Tbh something you don’t care about getting dirty. I just finished my shift and my shirt is stained with mocha and frap roast

Don’t wear anything you care about tbh. Go to the thrift store, load up on cheap shirts in the color palette and sacrifice 3-4 pairs of pants. Don’t forget to get shirts outside the current season too so you don’t have to worry about needing sweaters or short sleeves later on!

never wear your good jeans or your good jeans will become your work jeans .. take it from someone who does floors almost every shift

as far as clothes: i prefer close fitting stuff. baggy long sleeves are a no— they catch syrup bottles and get dirty too easy.

shoes are the important part! sturdy, comfy, nonslip shoes are a must. don’t do cloth shoes (for one, they aren’t in dress code, and two they WILL get stained). and you will be 1000% happier with shoes that are nonslip— anytime i wear ones that aren’t i nearly die bc any puddle (even like a single ice cube melted) will make for a scary slide.

for hair: just make sure it’s pulled out of your face and off your neck. my go-to do’s are dutch braids or high pigtails. but definitely off your neck is the most important part— it can get crazy hot to have your hair on your neck during a busy shift.

try to figure out how cold your store is. i transferred recently from a store where i could wear short sleeves and a pair of jeans everyday to a store where i’m constantly wearing sweaters even though it’s almost 100° outside. like everyone else said, don’t wear anything you care about. if frap roast hits the cup wrong you’ll be wearing it for the rest of your shift and it stains if you don’t wash it out when you get home.
definitely take advantage of the discount we get from sketchers to get nonslip black work shoes. i have a pair that i just slip on like vans and it’s so much easier in the mornings than having to unlace and relace shoes. plus they’ll be more comfortable on your feet while standing for several hours.
if you have long hair i would recommend a bun. i used to have elbow length hair and wearing it in a ponytail was fine until a strand got into a customers oatmeal one morning. if you have visors you can put it on the top of your head in a bun and it will be off your neck which will be nice but if you have to wear hats like i do then a bun at the back of your head will be fine.
button ups are nice if you wear sweaters but don’t get ones that are too tight in the shoulders as you’ll be lifting and moving around a bunch.
anything within the black/white/grey/muted jewel tones will work for colors.
don’t wear low rise jeans. just an awful experience for everyone, and you’ll be squatting so high rise are superior.
black/dark wash/medium wash jeans will be fine. you can’t wear light wash or white jeans anyway and they’d get stained anyway.
just make sure you’re comfortable enough to move around and be on your feet for a while!

Invest in a high quality pair of shoes. I heard the brand FitFlop is very comfortable for standing/walking long hours. Also compression socks so your legs don’t swell up by end of day.

Something with short sleeves

Vans are a great substitute for me for kitchen shoes. When they break in, I feel like my feet NEVER hurt after my shift. I've tried wearing running shoes of different types, big mistake (that's just me personally). Some people wear reeboks, and they find them v comfortable. For clothing, go to the thrift store and find very plain clothing that fits our color palette, i.e. plain polos (no logo) work good. Apparently we can wear t-shirts now too, but don't quote me on that.

For sure dark clothing & dark shoes. I just get the 5 or 6 packs of the black and grey t-shirts for work and then I’ve got some dressed code worthy jean shorts because I work in Florida. I would suggest wearing your hair up and out of your face & get a visor because the hat they give you is sooo crappy. This is just my personal preference & how my store and former DM had us dress, but for sure dark tops & shoes (get some good non-slip shoes your feet & body will thank you later) and wear your hair up & get yourself a for sure better hat if your store requires hats because they one they give is not good. Congratulations & good luck, also be adamant that you get trained on bar sooner rather than later because it took me forever to get trained on bar and I’m still not that great at it but I also wasn’t properly trained to either.

Sometimes I wear tan capris or shorts. Knee length or a little above my ankles. And like everyone else said cheap shirts at Walmart or thrift shops, idk how the store you’re going to be is but my SM and DM prefer solid socks colors or just plain white.

I literally bought 10 black shirts from Walmart and some other solid color shirts and I use some jeans I don’t wear much that fit dress code

Walmart has extremely cute 5 dollar unisex t shirts that are in dress code. That’s all I wear! I usually get them pretty baggy and will cuff the sleeves and will wear some cheap black skinny jeans (you can also buy from Walmart for like 15 bucks). I also got my shoes from Walmart in the work shoes section for under 30 dollars. I always get so many comments on my cute work clothes, and the funny thing is that it’s all cheap! Also, I would recommend a headband if you have long hair. I have a lot of different styled bandanas to use as headbands and it makes for the perfect accessory!
~sincerely,
A fashionista barista

7 year partner here. My advice would be to go to goodwill and get lots of plain black shirts and pants. That’s what I do! 😊 your clothes are going to get very dirty so there’s no point in overspending on them. Also I just wear black everyday cuz it’s easy. I’m the main opening SSV and it’s so nice to not have to worry about what to wear that day and if it’s in dress code. Hope this helps!

Black t-shirt and black jeans