Thursday’s Workwear Report: Pleated Cotton Maxi Dress
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
I had lunch with a friend last week, and when she arrived wearing this dress from Kensie, it was obviously the first thing I asked her about. The color is so vibrant, it felt like summer was starting the moment she walked into the restaurant.
I should note that the model makes the dress look like it’s mid-calf length, but my friend is 5’6” and it was a full maxi-length on her. Fortunately, the collar and pleating makes it look more work-appropriate than the maxi sundresses you may have in your closet.
The dress is $64.97 at Nordstrom Rack and comes in sizes 1X-3X. It’s also available in pink.
Sales of note for 6/5:
- Nordstrom – Designer clearance up to 40% off!
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your purchase
- AYR – Ooh, good sale section — but lots on final sale. Readers love (LOVE) these comfy work pants and these jeans.
- Boden – 15% off new women's wear styles with code
- J.Crew – 30% off full price styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + 40-60% off everything else
- Loft – 55% off everything + free shipping (and 6/5 only: $10 tanks)
- M.M.LaFleur– Up to 70% off, plus new styles added! (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% 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 – 6/5 only: $50 off every $200 (plus, $99 dresses)
No question; just frustration.
IDK how people are supposed to be able to have a small business or work with kids, elders, needing to let plumbers in, etc. Except that this explains why my family for generations lived in a small LCOL town with limited economic opportunities: you pitched in as a larger multi-generational family unit and got things done. Moving away to a big city for opportunities got my parents and later me that, but at the cost of so much complexity and hiring almost everything out (often with iffy results). I get that not everyone has a stable or reliable family, and mine has gone to sh*t now that we are too spread out and some people have stopped talking to each other, but I just feel like I’m on a hamster wheel I can’t get off of.
This is why it’s such a problem that the economy requires two-worker couples. You need to have one person at home at least part-time for this stuff, but middle-class people cannot afford that.
The economy has always required nearly every family to have two working adults.
Not when I was growing up. Even blue-collar families could afford a SAHM. Maybe in the Victorian slums, but that was a problem.
Lol
But when my people were farmers, work and home were the same place.
Now, the only people I know using a clothesline are either very, very poor rural people or my very rich bougie neighbors who are currently doing the trad-wife thing.
My parents used a clothesline into the 1990s at least. I had some nice going-out shirts that got ruined by fading. The sunlight is great for white shirts and linens though.
One of the working adults was often working on full time childcare, household management, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and household good production, with maybe some part time work of a similar nature on the side.
The economy absolutely doesn’t require two incomes. It requires one solid income. Something like 30% of American families with kids and two parents in the house are single income households.
That kind of “solid,” meaning you can afford a mortgage and food and insurance and necessities and still save for emergencies and retirement, is north of $200K. Especially with kids.
Maybe nobody’s ever going to retire, but you must know that there are a ton of families (large families even) in single income households where the income is less than $100k.
You must live in a bubble if you think there aren’t people managing to own houses and have children with less than $200k, lol.
It very literally is not in most of the country, and I did not say anything about home ownership. I live in SF, and as long as I live here, I will rent, because that is what makes sense in this market. If I want to buy, I’ll leave SF.
30% cannot be the right statistic, when we know what the average household income is for the US. C’mon.
Go do some research and come back with a different estimate, then, instead of lazily relying on your own assumptions.
Based on 2015–17 CE data (used in the rest of the analysis) for married couples with children under age 18, the proportion of “one full time, one not working” households is 30 percent; the proportion of “one full time, one part time” households is 14 percent; and the proportion of “both full time” households is 52 percent.”
My statistic was from the literal Bureau of Labor Statistics, btw.
In response to the poster at 10:16 citing the BLS data – I think what other posters are highlighting is that 30% doing it is not the same as 30% truly being able to afford it (i.e., covering future education costs, retirement, emergency savings). So 30% could be true, while the statement that “the economy absolutely doesn’t require two incomes” could be false.
Idk, I know plenty of people making it just fine in my Midwest home town on a single income. They own their houses. They go on vacation. I presume they’re saving for retirement based on what I know about their personalities.
