Coffee Break: Woven Flats
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‘Tis the season of jellies and mesh shoes… in the backdrop of those trends, these woven leather ballet flats from Le Monde Beryl feel sophisticated and chic.
I'm a big fan of the sky blue, but they also have a lovely orange and a (shiny!) gold. The shoe comes in Italian sizes 36-42, and NET-A-PORTER has the exclusive on them for $625.
(Psst: NET-A-PORTER also has some great sales on Le Monde Beryl's wedge boots!)
Looking for something similar? I'm generally anti-jelly shoe, but these ones from Vince and Tory Burch both caught my eye as something I might actually wear. Margaux also has a lot of woven styles similar to the pictured shoe… and if you just want a jelly, these Dolce Vita ones look nice.
Sales of note for 5/26:
- Nordstrom – The Half-Yearly Sale has started! See our roundup here. Good deals on Veronica Beard, Vince, Reiss (esp. coats), as well as Wit & Wisdom and NYDJ
- Ann Taylor – 25% off + 30% off sale items
- Aurate – 25% off with code (ends 5/26)
- Bare Necessities – Up to 40% off, including tons of bra-sized swimwear (also, 10 panties for $10)
- Boden – 15% off new women's wear styles with code
- Express – Mega Sale, 40% off everything!
- J.Crew – 40% off your purchase and 50% off swim
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 70% off clearance + 50-70% off everything else
- Loft – 50% off one item
- Mango – 30% off everything, and free shipping with $260+
- M.M.LaFleur – Memorial Day Sale, up to 70% off this weekend only! (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off)
- M.Gemi – Memorial Day sale, prices up to 60% off
- Nordstrom Rack – Clear the Rack! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work basics from Calvin Klein and dresses from Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
- Talbots – $29.50 sunny must-haves
- Theory – 25% off sitewide (see our notes here)
i ordered a similar but cheaper pair from sam edelman but they didn’t fit right. $600 is more than i would spend for summer shoes but they are adorable.
I’ve worked at a startup-turned-decent-sized-company for a few years. I report to a member of the C suite.
There have been 2 completely different incidents where someone on C suite was incompetent at their job, and it got pretty drastic before the CEO did anything about it – including just a normal performance review. 2 other execs “got new opportunities” over this.
How normal / common is this? Idk if this is normal and I just never knew, or if this is a red flag about the CEO and boards judgement in hiring / appointing and managing.
Man, those are hideous. $625?!!
I think if I wanted to try this trend I’d probably go with: https://www.target.com/p/women-8217-s-gia-flats-with-memory-foam-insole-universal-thread-8482-cognac-8/-/A-94757510
Or if I wanted them to actually be comfortable: https://www.vionicshoes.com/gracia-woven-ballet-flat.html
I’m wearing a very similar pair from Target today – the Pilar flat – and they’re actually not bad from a comfort standpoint. I wouldn’t wear them for a long day of walking, but they’re fine for a day at the office!
I think they’re super cute, but I’d definitely get a cheaper pair.
Same
To the minivan mom from this morning. I decided to keep the old minivan for occasional use, and buy a used BMW sedan or small SUV. Just throwing that out there!
I have a minivan – Mercedes Vito/Metris, so not a common one, but perfect for my life where I haul a lot more cargo than people, but still need to haul people from time to time. I am on the lookout for a little runabout, preferably manual transmission, both for when I don’t need the space of the van, but also just for fun.
I need to make a career switch and am at an impasse as to what direction would be a natural fit. I am an applied social science researcher with a master’s degree in public policy, a JD, and a lot of advanced training in quantitative methods from the econometric tradition. I have never practiced law and don’t want to start. I am up to date on certain types of models but haven’t done much with machine learning. I am proficient in R, SPSS, and Stata, with some exposure to Python and SAS. I am expecting to submit a paper using modern difference-in-difference methods for publication within the next six months, which I could use as a writing sample.
My field has collapsed thanks in large part to the loss of federal grant funding. I do not want to go into government. One thought is to go into data science, but I’m worried about the implications of AI in that sector and it doesn’t seem as hot as it was even two years ago. Another thought is to start studying for actuarial exams because I think I could handle the modeling, but again I wonder about the future with AI. Thoughts?
what field are you in now?
Evaluation research.
Economic consulting, if it’s not already your field.
The job market SUCKS right now. Scour the job listings every day for a week and see what’s out there that you would realistically, genuinely apply for now. Do you need additional credentials?
From what I can tell, AI is creating as many jobs as it’s killing in data science, and it’s mostly government funding issues causing the job issues (because the US government historically has funded large datasets, but this administration doesn’t think those are important).
+1
Yep–I used to collect those large data sets for the feds.
