Comments on: Wednesday’s TPS Report: Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique Ruffle Trim Ponte Knit Dress

By: Lawgirl

Lawgirl — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:30:52 +0000

This says it all… I don’t want to marry a tax attorney; hell I wear AT and *am* a tax attorney :0/
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I took a dim view of Ann Taylor while loitering around Washington, where the label is so ubiquitous it might as well be tattooed on the C7 vertebrae of every woman under 60. The line has always offered tasteful middle-management office classics in wool with just enough spandex to vaguely suggest a Sarah Palin strip-o-gram. My shorthand for the look was always “capitalist burqa” or “corporate office submissive”: cubicle-wear of so-so quality for the single girl in her late 20s whose self-esteem has been almost beaten to death by the beauty industrial complex and whose decent education has been punished with a thanklessly demanding office job. She’s a can-do Cinderella who has always had to change the oil in her own pumpkin and is too overworked to have a healthy social life outside the workplace. Her outfits must therefore be corporate-respectable, yet body-conscious enough to attract a nice tax attorney husband.

By: Lawgirl

Lawgirl — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:30:52 +0000

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:23:01 +0000

I have a long torso and do have Spanx-style undergarments for pencil skirts, but since I have a longer torso the ponte knit dress is out of the question. The widest part of the skirt is usually above my hips. In terms of sheath dresses, more structured fabrics with a belt tend to work a lot better.

By: peg

peg — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:40:44 +0000

Agree, it was really hard to read and after it all, not sure I even get what her point was.

By: lawdiva

lawdiva — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:34:49 +0000

Mel,

Spanx or Flexees does wonders in terms of hiding the lumps, if you haven’t already tried that option. I could normally never wear a dress like this, but with my Flexees, these types of dresses become an option for hip-py girls like me. :)

By: Mel

Mel — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:33:19 +0000

I sometimes make the mistake of trying ponte knit on and get depressed every time. Unless it’s a much more structured design, it accentuates my lumps and bumps, rides up, and otherwise looks really unattractive. I don’t think this dress even looks that great on the model.

By: Emilie

Emilie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:11:15 +0000

I hate ponte knit. It makes me look about 20 lbs heavier than I am – clings in all the wrong places. Is it just me? I’ve tried on many pieces, always with the same result.

By: Digby

Digby — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:48:46 +0000

For what it’s worth, the author’s schtick is to be outrageous. Her review of JC Penney garnered a lot of flak, and she ultimately issued an apology (I think on her own website, not necessarily on the NYT site). She also did an outrageous review of Thom Browne’s women’s collection last year, full of innuendoes and asides about Mr. Browne. In many reviews, she injects comments about her tiny frame and hard-edged personal fashion style, so this review is nothing out of the ordinary for her. In fact, it’s highly complimentary by her standards…

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:42:08 +0000

Nothing wrong with the trust fund; the writer just didn’t seem like a very nice person. Snobby about AT being for the Little People. Made sure we all knew that the AT salesperson called her tiny.

By: Mel

Mel — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:46:28 +0000

I am in FL, where workplaces are not very conservative generally. However, most stores tend to go so far into the casual realm that AT/BR (not even Loft for part of the year) are the only places that you can even find business casual clothes suitable for any workplace. Even in creative offices, you can’t go in wearing cargo capris, skimpy tanks or shorts, and that’s what most stores seem to want to offer in the summer. It may be that other areas have more fun, reasonably priced shopping options, but this area is not one of them.

I worked in other fields before law and still ended up shopping at those places because everywhere else was too casual.