It just is not true that everyone is broke unless they have two incomes.
Not every household surviving on a single income is doing that as their first choice. Especially outside of big cities, salaries are not high enough that they allow a family to afford childcare and commute costs, so one of the parents ends up staying home.
Of course. In this case the economy not only doesn’t require two incomes, but it forces one income.
Sure. But they’re surviving just fine. Two incomes is absolutely not necessary.
Right. Very common in military families. Who will hire and train the non-military spouse who often has kids, no local relatives to help out (a common them when there are two working adults and kids under driving age), and she will just move in a year or two or will get canned when one kid gets sick too much and she has to miss work.
It’s common to make homeschooling possible too (which people do for all kinds of reasons including medical, not as a first choice).
Your statement is ambiguous because you don’t define what you mean by one “solid” income. Please elaborate.
I know a lot of single income households. In my world it means a full time job with benefits, even if it’s entry level or only requires a high school education.
Middle class income, adjusting for local COL (higher in SF than Topeka). Very doable.
It’s also very regional. I live in a LCOL area and in our area only rich women work outside the home because they’re the only ones who can afford childcare. If you have 2 or especially 3 kids, it’s hard to earn more than childcare costs without an advanced degree or a special skill. I would not describe most of the SAHM families I know as rich, but most of them are doing fine and not in poverty.
Remote work made this a lot easier. It’s being clawed back now but there are still a lot of jobs that demand regular facetime but will let you stay home to meet a plumber.
Remote work has made this soooo much easier. Unfortunately my employer has recently instituted a hard return to office and idk what I’m going to do about my (very necessary) upcoming furnace and water heater replacements. I guess I’ll burn a vacation day or two.
The vast majority of companies will still let you WFH to handle things like this. It’s quite an overreaction to think otherwise.
HA! Very much depends on the company. Many cultures won’t permit, “Oh I’m going to WFH because X, Y, or Z repairman is coming.”
This is a very privileged take. Many, many places DGAF about your need to flex for very normal life stuff like this.
Yeah as a generalization this just isn’t true. Even if a company allows its white collar workers to do this from time to time, that doesn’t mean everyone in the company can. And it’s very culture dependent. My manager despises WFH and holds it against his team when we do this.
No they won’t, I already asked them.
Put a contractor lockbox on your door and give the contractors the code. You do not need to be home for a water heater or furnace swap.
Say goodbye to your xanax and diamonds.
We have a dog and the whole stinking downstairs is open concept. I feel that many contractors won’t come into a house with no owner home but a big dog roaming around. I also have teen girls; I’d leave them home alone, but not with a male worker/s; that seems like it could go so wrong, so fast.
People do this though?
That attitude explains the need for the Xanax 😂
Crate your dog. Have your teens go to the library or park if you’re that worried about them.
Just watch the news.
OTOH, I know adult women who are afraid to be alone with contractors. To me, that seems a bit excessive (or get other contractors). But with a phone, you can be “on the phone” with someone and that would give 99% of creeps pause.
Maybe we all just need handymen on retainer? Or to live in a building with a good super?
Ugh, no, that would be crazy
Yes, working households need a handyman who handles stuff like this.
Yes! Remote has made it a lot easier for this, and work has been flexible on the actual days so it can be a day that work can be done. Has become very much the norm.
I didn’t realize that in many ways, once my kids left day care, my life would get into deeper and deeper levels of logistically harder. That is barely grammar but I can’t do better at the moment. Maybe it gets better when the kids become competent drivers? IDK. Not there yet but hopeful.
The entire reason I have stayed in a job that I only tolerate these days is because I’ve earned so much flexibility over the many years I’ve been here. As long as I have school-age kids, I can’t see myself leaving.
It does get better when you have a driver. This week, my oldest (16) has been picking up the younger one from day camp. Having a third drive is a GAME CHANGER. That said, it takes many years to get to this point. (The worst is having a high schooler with commitments who is unable to drive.)
I have two high schoolers who don’t drive. Yet. My only goal this summer is to get the nervous one more comfortable driving and to get the other one enough behind the wheel time to pass the test. Send prayers. Also: this eats up most of my free time right now. But I’m hoping that at least one can drive come August. This close to just letting Jesus take the wheel some days.
