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I'll be summering in commercial lit at a large NYC firm this summer, which has a business casual dress code. I'm trying to figure out how many dress shirts I need for when I have to wear a suit, so wondering how frequently I'd need them. Are 2 suit shirts sufficient, or should I have at least 3-4 ready?

Anonymous User wrote:I'll be summering in commercial lit at a large NYC firm this summer, which has a business casual dress code. I'm trying to figure out how many dress shirts I need for when I have to wear a suit, so wondering how frequently I'd need them. Are 2 suit shirts sufficient, or should I have at least 3-4 ready?

What's a suit shirt as distinguished from a shirt you'd wear for business casual anyways? Your business casual shirts should double as suit shirts - just change pants, throw on a tie and suit jacket, and you're ready to go. As a side note, if your shirt can't be worn under a suit (i.e., it's a color that's not white, blue, or subtle pink), you're probably better off not wearing it for business casual anyways.

But to answer your question, it's unlikely you'll have to wear a suit more than once in a given week, unless you're constantly in court (e.g., staffed on a trial team). So two should be fine.

Thanks - that totally makes sense! The (somewhat silly) reason is that I have a disproportionately large neck, so need to get shirts custom fitted if I want to wear a tie while not looking like a 9-year-old who borrowed his dad's shirt. As custom fitted shirts aren't cheap, it's impracticable for my b-casual shirts to double as suit shirts.

imchuckbass58 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I'll be summering in commercial lit at a large NYC firm this summer, which has a business casual dress code. I'm trying to figure out how many dress shirts I need for when I have to wear a suit, so wondering how frequently I'd need them. Are 2 suit shirts sufficient, or should I have at least 3-4 ready?

What's a suit shirt as distinguished from a shirt you'd wear for business casual anyways? Your business casual shirts should double as suit shirts - just change pants, throw on a tie and suit jacket, and you're ready to go. As a side note, if your shirt can't be worn under a suit (i.e., it's a color that's not white, blue, or subtle pink), you're probably better off not wearing it for business casual anyways.

But to answer your question, it's unlikely you'll have to wear a suit more than once in a given week, unless you're constantly in court (e.g., staffed on a trial team). So two should be fine.

I wore business casual most of the time and kept a jacket and tie in the office closet. I only used them once when an associate asked me to deliver a document to a client in a hotel nearby. It was pretty awkward. The client was like who the hell are you and I had to explain that the associate had an emergency so he asked me to deliver the document.

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks - that totally makes sense! The (somewhat silly) reason is that I have a disproportionately large neck, so need to get shirts custom fitted if I want to wear a tie while not looking like a 9-year-old who borrowed his dad's shirt. As custom fitted shirts aren't cheap, it's impracticable for my b-casual shirts to double as suit shirts.

Ah, got it. That makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, you should be fine with two. I wore a suit maybe 5 or 6 days during my summer, and never more than 2 days in a row. You also often have advance notice of when you'll need to wear one (but it's a good idea to keep a set of clothes ready to go in case you don't).