Suit of the Week: Toccin
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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 for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional. Also: we just updated our big roundup for the best women's suits of 2026!
Toccin is a relatively new brand to me, but then again it was just founded in 2019 by a husband/wife duo.
They have a lot of great basics in largely neutral colors (white, black, beige) but also a relatively large selection of suiting, almost all in black. I like this double breasted blazer has a classic look to it, and I like that it's machine washable.
The blazer is $595; the matching pants are $425 (there's a wide leg and flared pant that both match; there's also a single-breasted blazer and a boyfriend blazer). The brand was nice enough to offer Corporette readers a discount; use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
Sales of note for 5/1:
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event, 40% off your purchase PLUS $50 off $200! Readers love this popover blouse, and their suiting is also in the sale.
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code
- Brooklinen – 25% off sitewide (ends 5/1) — we have and love these sateen sheets
- Evereve – All tops on sale
- Express – $39+ Summer Styles
- Hatch – $15 off one of our favorite alarm clocks with code LETMOMSLEEP15
- J.Crew – Up to 30% off wear-now styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything, and extra 60% off clearance
- Lands' End – 40% off sitewide – lots of ponte dresses come down under $25, and this packable raincoat in gingham is too cute
- Loft – 60% off florals and 50% off your purchase
- M.M.LaFleur – End of season sale. Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Nordstrom – 1500+ new women's markdowns
- Sephora – Hair deals daily – today 5/1 up to 50% off dae, Verb, PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross, and BaBylissPro products
- Talbots – 40% off one item and 30% off your entire purchase
- TOCCIN – Use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off!
- Vivrelle – Looking to own less stuff but still try trends? Use code CORPORETTE for a free month, and borrow high-end designer clothes and bags!
I know that there are a lot of lawyers here. I’m currently working as a deputy clerk of court and I love it. I get a lot of advice when I say I want to go to law school. Some is: if you want to be a lawyer, avoid the top law schools because they are very theoretical and don’t train you to practice law. Instead, go to somewhere near here where the expectation among all teachers and admins is that you will be working as a lawyer nearby and need to understand local corporation law, local court practice, etc. One person told me that I could take a tax class from someone who has never worked as a tax lawyer or learn how to be a lawyer from someone who has never had to bill or even meet clients. This sounds really crazy, like you could go to learn how to cut hair from the best hair school and be taught by someone who had never cut hair and wouldn’t now how to cut hair when you graduate or pass the licensing exam. Law school is so expensive — is this really how it is?
Law school is theoretical, not practical. It’s teaching you to think, not to practice. So yes, you could take tax law from someone who never actually practiced tax law at a firm, but they are like really really educated in tax law. This happens more at higher ranked, top schools; less at smaller schools that have more of a commuter focus.
As a lawyer, go to law school if you want to be a lawyer. If you want to practice in the community where you are now, unless it’s a really big city, go to school in your community. Spend as little as possible. If you want to join a really big firm and take the traditional big law route, go to the highest ranked school you can.
I see what you did 😂
The firs two sentences summarize law school perfectly. As a result, I finished law school not knowing how to do a darn thing to actually practice law, and I assume that’s pretty typical. I went to a mid-tier school in the city where I wanted to practice, and I found that the full-time law faculty were significantly better than the adjuncts who taught on the side but were actually full time practicing lawyers who just wanted to tell their war stories.
For me, I really enjoyed law school and hated practicing law. The theory was very interesting and the practical application was mind numbingly boring.
I’m curious — what sort of work have you done if you liked school but hate practicing?
I liked school, but less and less as I went along. I have really liked working (and having a paycheck).
I did Big Law for a couple of years of misery. And then I became a career federal law clerk for a judge, and I have been happy doing that for about 10 years.
To the law clerk: assuming its district court, how is it doing federal law crimes? I like the drug ones just fine but I miss the color of state law crimes. The federal crimes are otherwise soul-less.