That was us last summer! I promise that it will be worth it when they can get places independently.
It does get better as the kids get older. Once they can drive themselves for sure, but even before then, we had seasons where we got creative and made it work. A few examples: a fellow track team friend who lived up the road had a grandma who was happy to pick up and drop off our kid for practices and meets. Then there was the semester where another theater dad with a 12-seat van did a taxi circuit for the whole crew after rehearsals. Once in a while we also leaned on unconventional people for help. Our neighbor’s retired mother was visiting for the summer and was willing to babysit last minute when I had a job interview and no childcare. Our public library let our then 8 year old walk over to volunteer after school the two weeks our car was out of commission for school pickups.
Many moons ago I was a nanny to two Big Law lawyers and I swear half of my job was just being home so I could let in contractors, cleaners, etc. Obviously not an affordable option for everyone!
Being born in a town where I have extended family and plenty of economic opportunity was a blessing that I didn’t appreciate until adulthood. That said, col is crazy high here and plenty of people trade close family for a giant house in some random city.
My best friend has a lady that comes a few days a week for a few hours while the kids are at school and they’re both working. She deals with the plumber, puts dinner in the crock pot, organizes the drawers and wraps birthday gifts, ect. The fact that she’s neither cleaning nor doing childcare and is still plenty busy says a lot about what goes into a running a home.
How does one find a person like this?!?!
Seconded, this sounds like an incredible option and I need to know how to secure this arrangement!
We found someone like this from a local Facebook sitters page. Search ‘town name sitters’ (or similar) and you’ll get people who do everything from ‘mother’s helper’, pet sitting, and ‘house manager’ services. Lots of empty nester moms/young grandma types who want to work a few hours a week on a flexible schedule and are great at running a household since they’ve been doing it their whole lives!
I wish people just accepted getting paid on the books. I feel that that has gotten rid of something like 90% of people I’ve talked with (do they never want social security or medicare? you can’t work under the table forever and ever).
Are you will to pay 30% or more to get this type of worker on the books? Because that’s why.
Yes. And carry worker’s comp. It’s not worth risking a professional license for.
But I think people just don’t want to pay taxes. Maybe I can just call it a tip?
It was very hush hush! Another working mom at her kids school very quietly let her know this amazing lady had some availability. She wasn’t sure why she’d need it and the other mom was like “trust me you want her!” And it’s been great. I think it’s the kind of thing where you really need a specific person who knows how to run a home and takes initiative.
Get a contractor lockbox and put cameras in your house. The repair people can let themselves in.
A smart lock also has this feature. Every tradesperson ever has worked in a home when no one is home.
Or just a contractor you trust. I’ve had a fabulous relationship with mine for a decade and he lets himself in, with keys, sans cameras. So does our house cleaner and dog walker. It is possible to trust people.
I only said cameras because I know the commentariat here, haha. We also don’t have them in the house and do the contractor box with our handyman and plumber regularly!
lol, love it and get it!!!
My gut reaction to this is, “Dear God, no!”
My gut reaction to this is “Dear God, how do you function!”
Same. The paranoia is just beyond me.
Same; I cannot fathom letting a stranger into my home to do thousands of dollars of work without being there to answer questions.
Mine will just call and FaceTime if there’s a question but he knows my house well and my preferences so it’s rarely an issue.
do you not own a phone
We had a tradesperson we trusted for years. His son took over the business and didn’t pay his people. Things went missing around our house—not even things you think would be tempting, they took his equipment in retaliation and there was shouting and then we had him show up at 10 at night telling us not to worry that he was getting our house keys back from his soon-to-be ex a meth addict. I still have no idea what all has been stolen and that’s in some ways even worse than losing the things. I’ll never have someone have access like that again. Folks saying otherwise are incredibly naive.
Okay, then quit your job so you can make sure that things you don’t even know you own don’t get stolen.
You had an inflection point when ownership changed. That’s not the same thing as a long time trusted person.
Absolutely not letting a random dude around my pets and antiques unsupervised.
