On a budget, you can actually do a decent job at JCP, believe it or not. I've never had a problem with Stafford dress shirts.
Also, if you're super-picky, you can do a decent job at Goodwill, especially if you're young enough and hip enough to make the retro look work. I work in a professional setting and routinely buy ties, shirts, and jackets at Goodwill.

Yeah, Stafford makes some great dress shirts. I've bought some of them at JCP's Big & Tall section. Not quite my tailored ones, but the shoulder widths are good and the sleeve lengths fine and the chest and tummy buttons don't "pucker". They also hold up to semi weekly washings really well.

I'm with Draug - dress up not down. If in doubt, realise its better to be over-dressed than under-dressed every time.

Jos. A Bank is great. They have a couple amazing sales throughout the year, but otherwise they're prohibitively expensive for me.

At thrift stores one may find 'new' stuff, and of excellent taste, for the price of the time it takes me to type this lol

For what you're looking for, Banana Republic and H&M are ideal. Be sure the dress shirts are either plain or have a small, upper tier logo on the chest. A not-to-garish-or-fratty pony on a Ralph Lauren shirt is really fashionable right now, but a Chapps one makes you look like a rube who just pulled any old shirt off the Kohl's rack. If it's not high-end it's worse than plain when it comes to that.

Also you'll need slacks, not khakis. They are nice and dressy enough and you won't look like Steve Carrell at work in 40 Year Old Virgin.

Big expense will be shoes. You'll need two nice pairs that are different enough to give variety but similar enough that you won't have to worry about what belt to wear. DSW will take care of you.

I work at a law firm so I'm basically extrapolating casual Fridays, but this is a good outline if you wanna rock it at work. You look good you do good.

What's everyone's opinion on Ed Hardy? And how much should I incorporate into my wardrobe?

Haha, all the Ed Hardy. If you want your boss to take you seriously you better have some Ed Hardy. And lots of gold chains.

Need clothes in a hurry? TJ Max. Buy a starter set, and then keep your eyes peeled for a men's sale at Macy's or JCPenny's.

As for shoes, I have a nice pair of Bass and some Bostonians I picked up at an outlet store that I've been very happy with for a long while.

For fitted shirts - it really depends upon your budget. I do a bit of shopping at Kohls, but what best fits me is Express - they have nice fitted clothing. I recently splurged on a pair of pants from Banana Republic too and they're quite nice. But the majority of my dress clothes come from Macys or Kohls.

Shoe trees are also a good way to extend the life of your shoes. Has anyone here had any success with non-iron dress shirts?

Yeah I never iron my dress shirts.

I got a Bostonian dress shoe recently and it is by far the most comfortable dress show i have worn and it doesn't look like an old person shoe either so that's a plus.

What is the community's opinion on the "shorts and boat shoes" combination in a business casual work environment?

Re: cotton or cotton blend dress shirts: Take em out of the dryer and hang em right up. Have the drycleaner launder and press them every couple of months. They stay crisp and look great.

And shorts will get you sent home at my office...

Shorts? Do you work in Bermuda?

Boat shoes, however, are fine. Hard to have the right kind of pants, though.

@Frank - that's why I use shoe trees. I only have casual no-iron button downs, but they've been great.

For ultimate versatility, get yourself one navy blue blazer, two-button thin lapel, and a pair of double monkstraps.

Dress up or down....

Slacks (outlaw the chinos). Besides once you make the switch you'll realize that they are 10x more comfortable and better looking anyways. Start at TJmaxx, Ross, etc. You can get decent slacks there for 20-25$

Button-downs. These should be not be cotton, and a firm crisp collar marks a dressed up shirt vs a more casual button-down. My favorite are Brooks Brothers non-iron. I have a whole closet full at 30$ per shirt scooped up on black friday. I would again start at TJmaxx here where several colors and brands can be tried for 15-20$ a shirt.

Shoes, this really depends on your choices above. But if you are going to wear slacks everyday, you should have a shoe with some shine to it. I prefer a wooden sole to rubber (it just looks nicer). Get a black and brown pair.

I would add to your wardrobe in small amounts. I found that seeing what everyone else wore and more importantly what the people that I looked up to and the ppl that I wanted their job someday wore and then I started to add to my work wardrobe piece by piece.

Congrats, 2WL.

Sorry, no fashion advice.

Re: collars. I wear both and my best white dress shirts are all button down for wearing with 3 piece suits. Although I will admit I think collar stays with a crisp collar looks better with just slacks or slacks and a sportscoat.

Gen Lee said:
" I would add to your wardrobe in small amounts. I found that seeing what everyone else wore and more importantly what the people that I looked up to and the ppl that I wanted their job someday wore and then I started to add to my work wardrobe piece by piece."

This is really the best advice. I've worked at places where slacks and collars were the norm and other places where shorts and t shirts were. Dress according to the norms of the work environment. You can always dress better than the norm, but never dress worse. If you have your eye on management, keep in mind their norms, not the engineers. Dress according to the position you want, rather than the one you have. At your level, this might not be an immediate concern, but keep it in mind for the future.

Exactly, I'm glad you agree. When I first started ppl in my position were perfectly acceptable wearing khakis. But I found that those in manager positions all wore slacks and occasionally sportcoats, so I only wear slacks now and occasionally sport coats when I have to meet with a client. The moral of the story is, dress for the position you want, not the one you have.

I said engineers, confusing this with abge's post about getting a job. Substitute that for librarians or whatever your position will be at some future job.