:(
My fantastic goes with anything black jacket apparently is missing in action from my move overseas...is not here in England, and cannot be found in the US...it was one of those most have items that I was so sure made it in the luggage...;( and having searched desperately for its replacement, I am having no luck. Does anyone have a suggestion on where to get a very simple, light weight, unstructured blazer? Where DO people get work style clothes? I hunted all over the main shops I had access to like Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, TK Maxx, Primark, without any luck...not even seeing anything remotely close to something I would wear, price not even taken into consideration. HELP!!!! I need SOMETHING along these lines...and no idea where to look next...

Hi olivia

if you want work-style clothes the best place I've found is Zara. I've got a couple of suits from there and they've lasted me a few years, and everyone tells me how great they look. They do either v. formal or more casual stuff - but they have a wide selection. You might be paying around £70 minimum for a jacket though

Lightweight, professional cotton/wool black jacket? Tescos or Asda!

you could try H&M. i found some good stuff there, and never really expensive.

Next have good office clothes

John Lewis might be worth a try - my mother always used to take me there to get some smarter clothes.

Having become slightly obsessed over finding a black jacket...like the world would end if I did not get one...I have finally ordered one online, and cross my fingers it will work out. I stormed around a few more stores today, and thought I had found just the thing, until I noticed it had a strange satin strip all over the bottom of it--taking away from the business look I wanted. Thanks all for the tips on where to look!

Whew...I feel so much better knowing I have a black jacket on the way. I should say that going shopping is NOT one of my favourite pasttimes so it was out of character to be roaming through stores for hours on end...I have decided that this was sort of an existentialist crisis--of "I want MY STUFF!!!!" and feeling very out of sorts with only a fraction of my stuff here in England with me...a crisis of this sort could normally be solved by just walking to the closet, and pulling one out and wearing. Strange sort of crisis to have had!

On this subject, does anyone know where I can buy a nice cardigan that doesn't make me look 10 years older?

(i.e. not too chunky or long and definitely no collars or frills)

Cardigans seem to be out there in droves--unlike black jackets! I am trying to remember where I saw some that I liked--( recalling painful memories of obsessively running through department stores....) I think it was Debenhams, that seemed to have a lot, and all of them onsale. I thought they looked nice--I think that someone online had some onsale--marshallwards perhaps? Hope that is of some help. If I see any I will make a note to remember where I came across them.