We love, love, love these earrings — particularly for an office environment. They’re interesting but not overwhelming. They’re drop earrings without being dangly or distracting. And, they’re probably comfortable to wear (particularly if you have to talk on the telephone for a long time without a headset). Perfect! They’re $45 at Etsy, from selller Cinnamon Cottage. Little Drop Earrings
(L-0)
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We’ve wondered about this for a while as well, so reader J’s question strikes us as particularly interesting…
After an interview, everyone knows that it is good manners to send a perfunctory “Thank You” note. However, is it still recommended that the “Thank You” note be a hand-written note sent through snail mail or is it equally appropriate to send a “Thank You” after an interview via email? I am old-fashioned and still send a hand-written note on nice Crane & Co. stationary, however, an email “thank you” would certainly get there faster. I am not sure what is considered appropriate these days!? Any thoughts??
First, we would say that the thank-you note should be far from perfunctory — it reinforces what you spoke about in the interview, why you’re qualified for the job, and allows you to clarify anything that you worry came across poorly. (Pictured: Orange notecards, 25 thermographed notecards for $152 at Fine Stationery.)
That said, we’re sort of torn on how to send your interviewer their thank-you note. For us, it mostly comes down to a question of time (we are masters of the 7th-day thank you, which is just about the longest you can wait to send one). For the most part, then, we have done e-mail thank yous at least since 2003 or so. We have made exceptions for that, however. For example — a few years ago this author had a coffee catch-up with a man who has been a guiding force in my career since before grad school, the uncle of a friendly colleague, who happened to be working in my dream job. He and I have only met a few times over the past decade — I doubt he would recognize me on the street, even! — but his advice has not steered me wrong. We met for coffee, and again he gave invaluable advice, and I decided to send him a personal, hand-written thank-you note. As I was writing it out, it suddenly felt weird — my handwriting looked so messy on the page. My personalized stationery, normally reserved for Grandma and aunts, suddenly felt too “too.” It all felt maybe a little too… emotional. Girly. Not professional. Still, I struggled past these concerns and sent him the thank-note by mail.
Cut to 2 years later and I was trying to find our last correspondence to meet with him, and was alarmed to find no thank-you note in my e-mail files. Had I not sent one? It was only a very visual memory of dropping the note in a mailbox that jarred my memory. He never mentioned the note, so I have no idea what he thought about it (if anything). Still, that was the experience with the note. So our $.02 is to send the thank-you note by e-mail: gets there quicker, you know it was received, and you have a record for your files of what you sent.
But readers, what has your experience been? Let’s take a poll… and please comment below.
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Reiss is another retailer that is fairly new to the States that has some great work pieces (despite their apparent affinity this season for the double-breasted blazer — do those look good on any woman?). For today’s TPS, we’re liking this wrap dress, available in “shell pink” (pictured) and black. We like the pleat details in the front, and we like the fact that the styling seems reminiscent of knitwear rather than a silky acetate, which is what the dress is. We’d probably wear it with layers — perhaps a gray long-sleeved crewneck beneath and gray tights until the weather is warmer, and then perhaps a simple white slip beneath it for the summer. It’s $255 at Reiss.co.uk. Reiss Sky Dress
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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After last week’s 360 Review of Linda Zwordling on Better Off Ted, we got a ton of comments about how beautifully dressed Portia de Rossi’s character, Veronica Palmer, is — and how much folks would love to chat with her stylist. We did some poking around and, lo and behold, found our way to Brandy Lusvardi, the costume designer for Better Off Ted. We just got off the phone with her, and thought we’d share our conversation…
(She is the NICEST person on the planet!!)
How would you describe Veronica’s style at the office?
She’s in a powerful position at work, so her style was sophisticated, no nonsense. We always saw her in skirt suits — no pants. Her suit is her armor. Her character is kind of cold and quirky, and we tried to play with that as well. It made shopping somewhat easier, in that we were always looking for skirt suits.
However, it’s very hard to find skirt suits! They aren’t out there all the time. Sometimes the look is shorts and a blazer, which isn’t that practical for corporate America.
Part of the reason she looked so good is that we had an amazing tailor — he can make anything look good.
We’ve noticed that a lot of designers have been showing miniskirts with skirt suits. Did you ever try to work with those?
We had to eliminate miniskirts because Portia’s so tall and there’s only so much fabric in the hem of the skirt.
What did you look for in a suit for Veronica?
It is not easy to find a smart sophisticated skirt suit that doesn’t look frumpy that also has a nice pattern or color that you like! It was like a full time thing for us. A lot of her suits were designers — Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Theory, Tahari.
You mentioned the importance of tailoring — what would you advise women to think about while shopping for a suit?