I think my law school had a great balance of theory and practical. Business Associations was a required course along with the traditional subjects of property, criminal, contracts, etc. required everywhere. We also had a legal writing and advocacy class that applied skills (I think all schools do). And there was a trial practice program all were required to attend. And then there were practical electives like pretrial litigation and transactional drafting. And of course you can do Moot Court or Mock Trial, work summers, and do internships or take paid work in 2L and 3L years. So if you wanted to gather the practical experience, there were opportunities to do so, without sacrificing the more theoretical approach that is foundational.
The lawyers who practice in state court a lot probably did go to a local law school. That is one type of pathway in law school. It often is not the most lucrative one.
You need to figure out what you want to do. Go see hearings in federal court, too. Go sit in on a criminal trial.
I went to a top law school because I wanted to make a lot of money if I was going to incur the stress of being a lawyer anyway. It’s been great for that. I have friends who chose my school and ended up going into family law and like, I do not get that at all, because you do not need an expensive degree to mediate divorces. That is a practice area where being familiar with local courts, laws, and practices actually really does benefit you, and you’re not making enough starting out for $250k in loans to make sense.
I’m in BigLaw and I keep shaking my head at first years who never took corporations or business associations. Especially when they summered here. I get that summers are very high-paid vacations for law students, but these classes help you not fail the bar (we’ve had that) and actually understand what we do here. So no matter where you go, take the fundamentals: corporations, business associations (know what LLCs and partnerships are and how they are alike and different), securities law, secured transactions, anything dealing with lending or corporate finance (often the closest you’ll get), all of the property law and real estate classes; tax isn’t bad to have. There are lots of litigation classes, but chances are, you will do something either in addition to that or instead of that. And anything on administrative law, especially if you go into government practice or work in a regulated area (e.g., tax, zoning, securities).
My (large, public) law school did not allow first years to take corporations. Our first year curriculum was set by the school and Corporations/Business Associations was a second year course.
Just realized you probably meant first year ASSOCIATES! And yes – if they want to work at a corporate firm or eventually be in-house, you really need to take those courses, but that is rarely explained to law students.
I’m not sure. I went to a regional well ranked school that had an excellent clinical program. We produced both big law attorneys and assistant district attorneys and attorneys who became state court judges.
Plenty of my law school was theoretical. My first year torts professor was not a trial lawyer. However, the concepts of making a plaintiff whole, of proximate cause, red ipsa loquitor, ect are theoretical in nature and it’s valuable to think of them that way.
It’s awesome to have clinical exposure to various real world legal jobs. It’s great if a tax lawyer teaches a tax clinic. But I kind of push back on the idea that law school shouldn’t be theoretical. You need to understand fundamental concepts. The best of our profession, the reason it is a profession, involves higher level thinking about law and justice and equity. I think that’s where the beauty school metaphor fails. Furthermore, I did find professors were better at teaching conceptually than attorneys moonlighting as professors based on their experience.
To your final point, however, it is expensive. If you want to practice locally, go locally. But don’t advertise or brag about your distain for conceptual or theoretical learning. Anti intellectualism makes for a very bad attorney; even if she practices locally.
My gripe about law school is that first year theoretical concepts are often not advanced beyond theory into the applications stage. I’ve actually used the “bundle of sticks” from property law 101 to discuss a topic, but being in private practice is a lot of skills because you are dealing with a lot of things, often including running a business.
I feel like med school has the right mix: half didactic and half applied
My school had a strong clinical program and so I feel like we got a good mix of practical and theory. But it is mostly theory. I think it is imperative to have good mentors when starting out as a new lawyer. There is so much to learn about all aspects of lawyering.
I attended a top 5 law school. Many of my professors had PhDs in addition to law degrees or clerked for a Supreme Court justice. Another had worked in the White House. One adjunct was a judge and sat on the bench while he taught. You are learning how to think. Many of my classmates have gone on to have some pretty impressive/prestigious careers, though there is also a lot more to life than just that.
