Random question here - my daughter is about to start work experience in various legal firms and is planning to wear a suit.  Not being in a suit-type job myself, we are not sure of whether she can wear one suit all week (obviously with change of blouses!) or should have different ones.  Any advice please?!

I worked in the City until my retirement 4 years ago, and I had about 5 suits that I would alternate, day about.   Of course that's not going to be easy for someone who is just starting work experience - but I'd suggest maybe two pairs of trousers to one jacket - Next used to do well-fitting suits that were washable (save the dry cleaning) - so it would be easy to buy 2 pair of trousers.

Otherwise, why not go for plain suit-type trousers and smart shirt-style blouses?    That should be acceptable for a work experience trainee for a start.

Thanks!  Problem with blouses is she has out of proportion boobs - slim waist but big on top and it is hard to find blouses to fit. 

Take a look a T J Lewin's website (http://www.tmlewin.co.uk/Womenswear) - these are always very smart and business like!

Thanks Margot! :)

Does it have to be a suit? I'd have one jacket but more trousers, blouses, and maybe a thin but smart jumper on top, or a waistcoat. x

I have this problem resulting in that horid gap between the buttons on a blouse and so whenever I need to dress smart I wear something like those very fine knit sweaters or cotten/linen tops with a pair of smart trousers or a knee length skirt.  A good suit jacket or cropped jacket would also work well over these, and be a bit more cost effective as she may well be able to use it after the work experience.

Hobbs have some smart tops in their sale at the moment.
http://www.hobbs.co.uk/knitwear/jumpers?&productpage=2

Dorothy Perkins do jersey 3/4 sleeve tops that might be ideal, some of their fashio t-shirts would look good or if she wants something a bit more grown up these pretty pussybow blouses (without front buttons) might be just the job;
http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&langId=-1&categoryId=208661&parent_categoryId=208600&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&pageSize=20&beginIndex=0#catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&langId=-1&categoryId=208661&parent_categoryId=208600&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&pageSize=200&beginIndex=1&refinements=category~[433511|208661]&noOfRefinements=1

Don't know why but that link didn't work very well, you have to copy the link and the bit of text after it and paste it into the address bar to get to the page I was trying to link to - which was workwear sorted to just their smart tops.

http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&langId=-1&categoryId=208661&parent_categoryId=208600&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&pageSize=20&beginIndex=1

no need for blouses under suit jacket just a t shirt or thin jumper is fine. Also depending on her budget smart dress or skirt and jacket. If she is going to more than one place she could probably get away with just the one suit and change her tops for a different look with a bit of discreet jewllery and different shoes maybe 

I like to alternate my suits, but it does come down to finances, plenty of people will wear one suit and just alternate blouse/camisole with it, it always looks fresh when you just change what you are wearing with it.

One of my nieces has just started working in an office environment and she came over to tell me about her day wearing a really lovely suit.............. from Primark, she'd picked up a lovely suit from Next but had walked through Primark on the way back and saw what they had and got two suits for the price of one, I must admit they look lovely on her and you would never know, so might be worth checking out as she is only on work experience that way she can have 2 different suits to play with. :-)

Thanks everyone! :)

Matalan do extremely reasonably priced suits, as do Asda. Primark also do great blouses and waistcoats which look professional and next do a good range of office wear - dresses etc but a little pricier than primark or matalan but still reasonable and a good investment. I tend to do a mix and match. dont forget - the jacket often gets taken off. You can still dress smartly without wearing a suit