Thursday’s Workwear Report: High-Rise Wide-Leg Drapey Ponte Pant
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
I recently lost my favorite olive green Colette pants to an unfortunate salad dressing incident, so I’m looking for something with a similar vibe. These drapey ponte pants from Banana Republic Factory are the best replacement I’ve found so far.
Olive is a surprisingly versatile wardrobe color. I typically wear it with navy, red, or black, but I’ve also loved seeing it paired with dark purple, yellow, and sky blue. For summer, I would wear these pants with a crisp white oxford and some comfy flats.
The pants are $94.99 at Banana Republic Factory and come in sizes XXS-XXL and XXSP-LP. They also come in black and “cream white.”
Sales of note for 7/3 (Happy 4th!):
- Nordstrom – Designer clearance, up to 60% off!
- Alexis Bittar – 20% off sitewide thru 7/5
- Alex Mill – 40-70% off some of their favorite, small batch pieces!
- Another Tomorrow – Final days of sale, new styles added
- Ann Taylor – 50% off everything + free shipping — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it's a great separate)
- Athleta – Extra 20% off semi-annual sale, up to 60% off reader favorites like Brookyn and Endless pants
- AYR – Ooh, good sale section — but lots on final sale. Readers love (LOVE) these comfy work pants and these jeans.
- Banana Republic – Summer sale up to 60% off sale styles + extra 20% off
- Boden -Up to 60% off plus an extra 15% off – readers love these dresses, these blazers, and the brand's fun suiting
- COS – New pieces added to sale, up to 60% off
- DeMellier – Summer sale: Final Reductions (ends soon!)
- Evereve – Extra 30% off sale!
- The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns
- Hobbs – Up to 50% off, extra 20% off sale
- J.Crew – Summer sale – up to 60% off summer styles, and 40% off select cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off all stores and sitewide, plus 60% off clearance
- Jenni Kayne – Semi-annual warehouse sale
- Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off (but 10% off sitewide!) (love their new weekender!)
- Lululemon – Summer sale!
- Margaux – Save up to 50% off, including archive sale
- M.M.LaFleur – Sitewide sale, up to 70% off! (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom Rack – Clearance, new arrivals up to 75% off! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work dresses from Calvin Klein, Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
- Ruti – 15% sitewide
- Sarah Flint – Extra 30% off select styles (we just ranked these shoes as some of our top 10 most comfortable heel brands)
- Strathberry – Up to 30% off select styles
- Stuart Weitzman – Summer styles now up to 40% off
- Talbots – 50% off your entire purchase + free shipping
- Veronica Beard – Extra 25% off sale
I have so much loose skin after having two kids and I wanted to get a tummy tuck and breast lift. I have two concerns, 1) I know its a long and painful recovery period and I’m worried about my kids (girls, 11 and 8) seeing me in that state and being traumatized or scarred by it, and 2) this sounds odd, but they always enjoy playing with the loose skin on my tummy and they will want to know where it went and will likely feel sad (and I’m not exactly sure how to explain I got rid of it without them somehow internalizing it and viewing their own bodies differently as they grow). Anybody gone through this before or have advice they’re willing to share?
No advice on the TT piece since I’m still noodling it over for the same reasons you mentioned, but I had a reduction earlier this year and it was life changing – I had some discomfort but very little pain. I explained to my kids that I was doing it to help with my back pain, and they seemed to get it.
To me these sound potentially like healthy and age appropriate lessons about bodies and other people’s bodies in a best case scenario where everything goes really well. But there are risks, and I think I would worry about both these concerns (trauma and also how bodies are viewed) if things went poorly.
I would put a stop to the playing with the loose skin no matter what you do. At this age they need to be learning the concepts of privacy and bodily integrity.
If you have the tummy tuck, you can simply explain that the extra skin was uncomfortable.
+1 – I’m planning on a upper tummy tuck/lift in a few years and it’s because the extra skin is uncomfortable/chafes in the heat and as I hit perimenopause it’s driving me nuts on a daily basis.
I’m not trying to be judgmental but the second concern is a little odd to me. I still cuddle my 10 year old but the idea of him playing with my stomach is not something I’d personally want to encourage at this age. That’s ok. All families are different. Maybe this is my weird hang up.
If what you’re really asking is how you explain this to them I think you can be honest. You get to change your body for you if you want. Certainly their desire to “play” with your body parts doesn’t take precedent over what you’d like to do with your body. I think it’s a good lesson for young girls actually.
It’s deeply unpopular here but I’m completely neutral about all things beauty. Aesthetic choice to me are not moral choices. It’s ok to want cosmetic surgery in order to like the way you look. It’s risky and permanent but it’s not morally problematic to want to change something about your appearance. It’s ok to want to like the way you look. It’s ok to use family resources to do that, within reason of course. Thats something I’m not afraid to tell my daughter.
Finally, for what it’s worth. I’ve only known a few people who have done this and they all look great and say they’d do it again, despite the difficult recovery.
This kind of surgery doesn’t require that type of explanation. It’s to fix damage and discomfort.
Maybe. But if it’s about wanting to look different that’s ok too.
no offense but i cannot imagine inviting my kids to play with my fluffy tummy in any way that would not be self-derogatory or in a way that would not make a negative impression on them about loose skin, fluffy skin, reinforcing the ideal of a flat stomach, etc. we talk about our fat tummies all the time but i’ve got boys, i think the equation is different for girls. (but they ain’t touching it!)
