What to wear as a student intern?

XxMCRxBabyxX

Hi,

I'm a (barely) 20 year old girl starting work as a year long student intern in one of the big 5 Law firms in Dublin in a few weeks and starting to really worry about what to wear. All the handbook says is that employees should be dressed in a "professional manner" and "business atire" which I'm assuming means suits? I'm more wondering if I could get away with wearing flats with the suits or should I just grin and bear it in a pair of heels? Would flats just make me look too much like the young student that I am?

also Fridays are known as dress down days where I should aim for a "smart/casual appearance." Any ideas as to how I would dress for that?

I'm starting to really get worried and just want to make a good impression!

So far I only have one grey pencil skirt and blazer suit that I bought in Pennys, and a plain black Tesco shift dress as well as a pinstripe blazer thats a size too big for me. (It's quite clear that I'm a cheap student isn't it?...) Obviously I need more but does anyone have any suggestions as to what?
My parents are giving me a voucher for Arnotts for my birthday that has just passed so any ideas from there would be helpful!

krankykitty

Wear the suit on the first day, and have a look at what everyone else is wearing.

If everyone else is going around with suit jacket etc, you'll know that's the norm for that place - similarly, you might find people just wear shirts/blouses and trousers/skirt combos with a variety of heel heights.

I wouldn't think flats would give a bad impression (my sister works in a similarly high profile company and wears them all the time) but I could be wrong about this.

Ditto for the "casual" friday, why not wear one of your already selected work outfits in on that day and have a look at the kind of things the others are wearing.

Oh.. And good luck in your internship!

Pythia

Don't be afraid to ask about casual Friday. I remember in my old job some one wore a suit on casual Friday and it was kinda funny cos we were all in jeans. Just bring it up casually one of the days. I asked my manager on one of the first few days so I knew what to wear. It's not a stupid question so don't be worried.

I did an internship in a Big 4 accountancy firm and there, casual Friday meant less formal but no jeans, hoodies etc. I work as an actuary now and casual Friday there means no sweatpants and that's about it.

Don't buy much til you've scoped the place out. As an actuary, I just wear pencil skirts and cardis but when I was in the accountancy place, it was suits. It depends on the place really. I wear flats almost 100% of the time and was able to even with the accountancy firm.

Above all, don't worry! We have interns in my place and even if they did wear the wrong thing, we wouldn't mind because they are students and aren't expected to know. It wouldn't create a bad impression.

jam_mac_jam

I would agree with waiting and see what the atmosphere is like before you decide to buy too much. Shirts work every where, they will go with either your suit or your trousers/skirt that you already have, so a couple of shirts in boring colours would be first and see if you need suits or suit jackets once you start.