was told that now anything over a 16 is only on their website.