Best place for formal work trousers - sub £20?

qwerty321

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Any advice on the best place for formal work trousers. Not really looking to spend more than £20 a pair and need 2 pairs. Spent enough on shirts and stuff already!

Start my new job next week and need some. Have 3 pairs already, thought they would last me till pay day. However, 2 of the pairs I've had for a while and don't fit me despite being the same waist size as all my jeans. 32" waist!

Eyeing some up at M+S who have some for £20 but would like a pinstripe pair if possible, one at Debenhams which is £25, trying to justify it! In the last 5 years or so I've only had to wear smart trousers around 10 times and one of those was my Wedding day.

Shirt colours I have are plain blue, white and some blue coloured striped shirts so Im guessing black or dark grey trousers are best.
 
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but would like a pinstripe pair if possible

Really?

Suppose it depends on which business but I see formal workwear everyday and pinstripe is very rare these days.

Personally, I'd stick to plain dark colours as they are much more versitile and always in style.

For £20 you could look at the supermarkets.

The other thing to check is that they are machine washable. Many are dry-clean only which will run up the bills.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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yeah can't recall last businessman seen wearing pin stripe, usually black or grey, dark blue jacket and trousers.
 
Really?

Suppose it depends on which business but I see formal workwear everyday and pinstripe is very rare these days.

Personally, I'd stick to plain dark colours as they are much more versitile and always in style.

Cheers,

Nigel

I have a suit which has some very faint stripes and I quite like it. The work will be based in the office and no client facing for me as far as Im aware. I suppose plain would be better.

THIS is what I was thinking of, they seem faint, you have to zoom in a bit to see them.

Your note about Supermarkets, Ive had stuff from Tesco before and the buttons always seem to fall off! Never again!
 
George at Asda make some good work trousers.
Some nasty ones too, mind.
But £20 gets you the better quality of their work trouser range, and they're really pretty decent.
Pretty sure your desired pinstripe is a non-starter there though.
 
Suppose it depends on which business but I see formal workwear everyday and pinstripe is very rare these days.l
yeah can't recall last businessman seen wearing pin stripe, usually black or grey, dark blue jacket and trousers.
that's odd, I see them all the time, have one myself too :rolleyes:
 
Woooah, she used the 'M' word..........

An 'M' just opened near me and never having been to one I had a look inside. This one only sells clothes and a few bits of houseware so wasn't of particular interest to me because my clothes budget is bigger.

But from what I saw, if you are on a low budget (as many are, and shouldn't be looked down on because of it) the products looked fine. No worse, maybe better than the likes of Supermarkets, TK Max, Primark and better laid out and presented than most of those.

Cheers,

Nigel
 

Actually some good looking ones there. Looks like they will be my first stop, conveniently it's the first one you approach at my local shopping centre.

Woooah, she used the 'M' word..........:eek::nono:

What's wrong with Matalan? Id be more inclined to go there over George.


But from what I saw, if you are on a low budget (as many are, and shouldn't be looked down on because of it) the products looked fine. No worse, maybe better than the likes of Supermarkets, TK Max, Primark and better laid out and presented than most of those.

Now, you just mentioned the P word! Mods, get him!

Might have a browse in TK Maxx but I can't stand the local one. Its always a huge mess!
 
No worse, maybe better than the likes of Supermarkets, TK Max, Primark and better laid out and presented than most of those.

I'd maybe change my mind if I went to a 'showcase' Matalan, but the one I've been to once up here looked like a scene from a zombie movie.
Clothes everywhere and dead-eyed people walking around, moaning because their brains are hurting.
Hellish place.
 
Woooah, she used the 'M' word..........:eek::nono:

The stuff in there is often better quality than supermaket clothing and most importantly (for women) they offer plain standard clothing as well as more "in trend" stuff which means a woman doesn't have to endure the latest crappy fashion of gypsy skirts/60s wallpaper pattern/animal print/whatever next.

When we first started in life, my husband got a couple of suits from there and they looked nice and lasted a long time given the price.

I'm not a shop snob. From Netto to Louis Vuitton, I don't care if it has what I want.
 
I'm not a shop snob. From Netto to Louis Vuitton, I don't care if it has what I want.

Same here.
So if I ever want a pair of 'Easy' brand jeans, I'll be straight back to Matalan.:laugh:
Look at the below photo of the Matalan in Aberdeen and tell me you can't smell the despair...
 

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I'd maybe change my mind if I went to a 'showcase' Matalan, but the one I've been to once up here looked like a scene from a zombie movie.
Clothes everywhere and dead-eyed people walking around, moaning because their brains are hurting.
Hellish place.

Agreed - its the type of shoppers that think its acceptable to leave clothes on the floor after looking at it for a few seconds....classy :thumbsdow
 
Same here.
So if I ever want a pair of 'Easy' brand jeans, I'll be straight back to Matalan.:laugh:
Look at the below photo of the Matalan in Aberdeen and tell me you can't smell the despair...

Aye, the one at Portlethen is not much better, makes you wonder whats the point of spending 7 years to become an architect!
 
I've been to 3 different ones in totally different areas and they were always tidy and clean.

Maybe it says more about the people in the area than the shop itself.
 
I have always found BHS to offer value for money for work trousers/suits/shirts etc.
 
Maybe it says more about the people in the area than the shop itself.

Or perhaps the management in some stores is better than others.
IMO, Matalan attracts (on the whole) a certain 'type' of shopper wherever they are.
Same as Primark etc.
That's another place where leggings abound, on the shelves and the shoppers.
They supply a demand, they may even have genuine bargains in them.
But I view them as horrible shopping experiences.
 
Agreed - its the type of shoppers that think its acceptable to leave clothes on the floor after looking at it for a few seconds....classy :thumbsdow

what puzzles me is that said such shoppers would also never dump clothes on the floor if they were in say M&S or even Next, and yet they think it's socially acceptable to chuck clothing on the floor in say Matalan, TK Maxx, Primark etc instead of walking that 2 feet back to the rail they got it from :confused:

Personally, I'd go with M&S as their 'Outstanding Value' are of pretty good quality considering the price (of around 20), I have three suits from that range (as well some from their 'Collezione' range) but have been impressed by the longevity and quality of the Outstanding Value stuff.
 
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Same here.
So if I ever want a pair of 'Easy' brand jeans, I'll be straight back to Matalan.:laugh:
Look at the below photo of the Matalan in Aberdeen and tell me you can't smell the despair...

Holy moly, that's horrible! Is it really like that?

Attached is a picture of what the Merry Hill one which is my local looks like. Artists impression but its pretty much spot on.

Some good calls here, I'd forgotten about BHS. I have a shirt from M+S that is 3 years old and still looks new so think Ill give them a look as well.
 

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another vote for matalan, get all my work trousers from there, bargain prices
 
Holy moly, that's horrible! Is it really like that?

What, you think I'd go to the bother of photoshopping a Matalan? ;)
Yeah, the place really is a dump.
If the photographer had shifted slightly to the left, he'd have got the ageing resident burger van in frame as well.
 
What, you think I'd go to the bother of photoshopping a Matalan? ;)
Yeah, the place really is a dump.
If the photographer had shifted slightly to the left, he'd have got the ageing resident burger van in frame as well.

Just hard to believe that its a retail outlet. Looks more like an abattoir or something!
 

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