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With our tips and advice from some pros, you'll build a new collection of modern work clothes and avoid wading through piles of wardrobe options in those all-too-stressful first days on a new job.So you got the new job but besides what you wore to the interviews you honestly have nothing to wear to work. You're up to date on the fact that clothes aren't what they used to be in the workplace. You don't want to be self conscious about your age, your clothes or your body - so where do you start? How do you build a successful work wardrobe when you've had a lapse in your career clothes experience? We've interviewed several successful women working in varied fields who share their individual work clothes principles.

Determine Clothing Style: Formal or Casual?

Today there's a lot more versatility as to what you can wear even in the most conservative office environments. You want to look modern, and you want to look ageless. But you've got to decide how you need to be perceived in order to be successful within your work field.

Debbie Vollenweider, controller of Michigan based Nuggett Leasing observes, "I used to wear suits, but now it's my choice not to invest in dry cleaning. I'm more casual now." Maura Peters owner of Maura Peter's Candles agrees, "I have my own small business and I find it empowering not to have to wear a suit." Stella Abdoulin, a lead designer at Barry Design Associates comments that "Suits are way too formal for my business. I can dress for a week of business travel, and dress for all occasions, with three pairs of well-cut pants that are tailored to my body, (gray, navy, brown) and six different tops in a mix of styles and colors like yellow, orange, fuchsia or blues - so things never get boring."

But Julie Chandler a Brentwood (Los Angeles) real estate agent who sells high-end residential properties, relies on a wardrobe of current classic pant suits which she wears to meetings with clients. "I like the combination of menswear style in good fabrics and feminine colors like soft pink, bone and banana. I want to look serious but I want clients to remember me."

Focus on Quality Not Quantity

Don't panic and think that before you start your job that you need to run out and purchase enough clothes to have a totally different outfit every day of the week. Pull together a few classic pieces and then mix and match.

"I always have a modern cut basic black suit that works for all aspects of my business, from meetings to client dinners," says Chandler. "I don't have a lot of clothes, I prefer to buy quality pieces, and I don't mind repeating."

"My look evolved over the years," Peters says of her preference for nice classic trousers, worn with casual tops "like a funky well-fitting tee shirt I might find at Anthropologie."

Create a Unique Look

"The accessories keep me young," Vollenweider says of her preferred investments, including the David Yurman floating diamond necklace she wears daily. Two designer bags and an assortment of shoes spice up the polished shirts, skirts, khakis and J. Crew cardigans (in every available color) that make up her basic work wear. "When I slip on my favorite cheetah print ballerina flats or the red patent leather platform shoes with an ankle strap I bought this season, I always feel good about my outfit."

Like Vollenweider, Peters has relied on a few select pieces of good jewelry that includes diamond ball-shaped earrings and oversized man's watch to make her work fashion statement. "I'm not a label girl, she says, "but I always have great shoes. I don't wear last season's shoes. New shoes in a great color can bring any casual work outfit up to speed."

Abdoulin has another approach to creating her own ‘look.' "Being in the hospitality design business means that I'm expected to look sophisticated with a twist," she notes. "Color is my twist. It's important for me to look current with color."

Pull Together One Week's Worth of Outfits

Now that you have an image in mind of what your work clothing style will be, begin by sorting through your closets for pieces that might work in your new position. Pull out the items that have job wardrobe potential, only. Collect tops, bottoms, shoes, totes, jewelry that fit, that are up-to-date and office appropriate. Explore how to break up suits, change tops and accessories to stretch out your options.

Now you know exactly what pieces that you'll need to purchase in order to have one week's work of outfits. This preliminary wardrobe will give you time to create a strategy for successful clothing investments for your future whether your professional style is casual, creative or executive.

As a former runway model and West Coast Editor of "Glamour" magazine, Daina Hulet has been in the business of style for more than 30 years. She's here to help you maintain a truly stylish and sophisticated look that defies all expectations of what "aging" is supposed to look like.