There are still some jobs to be had in evaluation – I have one and we’re still winning new work. I’m still concerned about the future but I would be anywhere, I think. Are you sure you want to make the move to a whole new industry instead of just a new role?
what is your least favorite food?
had onions in the guacamole I had with lunch and now I feel like I smell of nothing but onions
I have a mayo phobia that is worsened by people insisting I’m wrong for not liking it. When it comes to taste, smell, and texture, though, I can’t stand cooked mushrooms.
You and I are food twins! I hate mayo and I hate mushrooms and I too find that people think my dislike is a character flaw.
I like both, but I would never hold not like mayo against someone. Mayo fans should save the gibes for people who prefer Miracle Whip, not people who opt out altogether.
I really hate when people act like distaste for a particular food is some kind of scandal, character flaw, or worse, a lie. It’s so weird and rude.
The people who try to trick someone into eating a food they don’t like are the worst of the worst.
Lima beans. I also don’t particularly like broccolini
Olives of all kinds and anything related to licorice flavor, which is a wide range from anise to jager. Shudder.
I will eat just about anything else.
Miso. I like pretty much every other food that exists, but can’t stand either the smell or the taste of miso.
Shrimp.
Chicken wings (so much work, so little reward).
Ribs (same).
I wouldn’t say that I dislike chicken wings but I think they are so overrated and feel like no one agrees with me lol. Like why am I supposed to get excited about this.
Beets. They taste like soil to me. I mean really and truly just give me a spoonful of dirt – same taste.
I like beets but don’t disagree.
Agreed. I still sometimes like them in small quantities, but I can’t eat a lot.
I’m probably in the minority but I don’t like the combo of peanut butter and chocolate.
I’m worse; I don’t like the combination of coffee and chocolate.
Meat. I hate the texture.
The flavor that most frequently ruins meals or packaged foods for me is cumin, which I don’t entirely understand, because I love both Indian and Mexican food, where cumin is common, and I can cook with it just fine at home when making dishes inspired by those cuisines, though I usually go a little easy on it compared to what recipes call for. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had food at American restaurants or store bought hummus or other things that were almost inedible because they reeked so badly of cumin. I don’t know what they do with it to make it smell/taste so bad!
Americans don’t toast their spices.
I should have added this: no matter what kind of cumin it is, it needs to be toasted if it’s going to taste good to me.
(I once had hummus made by reconstituting garbanzo bean flour without ever cooking it. It took me a minute to figure out what was so, so wrong!)
Yeah, I definitely think this is part of it, When I cook with cumin myself, I always toast it, and often use whole cumin seeds instead of ground cumin, which makes a big difference.
I used to go back and forth on cumin until I figured out that I’m profoundly picky about this vs. that cumin. I still go relatively easy on it, but if I buy the one I like, it goes well. If I buy the wrong one, it’s trash, and I think that must be why sometimes I cannot stand it in prepared foods too.
Saffron.
I also have issues with mayo. I like a very limited amount in certain circumstances – i.e., on a BLT or tenderloin sandwich, but I want to have control of the amount. I also really dislike sweet pickles.
Green tea! Why does it taste like I’m drinking grass?
yes! and matcha. ugh.
I am also anti-mayo and anti-sweet pickles. And oddly, cooked pineapple (not raw) makes me gag. Otherwise I am a really adventurous omnivore.
mushrooms, eggplant, okra, chia
Have we discussed the water crisis in the US? Specifically, the Colorado River problems aren’t getting better. Are locals paying attention? Are people putting their homes up for sale and moving elsewhere? It’s startling to watch from a distance. And Corpus Christi, TX, apparently is in dire straits as well. My husband and I already relocated for climate change once (a question of too much water – rising sea levels – rather than not enough) and we just keep seeing others put their heads in the sand and can’t believe it.
I’m paying attention and I’m pretty concerned. I’m also very grateful I got to raft the Colorado River (getting a private permit is a true bucket list experience) while it’s still possible.
I don’t think there is enough discussion of how AI data centers are draining limited water resources, especially in the west. Environmental safeguards are absolutely not keeping up with the pace of use.
If you know much about environmental economics–the CO river is a tragedy of the commons situation. No, people aren’t leaving the surrounding states because of it (with perhaps the exeception of agricultural folks/farmers who have had zero or highly restricted water allocations in recent years). In cities, water still comes out of the tap. It will have to be a South-Africa-level crisis (taps 100% dry) before anyone does anything about it. In the meantime, we build more golf courses, people plant more lawns, and we’re putting in water-guzzling data centers too.
The LATimes did a great exploration of this recently. Will try to post a gift link.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2026-05-14/boiling-point-colorado-river-math-problem
Here’s the recent article
Looking forward to reading this, thank you! In my opinion, states and residents should have to pay enormous taxes to build new infrastructure in water-deprived areas (and should be prohibited from building certain intensive infrastructure, such as golf courses or data centers, in some areas altogether). It’s absolutely absurd that desert towns are building massive communities for large families that the environment cannot support.
Milagro Beanfield War was a favorite growing up, so I’ve always paid attention to the water crisis.