I think if it was caused by their own births, it’s probably just normal to them? (It’s not like they saw a previously existing flat stomach?)
Help me find a pair of jeans I saw a woman wearing in an airport that looked perfect. I am kicking myself for not asking her where she got them.
Important info: she and I are both petite (matters for length requirements) and we are both very slim (making fitting challenging based on what I have already ordered and returned)
Jeans description: cropped hitting mid-shin, finished hem, appeared to be straight leg cut (not skinny and not flared), standard denim blue color.
I have tried searching at Nordstrom and Googled generally and am not coming up with anything that matches this description. I ordered one pair of Kut jeans that were “cropped” and hit my ankle and were too big anyway (no smaller sizes available).
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Maybe try searching for capris?
Could they have been regular capris worn as petite crops? Or from the kids department? My 5’1, 100lb sister does the latter regularly.
I would check out the brand Mother. They have petite cuts. They also have lots of straight leg jeans, and I find their regular length cropped styles are way, way to cropped for me (tall skinny person).
Thank you!
I’m going to guess they’re Mother. Their cropped jeans are the best. “Little Mother” style is for petites.
Mackenzie Horan is your size and a few weeks ago did a massive jeans try on and reviewed her faves on Insta Reels – should be not too hard to find.
Also, consider that she may have had them hemmed to the exact right length.
Check Amo or Frame. Both have lots of cropped options with finished hems and straight legs.
What are wearing to summer classic rock arena concerts when we are going for a work / client event? I feel like jeans, boots, and white or black elevated tee?
And the men are in what? Polo and denim or khakis? This is for older men who are not particularly buff and may get a lot of clothes from Costco. I will get asked.
Clients can wear what they want but we are friends so they may ask me also.
Indoors or out?
I’d probably wear a casual cotton sundress.
Perhaps not the most helpful, but if your entire group of people, from coworkers to clients, won’t know what to wear, then . . . there’s really nothing to worry about. It doesn’t sound like anyone in this whole group is the kind to dress inappropriately if they’re just told wear jeans/t-shirt or whatever else makes them feel ready to enjoy an evening at a rock concert.
Indoors or outdoors is the big deciding factor for me. I melt in the heat so generally wear a longer cotton dress/skirt for air flow with comfortable fashion sneakers. I expect to get sweaty/stuff spilled on me/smell like candy scented vape after a concert so I don’t wear anything precious or that can’t be thrown in the wash.
My husband usually wears golf-adjacent attire – birddogs/vuori/faherty stretchy shorts, performance polo, and fun sneakers.
Spot on.
Polo and Khakis at a big rock concert would stand out in a bad way. Even in boxes it’s usually black pants/jeans and a band tee or more of like a linen button up situation.
I feel like this is harder for men who may be shopping for XL polos. Maybe a good dad look vs a try-hard? Especially if you are in a suite.
But I would not go with a sundress. Classic rock arena concerts are not a Tuckernuck vibe. I feel like it is a medium or dark denim situation.
My last concert (Heart!) was a couple of years ago, but IIRC, I wore boot-cut jeans, a plain black tee from Banana Republic, and very old cowboy boots. To a suite (so in the A/C) in an NBA arena. With a clear bag that I think was a quart-sized ziplock (sort of a fail, but I just cannot keep up with each venue’s rules). I cannot recall what my husband wore (so: it was unremarkable and did not seem to matter much).
I went to a Stevie Nicks concert and all of the women were in black fringed / Ren-Fest looking items or concert tees. Men were also unremarkable. All depends on the band maybe.
I think a cotton polo or linen shirt with cotton chino shorts, especially if there were some weathering, would fly under the radar much better than golf clothes made of tech fabric.
PSA for anyone in need of a winter coat, Neiman Marcus has an extra 25% off their sale styles and some truly great brands at 50-70% off. I have a gift card that’s been gathering dust and think this is the perfect use!
Am considering a pretty drastic haircut and would love to know if anyone has used one of those apps where you can virtually “try on” different haircuts before going under the scissors. If you found one you liked and thought was realistic, will you share?
I use chat gpt for this.
I just go old school and use bobby pins to pin it and see.
But I have curly hair so the AI doesn’t really get me and my hair.
We bought a Samsung top loader washer from Costco (which has 90-day returns) and aren’t super satisfied with it. Any recommendations for your favorite washers? Strongly prefer top loader because I hate the odor and inherent design flaws of the doors on front loaders but will ultimately consider anything that’s good for the price. Speed Queen isn’t really in budget.
Why aren’t you satisfied with it?
It’s leaving some residue on athletic clothes in particular. We use detergent sheets and don’t think we’re using too much.
Not trying to convince you to keep the Samsung, but are you open to using other detergent brands or types?
Some sheets are known for doing this regardless of the machine.
I like front loaders and not-smart laundry machines with knobs, and I honestly love the totally basic GE model that I got last year to replace a much fancier machine that had come with my house and kept breaking. It gets things very clean, but it’s gentle on delicates.
+1 to the most basic version you can find. I had to replace a fancy LG and the repair tech suggested Speed Queen, Whirlpool, or GE, with as few bells and whistles as possible.
If speed queen isn’t in budget would you be open to a refurbished vintage machine? Lots of repair guys have a side business saving old work-horses. I have a Kenmore from the 90s and I love it.
This is my plan if my 40 year old top loader ever dies (which it shows no signs of doing). I don’t care how ugly it is or how dated it looks if it just does its job without drama.