Don’t hire random dudes. Some of us know our tradespeople.
Also, all of the people upthread suggesting a mother’s helper are also suggesting having a contractor in the house unsupervised.
Yes, the way we make two big jobs and maintaining our house, pets and life is to hire help. Mothers helpers, contractors and cleaners with keys, dog day care that gets the dogs in our house. You do have to trust people at some point. It’s why my response to most “should I take a pay cut” questions is no, life is a lot easier when you can hire help.
I have been so very lucky to work from home (despite 20% travel) since my kids were born 15+ years ago, especially as we have no local family. The logistics of daycare were deceptively easy but the coordination a school calendar requires and the insanity of registering for camp in Jan/Feb. is a unique kind of hell for working families. I’ve seriously considered a babysitter for my 13 and 15 year old because neither can drive yet and school/sports/work commitments are often impossible to align. So far we’ve made it work with a good group of other parents who are open to carpooling but I am white knuckling it through till we have another driver!
All my friends have the mother’s helper described above to help with this lift. I would absolutely look into that in your shoes.
I love this pick!
I have a shirt dress that’s similar on top and the same color, and I get multiple compliments every time I wear it!
Big thanks to all the feedback on my house dilemma yesterday afternoon. I was the poster asking why we wouldn’t upgrade our home before buying an investment property. I got a ton of good insight and had the opportunity to speak with my husband. The takeaway was that he’s not on board with moving to a nicer home unless certain very specific properties become available (specifically large historic homes that would have comparatively lower taxes). He sees our home as an obligation and our any additional properties as investments. While I think reasonable people would disagree, his financial philosophy has served us well so far. He also reminded me we should have access to a private pool club next summer where we can host occasional playdates.
I’m currently looking at properties to renovate in either in our town or in a more rural area a few hours away. I haven’t done a renovation in a few years so I’m somewhat excited for that.
My husband had this attitude for a long time–our home is a financial obligation, not a place to enjoy living. It led to a lot of financial decisions that have come back to bite us in the long run, like deferred maintenance and not buying a better home a long time ago before ours had fallen apart and prices had skyrocketed. Now he has finally decided he wants a nice home, and we can’t afford it when we could have before.
A home is an asset, not a liability. A lot of houses today are future teardowns, even if they are in relatively ok shape, because the land is more valuable to future buyers than the structure. So deferring some cosmetic maintenance is not crazy. I’m at a point where I’ll spend a lot on something I enjoy (i.e. my pool) but I won’t change up carpet or gut-reno my kitchen because my dated cabinets and layout are still serviceable.
Yeah, it seems kind of sad to never want to invest in making the place where you spend most of your time a comfortable place to live.
I don’t quite get the mentality that a home is an “obligation.” It’s literally where you live your life. Not saying your family home should be your only investment, but it’s just a strange way to think, IMO. Especially when you’ve put many thousands of dollars into it already.
If I were thinking “investment property,” I would be thinking of something that benefits my family, like a vacation home. Not something that gives me more chores to do.
I’m in a similar situation, a few years ahead of you. We picked a local investment rental near our primary home. I really don’t love our primary house, but it’s comfortable and serviceable for a big family with WFH parents. For us, the “nicer” home option was never really going to come on the market (we were only willing to move in a two-block radius, and we need a really specific layout that honestly won’t exist unless we build it, which we were not willing to do).
We also don’t host much, but it hasn’t been nearly as much of an issue as our kids have gotten older. We are in a very walkable spot (part of why we won’t leave a 2 block radius), and kids want to meet at the pool or a local hang out spot. Play dates just aren’t really a thing anymore.
Our rental home is super convenient to us, and as housing gets more expensive in my area, I’m happy we have it. In addition to the rental income, it might end up being a launching pad for my kids (with conditions of course) as they get older. The mortgage is at 2.7%, so rental income easily covers the costs, and by the time my kids are out – the mortgage will be shockingly lower than rent in the area of our metro location.
Do I sometimes wish we had a show stopper home? Yes, I do. But I also love traveling, and the cost to maintain a home is high and getting higher, so I can’t even imagine how much extra cash we’d spend if we had a pool + maintenance obligations on a fancier house.