The trick is to fit the widest part of your body — which will often be your shoulders and bust. Then you can get a tailor to take the waist in, or add darts in the back. It’s so worth it — just a little nip gives you a shape that looks powerful and sophisticated. In terms of finding a good jacket, you may need to figure out what the best stance for buttons is — what looks right with your proportions.
It’s the same thing with the skirt — figuring out what kind of skirt you can wear. Can you wear a pencil skirt, or is straight or A-line a better look? It’s a pretty simple alteration to take it in at the waist.
If it’s going to be a too major of an alteration with the tailor, you might want to look somewhere else — some things might not translate to what you’re trying to do.
How did you choose Veronica’s base layer?
We wanted something interesting to show her personality. The ruffly blouses can look intimidating, but feminine — makes it pop without being “look at me.” Nothing’s wrong with a shell, but it was part of the character’s personality that she is into fashion and wanted to show some of her personality in her clothes. You can find blouses at all price points — $30 through $2,000. And if you don’t like the sleeves, you can always have them removed — that’s a really simple alteration at the tailor. Just find which colors and which palettes work with your wardrobe and your coloring.
What were some of your favorite suits of Veronica’s?
I thought the white/cream/pale gray ones looked really beautiful on her, and complimented her skin and hair and makeup. I also thought that they made her pop — there’s a lot of black and navy out there, so it was good to be a little different.
What’s your top advice to women to avoid looking frumpy in a skirt suit?
I really can’t emphasize the tailoring enough — it is the most important element. Almost everything you see a character wear on television has been tailored to fit right — t-shirts, jeans, everything. And it’s tailored to fit all shapes and sizes, and for all characters, from the principal actor to the guy playing the janitor.
Another tip is to take photos of everything — sometimes you think things look great and you look at the picture and realize it really does not look good. Or, sometimes you think something doesn’t look that great, but the color on you is amazing. We take photos at every fitting.
Also, the other important element is shoes. Comfort is really important — and it takes a long time but you can find shoes that look good and feel good if you’re really persistent. A good pair of shoes changes your posture, your mannerisms, your mood — and there are great shoes at all price points.
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Oooh – loving this colorful sheath dress from Piazza Sempione. The cool blue and purple hues strike us as seasonless, and the bateau neckline would look great with a set of pearls. Lovely. It’s $935 at Bergdorf Goodman. Cotton Chain-Belt Dress
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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Something on your mind? Chat about it here.
Our casual wear recommendation for this week is this fabulous dress from Land’s End’s new line, Canvas. We’re usually not khaki fans (not our best color), but we like this dress enough that we might try it. We’d wear it with a bold pop of color — a bright lilac purse, for example — for a weekend brunch and shopping date with a girlfriend. It’s $59.50 at Land’s End in sizes 0 through 14. Women’s Fit and Flare Dress
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Liking these posts? Follow us on Twitter or fan us on Facebook — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)
- The WSJ has a very interesting pair of articles right now — first, an article about how the Working Woman is fashion’s new muse — and then, a post about how this is all a little reminiscent of the Charlie Girl days of the mid-70s, when, as Christina Binkley says, Charlie “held the hopes and aspirations for a generation of women who thought they were headed for board rooms by day, and nightclubs by evening.”
- The L.A. Times rounds up the top 5 women’s looks for fall 2010.
- The Chicago Tribune has some thoughtful advice on where to get vintage jewelry.
- Mint.com busts some myths about your credit score (including the one about how checking your credit score makes it go down).
- This was one piece of advice we never would have thought about, so we had to pass it on: if you’re getting fired, Wisebread feeds you the one question to ask in order to get free money.
- Finally, Lifehacker has a great post on things to buy in March.
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
tThe Limited has a lot of suiting on work pieces on sale right now, and reader K asked for our thoughts on this skirt. “I think it’s really fun and might be work-worthy with a good button down. Wondering if the ‘petal’ effect might make it too short for the office?” We do like the look of this piece, and agree with the reader that it looks fun and interesting — although with the obvious caveat that it’s a little short. If you’re petite, though, or happen to have short legs, this skirt might just hit you at the right point — which we would say would be just at your knee, with the petal part being just above the knee. (We’re talking centimeters, not inches, here.) We’d probably wear it with a sweater set rather than a buttoned shirt, but that’s just us. The skirt is regularly $69, but it’s free with any purchase of a jacket during The Limited’s current promotion. Petal Pencil 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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Nordstrom is having a big shoe clearance, so we swung by to see what, if anything, struck our fancy. We lurrve this interesting take on the classic slingback — the yellow accents really make the navy pop. We like that Bruno Magli was judicious with the use of yellow — it’ll peek out a bit from beneath your toes, be visible on the strap and footbed at the back of the shoe — but not the heel itself. Lovely. These were $390, now $257 in sizes 36-40. Bruno Magli ‘Cartosio’ Pump
(N.B.: The peep-toe pump is not appropriate for all offices; know your own environment well.)
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