Most professors who teach computer science have never worked as a software engineer or those that teach finance have typically not worked in an investment bank.
Oh gosh, this is so regional. It sounds like you’re in an area whose legal market is dominated by the local law school. I am not throwing shade on that. What I can tell you is that if you want to stay there, look at where the people who do the jobs you want to do went to law school. Look at where the firm lawyers went, the judges, the prosecutors.
I need some advice for reaching out to contacts looking for a job.
I work in a very niche industry as a government regulator. I am known as THE person globally for this issue. At conferences and stuff industry has made comment about how they would ‘love to have [me]’. Because my job is woefully under classified switching to industry doesn’t fall under any conflict of interest, lobbying, etc clauses.
Onto the question at hand, do I just email all my contacts from my personal email and say “Hey you mentioned you’d like to hire me, I’m looking, let’s chat?”. I’m not really used to the schmoozy part of hiring since government is technical. Do I take a softer approach and say I’d like to chat then drop it while we’re talking? Most of these conversations will need to happen virtually as it’s a very global industry.
Do you currently have a job/if you do, how worried are you about your current job finding out you’re looking?
I do have a job, as a government regulator of niche industry. I don’t care if my job knows I’m looking, they can’t/won’t do anything.
I like it when people tell me why they are reaching out. I wouldn’t use your first scenario-it’s a little too blunt and might make people feel uncomfortable if they cannot, in fact, hire you. I would say, I am beginning to explore other opportunities, would you be open to having a discussion? That way, they know why you are requesting to meet or have a call. They might demur if they don’t have a position open, or they might still be willing to meet in case they can introduce you to someone else who might, etc. But this way they know why you are reaching out.
Random question I was discussing with friends (especially if you have kids, but not necessarily): when are you “truly” living your life? I guess I’ve been under the assumption that “real” life is who I was before kids and who I will be after they leave the house, that these 20+ years are just a pause while I focus on duty and family. But I can see how that would be the reverse for a lot of other people — they love family life/parenting whatever and those are their “truest” years and retirement feels a bit empty. Which are you?
I don’t get the question? Ideally one can live in the moment, rather than in the past. Living for the future doesn’t really make sense either – I mean, of course, save for retirement, but thinking that life is “on hold” until some future date is kind of sad, too.
I try to find fulfillment in each stage of life. I have teens now and was really cognizant when they were little that the time with them at that stage of life was fleeting. I feel the same way with them as teenagers. I used to always be looking toward the next big thing–graduating college, graduating law school, getting married, buying a house, having a baby, getting a promotion, etc. But I did most of those things by the time I was 30 and then what? I felt kind of lost and realized that I can’t always be waiting for the next big thing. I have to find happiness and fulfillment at each stage of life. I love my kids and I think I will miss when we all lived together once they are grown and moved out, but I will also try and enjoy whatever that stage of life looks like for me. I have known so many people who have died right after they retire that I don’t want to wait for retirement to live my life. I try and enjoy my work and my time off now. I hope to enjoy retirement as well, but to look too far ahead makes me feel like I am missing life right now.
Well said. You have to find what’s good in every stage of life. And, IME, the external accomplishments kinda … fall off for most of us. They’re not what drives me as a 45-year-old, at least.
I’m in full-on parent mode. My oldest graduates HS in two years, and I’m a bit stunned about how fast it’s all going. There is truth to the saying that the days are long but the years are short.
I think you can have parts you enjoy more, or less, of any part of life, and everyone has hard seasons and easy seasons. But I guess I don’t see the discrepancy between things I do out of duty, and things that are “really me”. Fulfilling my obligations IS part of real me.
I had a period of significant depression in my twenties when I was stuck in a terrible job and I always thought that the “next thing” would be a ticket out of feeling like I was really stuck and not living the life I was meant for. But the real ticket out was living my life and embracing what I had and de-emphasizing or removing what I didn’t want– a new line of work helped a good bit, but a lot of it was looking for what I could realistically do to make the best of where I was.