What are the best summer slip shorts? Is Thigh Society worth the money? If you got a pair with a phone pocket, do you find you can only use it with sportier looks or vacation outfits?
Cotton bike shorts with a pocket for when they will be an outer layer; jockey skimmies (I find them just as good as thigh society and usually cheaper) for under skirts/dresses.
I like Jockey slip shorts but they’re underwear, not anything I’d put a phone in. Are you looking at the right category of things if you want to carry a phone in them?
How would logistics of accessing a phone in your underwear work? That’s not what slip shorts are for…
Years ago, I purchased three heavy jersey knit, stretchy, ruched, double-layer dresses. I think I got them at Macy’s or Kohl’s. (I remove tags as I hate the feeling on my neck). They are just above knee length and 3/4 sleeve. Black and white prints but a solid black stripe down the sides. I stored them in a suitcase and they were always wrinkle-free thanks to the heavy jersey. I need to replace them, but can only find single-layer or wrinkle resistant styles. Any ideas for a duplicate?
Not double layer, but I find J McLaughlin’s material to be sturdy feeling – something like this?
https://www.jmclaughlin.com/products/sophia-dress-micro-bamboo-navy-sand
Take the opportunity to modernize your dresses, that doesn’t sound current at all. Sometimes the need to replace is the best thing that can happen to your closet.
Um, rude! Let the gal wear what she wants. I cannot articulate how gross I find the “women must be on trend!” nonsense on this page.
It’s not rude to point out on an ostensible FASHION blog that something is wildly out of style. I didn’t tell her to revamp her whole closet. I said take the opportunity that’s presented by this dilemma to modernize. Maybe a fashion comment section isn’t the right place for you?
Thank you for this comment. I needed the LOL I had at this!
I agree with 9:57, because people should wear whatever they want. On the other hand, many times I nostalgically pined over a garment I no longer had, and actually took the time to track the same thing down on a resale site and buy it. With almost no exceptions, I found that I wasn’t interested in wearing it once I got it. Older styles often just don’t look right or have worn out their welcome. It’s often more an emotional need than a practical need to wear an older-style item.
Harsh, but I agree.
+1
You’ll need to go secondhand. Nothing made today will achieve this quality.
I also had a few similar dresses years ago and found them at places like TJ Max, Nordstrom Rack, and Burlington.
This may not be priority for you, but FWIW: while I don’t chase trends and am not terribly worried about being very current, I did retire all of those dresses when I RTO after covid. They were not timeless classics and made me feel very dated.
We’ve talked about this before but wow, I’m getting nervous for the young teens on motorcycles masquerading as e-bikes. There have been two cases in my area lately where the cops actually stirred themselves to pull these kids over, but they outran the cops (stopped a few miles later) and got slaps on the wrist for it. Then as I’m exiting the 8-lane highway at a very sketchy intersection, six teens are literally doing wheelies and weaving in and out of the slowing cars. Finally, it’s a daily occurrence for these motorcycles to weave in and out of pedestrians on the paved walking path where they aren’t allowed, period. I actually called the cops myself one day when a kid deliberately veered towards my child, buzzing him, and the operator sighed and said she thought she knew who it was (third call that day).
It’s easy for me to see that an utter lack of enforcement (our towns limply focus on “education”) is a major problem – but what I don’t get is where the hell the parents are. My heart almost stopped when those teens were weaving at the exit ramp. It would have been SO easy to accidentally kill several of them in just seconds. Some of these bikes are expensive and the parents are obviously the ones paying for them. But why?
Would love to hear if there are any women here who have bought their teen an e-bike and if so, their justification.
It is a scourge and I hate it. I worry for the kids on the e-bikes with no helmets but at some point my worry is more about my own kids’ safety on our suburban sidewalks.
OP here and I feel the same. If another teen buzzes my toddler (happened when he was just 15 months), there will be hell to pay – but I also really, really don’t want to see a 14-year-old die because his parents let him ride an illegal motorcycle in traffic.
Our town finally banned e-bikes and motorcycles for those without drivers licenses but it took 3 kids dying before it happened.
