November 2009

Reader mail: What to do with an ultrafine turtleneck?

by C November 19, 2009 Business Casual

Today’s reader mail comes from reader E, who asks how one dresses up an ultrafine turtleneck…

The thought of wearing turtlenecks hasn’t crossed my mind since I was in high school, but then I saw the ultrafine turtlenecks being sold at Gap. I was wondering how one would go about creating an outfit or dressing it up for work.

We like to wear turtlenecks beneath things — it helps us stay warmer, raises the neckline of otherwise questionable items, serves as a protective barrier between us and the clothes (less drycleaning = good) and also lets us get more use out of items that would otherwise be limited to one season. (Pictured above: Women: Ultrafine turtleneck – modern red, available at Gap for $24 — J.Crew also makes some nice tissue turtlenecks.) In terms of styling, we suggest wearing it beneath…

A short-sleeved jacket. Some manufacturers purposely make jackets intended for wear only in the summer. Some hints: those jackets are bright white, beige, or made from linen. Other jackets, though, are intended not only for wear year-round, but are almost always intended to have a layer with long sleeves worn beneath them.
A 3/4-sleeved jacket. You may want to play with the visual of the two sleeves so close together by adding a bracelet or cuff, worn on top of the turtleneck’s sleeve, but below the jacket.
A dolman-sleeved dress, a batwing sweater, or a cowl neck. Some of these items are safe for work, but sometimes it feels as if the entire top will fall off your shoulders if you bend a certain way. We like the turtleneck as a way to both protect against that happening, as well as to communicate to others that you have taken steps to prevent that from happening.
A cap-sleeved dress. This works particularly well with a color-on-color combination, or to raise the neckline of an otherwise low-cut dress.

We’ll keep thinking, but that’s what we have at the moment. We will also mention (but can’t quite bring ourselves to recommend) the “turtleneck beneath the buttoned blouse” look that we seem to recall seeing in many early ’80s shows. Readers, how do you wear turtlenecks beneath clothes?

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Thursday’s TPS Report: Semantiks Stretch Wool Skirt

by C November 19, 2009 Fashion

Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Today, we’re liking this paneled wool skirt from Nordstrom’s. We like the knee-grazing length of it, as well as the flattering A-line shape — it’s a perfect basic for the winter. It’s $78 at Nordstrom’s, available in sizes 2 through 16. Semantiks Stretch Wool Skirt

If you’ve recently seen a great work piece you’d like to recommend to the readers, please e-mail editor@corporette.com with “TPS” in the subject line. Unless you ask otherwise, we’ll refer to you by your first initial.

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Suit of the Week

by C November 18, 2009 Fashion

For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.

Today we’re liking this great tweed suit from Pink Tartan. We like the folded collar, which gives it that cool “popped” look, and all the other little details, like the piping, the pocket on the front hip, and the off-center slit in the back. The jacket (Pink Tartan – Tweed Stella Jacket) is $495 at Neiman Marcus, and the matching skirt (Pink Tartan – Harlow Skirt) is $296.

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Wednesday’s TPS Report: Banana Republic’s Circle-print wrap dress

by C November 18, 2009 Fashion

Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Banana Republic has a number of good specimens of that elusive beast, the long-sleeved dress. We like the sedate circle print on this, the knee-length skirt, and the flattering ruched waist. Obviously, a camisole will be a must (we’d suggest black); we’d probably accessorize the outfit with a simple pendant necklace and perhaps a cuff worn on top of one of the sleeves. It’s $125 and available in regular, petites, and talls in sizes XS-XL. Women: Circle-print wrap dress – Dark burgundy

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Reader Mail: On pant lengths and shoes…

by C November 17, 2009 Commuting

Today’s reader mail comes from J, who is trying to keep her pants from dragging on the ground…

As a New Yorker, I walk at least a couple blocks to get to commute to work. As many women do, I usually leave my heels at my desk at work and wear more comfortable shoes to and from work. The problem is that for my pants to look good with heels, they are too long to wear with the comfy flats/cute sneakers I wear for the commute and drag on the dirty streets. How do women who have to walk for part of their commute deal with this conundrum and not ruin their pants???

This is a dilemma a lot of women face, and there are a variety of ways to deal with it. (Pictured: Pants too long, originally uploaded to Flickr by puck90.) First, we would suggest assessing what heel height, in general, you’re comfortable in for work shoes — and having your pants hemmed to that level. As a reminder: your pant should brush the top of your foot, and no more than an inch or so of heel should be showing in the back. For us, that comes to around 2″, 2.5″ — which, honestly, can usually be worn with commuting shoes that have a decent (thick) sole. (We just tend to wear our higher heels exclusively with skirts instead — it works out particularly well in the summertime if we opt to commute in flip-flops.) But let’s say your comfort level is close to 4″. In that case, you have a few options.

1) Find a comfortable pair of wedges or other shoe that have a higher heel — they do exist, and you will be able to wear your properly-hemmed pants with the wedges without dragging them through the streets. For example, the brand Miz Mooz consistently gets good comfort reviews for some of its higher heels (Miz Mooz Women’s Soho Pump, pictured at right, available at Endless.com for $80), or even Skechers makes sneaker-type shoes that have a higher heel.
2) Look into the product Zakkerz.com — we’ve only read about them at various fashion blogs, but the theory is that the magnetic doo-dads create a temporary cuff or hem for your pants (picture below).

The other obvious issue here is when the weather is bad — if there’s rain or snow, it’s highly likely your pant legs are going to get wet, no matter where your hem is. We love our Hunter boots for when it’s raining (we try to wear a skirt on those days, but we will tuck our pants into our boots if we need to).

Readers, how do you deal with the commuting problem?

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Tuesday’s TPS Report: K Karl Lagerfeld Wool-Blend Tailored Blazer

by C November 17, 2009 Fashion

Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
The Outnet has some lovely blazers at great prices right now. We’re liking this K Karl Lagerfeld wool-blend tailored blazer — the details on the lapels, the structure of the jacket, and yes, even the slightly shiny finish. Although we’re not sure we could do an entire suit out of a shiny finish (although they do have some matching pants), as an addition to an otherwise sedate outfit, it would be great. For some reason we’re thinking we’d incorporate purple or yellow into the look. Was $425, now $170; available in navy and black in sizes 4-10. K Karl Lagerfeld Wool-blend tailored blazer