<p>Any recommendations for where to shop for attire suitable for college formal events?? Low-cost but good looking is good..... :)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>you basically need jacket and tie.</p>
<p>ebay is good.</p>
<p>so is local men stores.</p>
<p>Mens or women's?</p>
<p>For men, I would suggest buying a suit and/or tux. </p>
<p>For women, shop the sales at the department stores. I've found some fabulous dresses at Filene's for about $30 each. The best thing to do is to buy them when you find them cheap, not buy them when you need them. Also a big fan of Ann Taylor on sale - probably out of the price range of a college student ($150 before sales; $50 and up on sale), but will last a lifetime and always looks fabulous.</p>
<p>If you can find a good one near you, try Ross or Marshall's. </p>
<p>For women, I'll suggest a black dress with some sort of design on it - different enough to be noticable but can be worn multiple times.</p>
<p>Choker Whites in the summer and SDB's in the winter.</p>
<p>Men's or women's? Business formal or "party" formal? </p>
<p>For men's I'd say maybe Men's Warehouse?
For women's, H&M and Forever21 are good places to pick up dresses if you need something quick and cheap. </p>
<p>To both genders, though, SALES. Department store stuff is great, and buying end-of-season is amazing. I just picked up a (women's) pinstriped suit jacket for $50 (reduced from $248!!) at JCrew</p>
<p>If anyone has advice for women's formal and semi-formal attire that would be great! If you know any stores found on the west coast that would be even better. Thanks!</p>
<p>LFWB dad, what are choker whites and SDB's?</p>
<p>some kind of military/service academy formal attire</p>
<p>choker whites: <a href="http://photos-116.facebook.com/ip008/profile2/1971/31/s119900116_29243.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://photos-116.facebook.com/ip008/profile2/1971/31/s119900116_29243.jpg</a></p>
<p>SDBs: <a href="http://www.neptunuslex.com/wp-content/service_dress_blue.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.neptunuslex.com/wp-content/service_dress_blue.jpg</a></p>
<p>Recommendations for men!</p>
<p>And both business formal and "party" formal would be great!</p>
<p>How much would I be spending to have 2 attires for both types?</p>
<p>you probably don't need 2 attires for both types. Rarely will you have two formal events close enough to each other that you wouldn't have time to dry clean.</p>
<p>For "party formal" A nice dress shirt with matching tie (can't go wrong with a dark blue set) is good. And you can buy dress pants and matching blazer for a pretty good price at department stores or men's clothing outlets (men's warehouse, K&G, etc). Oftentimes the jacket isn't necessary--or sometimes you can wear the jacket but not the tie...</p>
<p>For "business formal"--I don't know, with black pants you probably could get away with just buying a more formal jacket, a suit coat, you know.</p>
<p>Oh, and generic black dress shoes to go with the clothes. Keep 'em shined and spiffy.</p>
<p>For me, I'm just bringing a decent pair of khakis, a dark blue shirt and a couple ties, and a dark pair of pants.</p>
<p>how often are formal events??</p>
<p>Just as a rule of thumb, guys should have a pair of dress pants, shirt, tie and maybe a blazer and black shoes in the event that you do have to go someplace or have an on-campus interview.</p>
<p>It depends on where you go to school. If you belong to a frat or a sorority, that group will have a formal at least once per term. </p>
<p>However, formals are not limited to the greek system and this is not to say that you cannot be invited to someone else's formal.</p>
<p>I hate to admit it but guys really do have it better as if they have a good suit, they only have to take it, some dress shoes, maybe a pair of dress khakis, a blazer, a couple of shirts and ties, they are set. </p>
<p>For girls there is a little more pressure as you really "can't" wear the same dress to each function.</p>
<p>for women, cute/sexy/fun dresses can always be found in filenes/macys. a little black dress can NEVER be wrong!</p>
<p>Berkeley is a very casual place, you can start with just one suit. Besides, a lot of frshmen will grow out of their first suits.</p>
<p>I recommend Zara's and H&M, quality is decent, styling is better than most high-end clothiers, prices are pretty cheap, esp on sale. I can afford to pay more, but I find myself going there more often, they've really got it down. About $300 full price, up to half that on sale for a suit.</p>
<p>They have branches in LA and SF. </p>
<p>Great for casual clothes too.</p>
<p>What about shoes???!</p>