I think both “life is long” (in the sense that life can have many phases that are quite different from one another) and “wherever you go, there you are” apply here. I’m a parent of a young kid, so some of my hobbies and interests are in a reduced capacity, or on hiatus, but it’s because I’m doing other things that are also fulfilling, even if it’s fulfilling in a different way.
I was truly living my life prior to having kids, while having/raising kids, and now, after the kids are grown and flown. I don’t think I’ve had part of my life that wasn’t real life. While in the midst of raising kids — especially the heavy lifting early years and the heavy lifting teen years — I had less time to look around, take a deep breath, and appreciate the tiny moments of life, but it was still real life.
I think this is a very odd question. What does ‘truest’ mean? I’m a mom of two in elementary. while it is sometimes a pain in the neck and i miss the days of sleeping until noon, but I’ve always wanted to be a mom and it’s currently a significant part of my identity/life
You could just choose not to have kids if you think they would be such a drag on living your life. That’s a totally fine choice to make.
OP already has kids, can’t unring that bell
I look at it a different way. I feel dead inside and awful and anxious when I spend my days inside at my desk and then on more screens all night. I feel alive and fun and free when I ski fast in 15 degree weather, paddle hard through a Class IV rapid, or chase my toddler on the sand dunes until we fall down laughing.
I think if you feel this way, you need to change something about the way you’re living your life. It’s not really possible to spend 20 years not feeling like you live in real life and come out the other end a healthy person.
I’m not one of those people who believes that you have to give up being an individual when you become a mom, but thinking about the parenting years as “not real life” is very puzzling to me. That doesn’t seem healthy at all.
These are false distinctions for me, and for many people. Before kids, I focused on all sorts of things. With kids, I focus on all sorts of things. (And what’s with the equation of “duty” and “family”?)
I’m living my life. Life changes, with or without kids.
Yeah, exactly. I don’t have kids, for a lot of reasons, but a big one is that I have a chronic illness that sucks up so much of my energy that I just didn’t feel that I had enough left to be a good parent. My life is really different than before I developed this condition, but it’s all equally real to me and I do my best to live as well as I can with what I’m able to do. I think if I had become a parent it might have pushed me over the edge and made me feel like OP, where I really just couldn’t handle the demands of being a mom and being a person myself, but I think it’s really important to try to figure out someway to do that, not just wait until the kids are out of the house, both because I think it’s important to being a good parent and because it’s really awful way to live.
Imo, if you don’t think you’re living your real life that’s a sign of depression or going through grief/trauma. As many have said, you should be finding things to enjoy in every stage. If you really feel like what you’re doing isn’t real or doesn’t matter, that’s not healthy long-term. Periods of suck where you can’t do what you really want to do are normal, but they shouldn’t last all that long. (I say that as someone who is currently in a miserable stage of life.)
I lived fully before I became a mom. I traveled to over 50 countries, chased all the professional accomplishments, and I had hobbies and a friend circle I enjoyed. I’m in a different phase now and parenting is my best adventure yet. We don’t travel as much and activities either need to be kid-friendly or involve childcare, but our lives are happy and full. While I don’t want to rush the years of active parenting, I imagine we will also find new-found joy once we enter our golden years of retirement. It’s all “truly” living your life, if you value every season of it.
Oh gosh that idea of “pausing” your life when you have kids at home is so sad to me! Why have kids at all if that’s how you feel.
It’s cheesy but I feel like my real life started when I met my husband and especially after I became a mom. I have kids in elementary school now and can’t imagine life ever being better. They’re big enough for all kinds of fun adventures but still super sweet and crazy about me and their dad. Plus my parents are healthy and active which I don’t take for granted at their ages (78 and 76). I know there will be good years ahead but I strongly expect these current years to be the best years of my life when I look back later.