Suit of the Week: Me + Em
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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!
Me + Em is now up there with The Fold to look through for inspiration and general drooling, and I love the fashiony feel of this wide-legged pantsuit.
With all of the wide trousers out there, I'm not surprised that jackets are moving to a shrunken, fitted look — but in general I wouldn't recommend wearing them with an untucked blouse like this unless you work in a creative office. (But hey, you do you!)
The blazer is $545, and the pants are $445, both in US sizes 0-14 at MeandEm.com. (And the pants come in a short length — huzzah!)
Psst – I'm working on an update of our ancient post on “the next step,” stores to help you upgrade your wardrobe. Any new brands to you that are favorites? We'd love to hear…
Sales of note for 8/2:
- Nordstrom – The Anniversary Sale ends August 9! Here's our big roundup of the best workwear, as well as everything we've selected thus far. Don't forget to check to see if their daily beauty deal is a good one for you – e.g., 8/5 beauty tools from Omnilux, Dr. Dennis Gross, Dermaflash and more
- Ann Mashburn – Seasonal sale, up to 50% off – we just included them in our updated Top 10 Brands for Comfortable Heels!
- Ann Taylor – 50% off summer styles + 60% off clearance — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it's a great separate)
- Banana Republic – 30% off your purchase (ends 7/31)
- The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns + extra 10% off
- J.Crew – Up to 30% off
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off sitewide
- Me & Em – Sale! Up to 60% off (new lines just added, exclusively online)
- M.M.LaFleur – End of season sale! (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom Rack – Clearance, new markdowns 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
- Talbots – 25% off your entire purchase
- Theory – End of season sale is on!
What do people wear over fancy dresses to keep warm? I’m going to a wedding this weekend and am wearing a 1-shouldered dress. Should I just bring a scarf in case of artic ac? I tried it on and it looks like of dated to my eye, but I’m at a loss for alternatives.
I am not fashion forward. But I would use a shawl.
This seems like a good reason to have a date so you can borrow his jacket; I think a shawl in August is going to look silly. Also, SEUS here, and I cannot imagine attending a crowded social event this weekend where I might be cold. Surely nobody’s a/c is up for that.
A shawl, or a decidedly unfancy topper like a denim jacket with my ballgown.
i googled “what to wear warmth over wedding guest dress” (I think the semi-insane syntax helps) and was served a surprising range of options in the shopping links at the top of the page (including a Me + Em jacket and an Eileen Fisher silk wrap top thing). You might try the same and see if anything strikes your fancy (either to buy new or to repurpose something from your closet)
+1 to a thin pashmina or shawl, especially one with silk. the nordstrom tissue ones are good. you can find fancier ones on amazon.
This is the way.
In the winter, a short faux fur jacket.
out of curiosity has anyone here done a mastermind or something similar?
I have been doing a 1x month mastermind meeting with 3 others for 10+ years and
it is by far one of the most powerful ways to self direct my goals.
There is also a business version (we do not do that one) that a fried has found to be a game changer).
we use the Napolean Hill methodology.
I am almost 50 and I need something – not sure what exactly – to deal with the difficulty of looking at documents on my computer screen all day. I am thinking about getting blue light glasses that also magnify by +1.00. Has anyone done this recently? Would it be better to adjust to blue light first, and then magnify/readers later? Or vice versa? Any recommendations are welcome.
Office glasses! Mine have minimal magnification on top so I can still focus on people across the room, arms-length computer magnification in the middle, and reading correction on the bottom. They’re also treated for anti-glare and anti-blue light.
Is there a style or brand you’d recommend?
I got them through my optometrist’s office – I think the lenses are made by Essilor, but Zeiss also makes something similar.
I got a blue-light filter film that I applied directly to my computer screen – it doesn’t make a visible difference, but makes a huge difference in terms of eye strain and headaches. Easily-removable ones are available if you are worried about not liking it.
Have you tried increasing the font size or the magnification on screen, instead of getting reading glasses?
How do people feel about the ‘will AI replace most white collar jobs’ discourse? I’m a controller and we just implemented an AI platform, and I’m pretty blown away so far by how much of my job it could theoretically automate, which isn’t something I’ve felt when using Claude / ChatGPT. With Claude, I feel like it can be a helpful resource for certain functions, but I don’t feel like anyone would need to be too concerned with it replacing them.
Generative AI like Claude/ChatGPT is a parlor trick compared to real automation. They’re calling everything AI these days, but hopefully what you implemented is something legitimate and reliable. It’s okay to have fewer people doing things that can be automated (though we should remember why the Luddites protested).
this is what I’m finding. the gen AI will throw you a different problem every time if you try and “automate” with it.
If companies try to replace humans with AI the world will grind to a halt very quickly.
How I feel about it and what I think about it are probably different things. But feelings-wise, pretty terrible.
Do you think it’s legitimate or hype?
My job is certainly at risk but I think replacing me with a bot would be a huge mistake – see the morning’s thread about how you should never use AI to write. People are already dead behind the eyes in my workplace and their Claude use has only just gotten started.