#2 Preparing for Japan: Wardrobe

So I figure some of you are wondering about what kinds of things a person is going to need to pack for Japan. I figured that this would make a pretty interesting entry because I’ve kind of had to start from scratch. Post college, my wardrobe consisted of jeans and t-shirts and a couple of black pants that had been destroyed from working in the school cafeterias, maybe a couple of nice sweaters here or there, but overall; not much.  It definitely wasn’t enough for a job that required “business professional” wear every day.

So herein is my wardrobe overhaul…

In November I bought two skirt suits for my interview; a brown one and a black one. They were on sale at Sears for a really good price. I can’t remember what I spent on them, I do remember the jackets being about $50 each and then everything else being around $15 or $20. Overall it was a good buy and I had 2 suits for my interview.

Just recently I purchased 2 more pant suits,

3 pairs of trousers, 3 short sleeve blouses, 4 long sleeve blouses, 3 cardigans, 1 sweater, a few dresses (one of which is the specifically designated “company party” dress) The shoes I got were 1 pair of black conservative heels, on pair of flats, and a pair of indoor shoes. It worked out really well because all of the winter clothes were on clearance and the spring season clothes were on discount because the holiday rush is over as well. So I got a lot of my wardrobe on major discounts. But I bet you’re still wondering “How much did all of this cost?” And my answer is:  Way more that I am comfortable admitting online. While I did save a lot of money, I still spent a lot as well. But it is your basic post-college-new-career wardrobe overhaul.

All the suits I bought.

Blouses, all 7 of them

3 cardigans, 1 sweater

2 casual dresses and the company party dress on the right.

3 pairs of extra pants to mix and match with the suits.

I found this wonderfully frilly prize at Marshall's. It was too cute to leave there.

3 pairs of shoes. A bit hard to see because of all the black.

Things are a little wrinkly right now since they've been sitting in a bag since I purchased them. There was one more dress I purchased, but it was too wrinkly to post a photo of it. But this is what it looks like on the Kohl's website: Adorable pick-up dress

This is not the entire wardrobe that I will be bringing to Japan. This is just all of the new stuff. I'll be bringing a lot of my older clothes as well because I can't break out of my love for t-shirts and hoodies. I just hope everything fits into my 4 suitcases!

Lessons learned from intensive shopping:
1. Try on all the pieces of your suit even if it is the same size but in a different color! It may not always fit the same.
2. Sears has amazing deals on suits. 3 of my 4 suits came from Sears.
3. Always check Coach for ridiculous deals at the outlet mall. ;) I found a passport holder for 70% off.