That’s the law in our city, and it still is not a deterrent for these idiot parents and their equally idiotic children.
Why do moms get the blame and not dads?
I don’t think she’s saying that, just that this is a page for women so they’re the ones who can comment.
I live in the city and the souped up e-bikes on the bike paths and roads are a menace. Super dangerous and often very agressive – riding at people for fun and generally being threatening. A 10 and 12 year old are in hospital after falling off escooters at speed. Who is buying these for their kids?
I have a pedal assist kit on my bike for my commute but it taps out at 15mph, so it’s just a boost up the hills versus going faster than a normal bike.
I made my young child (5 at the time) wear a helmet on a power wheels and everyone in my family though I was being insane. Shortly after, a neighbor borrowed it for a party (with our permission), their 6 year old tried to do a wheelie, fell off, broke an arm, and got a concussion.
This was on a kid’s ‘toy’ that was speed limited to something like 3-5 mph, I cannot imagine giving literal children access to bikes that go 30mph plus.
I have a high schooler and a middle schooler, and I feel the same way. Somebody in our neighborhood is going to get killed.
Risk tolerance. No different from how some parents insist their kids wear helmets while others do not.
Are they actually thinking about the risk (and the illegality) and saying sure, though? Or are they afraid to stand up to their kids when they ask for these bikes for Christmas?
Genuinely, I am related to this sort of parent, and there is just no thought or fear going on. It’s just “oh cool I would’ve loved that as a kid” with no further assessment of whether they weren’t allowed to do it as a kid because it’s unsafe.
I think a lot of it is “what do I buy my kids for Christmas when they already have everything?” I have literally had this conversation with multiple parents. My suggestion is usually “concert tickets,” not “potentially lethal machine.”
Yup. I have neighbors like this. Their 13 year old zipped down the street the other day with their TODDLER sibling in their lap, no helmets on either of them. The parents were hanging out in the yard, so they were clearly aware of the situation. I can’t begin to understand.
We ran into a colleague of my husband and their 3 kids were bouncing around the backseat… just boggles my mind.
It’s the same reason some parents let their kids ride dirt bikes or shoot guns. That reason? Idk. But the same logic underpins all three.
Sounds real FAFO and I’d be annoyed too. Say what you want about San Francisco but at least they’ve cracked down on the dirt bikes here.
Hope they do the heroin next!
Sure sounds like you’ve never been here!
I live on Potrero!
Where are the children belong in all spaces crowd? I think it’s similar blindness. This isn’t annoying ME, so it must be fine.
You really like to trot out that straw man a lot, don’t you?
Lolol right? Those convos apparently triggered this poster into oblivion. Next it’ll be a post about toxic waste from a nearby dump and “huh where’s all the kids belong everywhere people now?”
I don’t see the connection between those two issues at all.
They’re everywhere in my neighborhood and I completely don’t understand why parents are buying them for their kids. They are so, so dangerous.
Oh I hate it. I have a 14 year old who has a regular bike and it’s not even something she wants at all. She rides her bike all over.
FWIW, many of the middle school boys have them and they are awful.
We are planning to move our cat’s litter box to a landing/hallway area, where we are also going to install built in cabinets. Any ideas for ways to hide the litter box? Has anyone tried a cabinet space with a cat door, plus a door you can open to remove and change the litter?
Wayfair has tons of litter box furniture options.
Oh, good to know, thanks.
All cheap junk, I’m sure.
Build it into the cabinet – there’s lot of ideas for how to do this.
That’s what we’re thinking – wondering if anyone btdt and whether cats are okay with it
Caveat: if cat misses or sprays you are going to have a very foul odor that is horrifically difficult to get rid of when it’s built in and not contained to some separate item of furniture. My condo’s former owner used a linen closet to hold the litter box. Three coats of original Killz finally got it to where Bailey’s Cat Pee Closet doesn’t stink up that whole side of the condo anymore, but I still can’t use it for linens.
I’d leave the base of the cabinet open (no door) that would accommodate a covered litter box & get sweet kitty acclimated to it in its existing location
Agree with the poster above
if the cat sprays, it’s a nightmare