Coffee Break: The Fonteyn Jane Flat
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I love these striking handwoven flats from reader-favorite brand Margaux. The company, which we've featured before, makes its shoes in Spain, offers a surprisingly generous size range, and has a strong focus on sustainability.
At first glance, I wouldn't think the version of this shoe with the more open weave (pictured) would be comfortable, but the customer reviews actually praise its comfort, and it has a cushioned insole. (A saddle-weave option is available in other colors.) I also like the versatility of the style, and the buckle strap, which keeps it from feeling too casual.
This shoe is $345 and comes in seven neutral colors in sizes 33.5 (U.S. size 3.5) to 45 (U.S. 14) in medium, narrow, and wide.
Sales of note for 8/10:
- Ann Mashburn – Seasonal sale, up to 50% off – we just included them in our updated Top 10 Brands for Comfortable Heels!
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase, $99 dresses, and extra 60% off clearance — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it's a great separate)
- Anthropologie – Extra 40% off sale!
- Bare Minerals – Free shipping over $50! Love their Love thir OG Mineral Veil setting powder
- The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns (new lines added)
- J.Crew – Up to 30% off
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off sitewide
- J.McLaughlin – Summer sale, up to 50% off
- Lilysilk – Anniversary sale, save up to 70%
- Madewell – Up to 30% off
- 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
- Saks Fifth Avenue – Up to $500 off your purchase! Great selection of Veronica Beard, L'Agence, Vince, and more.
- Talbots – Semi-annual red door sale, 50-60% off all markdowns, and free shipping on 150+.
- Theory – End of season sale is on! Love all the colors their best-selling sweater tee comes in, and some colors are on sale.
Another window question – I’m seeing a lot of critiques of vinyl windows, that they look cheap and have poor durability. Can anyone who either installed new vinyl windows or decided against it weigh in? It’s hard to tell what’s an upselling tactic vs. genuine user feedback. We need to be mindful of budget, but I wonder if maybe doing something like a nicer material with single-hung windows might be the better way to reduce costs.
The craftsman blog is a great resource that breaks down the math and aesthetics. I had my windows restored. It was about the same cost as getting them replaced and they look a bajillion times better. Window experts are hard to find though because they are typically older dudes without an internet presence, I found mine from a sticker on a church window. Don’t believe ‘the trades people don’t exist’ thats a lie they do exist, you just can’t find them on Google.
You can only repair very old single-paned wood windows. If the seal on a double-paned wood window has failed and let in moisture, the window must be replaced.
I like being able to open windows from the top, depending on airflow and window location. I doubt it would be a big savings either. Wood windows are beautiful and functional, but it’s an extra cost to paint them that’s usually not included in the quote. I’m sure there are high quality vinyl windows and low quality wood windows – it’s hard to know which are which on your own, so use a contractor you trust. I know everyone in the morning thread said you don’t need a GC, but without my GC, I wouldn’t have known what to choose, and I wouldn’t have known that a few windows needed adjustments from the Andersen specialist he worked with. Honestly I think he saved me money because ordering direct from a window company would have caused expensive mistakes.
By ‘single hung’ do you mean casement windows? The functionality of those is so much worse than double-hung IMHO. We use the top-down ability of double-hung all the time in nice weather as they’re positioned to whisk the hot rising air straight outside.
ugh nm, single hung = looks like double hung but you can only move the bottom pane. My comment stands, though.
Honestly, we’re replacing old aluminum windows with vinyl windows (gliding- so right to left vs. up to down) and sliding doors and they look great and are less susceptible to warping in changing climates.
One note is that the cheapest line from any manufacturer is the least customizable- if you care a great deal about hardware/color/customization, you’ll end up with the more expensive options, but the build quality varies across lines less than you’d think.
PS: renewal by andersen is a ripoff- they use subcontractors to do installs. Home depot also sells the same andersen windows and also uses subcontractors to do installs for 1/4 the price.
Unless you have a lot of money to burn and want a very particular aesthetic, vinyl is the way to go. I’ve done them in 2 houses. The first are 12 years old and still in perfect shape. The ones I did 4 years ago are a step up cosmetically (various frame colors had become available). Both were installed professionally and quickly. Both made a huge difference to the amount of ambient outside noise coming in. I don’t have any drafts. They were 1/5 the price of wood-framed windows.
My best friend installed her vinyl windows in the late 90s and when they sold their house last year one had fogged between the panes and was replaced.
I would install them again in a second.
We have one vinyl window from Window World that was installed about 8 years ago. It is a picture window (does not open) and the glass is not in the same plane as the original glass. It actually sticks out towards the exterior of the house by a few inches. When it was installed I was shocked because the salesman did not explain that it would end up this way, and when I complained the company did nothing. The whole thing is cheap, flimsy-looking, and shiny. Now it looks as if the seal between the panes is cracking. I would not expect it to last more than another couple of years.
We are about to replace all the windows in our house and I’m looking into composite or fiberglass.
We have wood windows and there is no way I’d bother to restore them. Some of the frames and trim are rotten, all the hardware and mechanisms are a mess so the windows are impossible to open, and the sashes are warped. There’s just nothing to salvage.
Quick vent- a travel agent I know posted a Reel about tips she learned on an extended family Europe trip this summer. Her ensuing advice is (1) book private water excursions rather than shared because somehow the generic river cruise was so horrible??, (2) book suites instead of regular rooms, (3) fly business class with lie-flat seats, (4) book a private t-sfer service from airport or train station to hotel (like, not an Uber or taxi, a limo type company), (5) book hotels an extra night to guarantee early checkin, and (6) pay for VIP service at the airport.
Uh, yes, dear, we all know that an unlimited budget makes everything easier. How about some more creative tips next time?!? (I will admit to having done #5 myself, in all fairness.)
This would irk me too, and I’m a person with a pretty hefty travel budget (i.e. we typically fly business if we can get a decent price and that comes with better airport service). It sounds to me like this person is just going to try to upsell me!
This kind of marketing is part of the reason we generally don’t use travel agents. While it would save us time, we like to look for deals and spend up on only the things that matter to us. The couple of times I met with a travel agent to discuss outsourcing, I wasn’t presented with any information that I hadn’t found by googling.
LOL I do not know this woman, but I was somehow fed this reel on my Insta yesterday too. I admit that I am an upscale traveler overall, but I was so put off by that post as well. Super weird!
Influencers are selling an aspirational lifestyle, not their advice, and anyone with a big following on IG is primarily making their living as an influencer, not a travel agent/advisor.
I actually work as a travel advisor and do many of these things myself, but would never frame this as valuable “advice” because, duh, money makes everything easier. Also I’ve had really bad experiences with some of the private t-sfer companies in Europe. I generally recommend Uber except for elderly clients who aren’t comfortable using the phone app.
OP of the thread — this particular one isn’t an influencer in the traditional sense, like she’s not affiliate linking anything. Just a wealthy woman who got into travel advising as a second career as her kids got older.
To be fair it is advertised as a luxury travel agency… but this in particular felt more like “let me show off how much I spend on travel” humblebrag with pics of her kids in their business class seats, as opposed to advice that is actually useful to her well-traveled and generally well-heeled audience / making it feel like her services are worth a fee!
You’d be surprised by how much you can make on IG without links, especially if you count hosted travel. All the big travel influencers get comped flights and hotel stays. They’re supposed to disclose it, but not all do.
In fairness to this person, it’s hard to give general “how to travel” advice that isn’t already out there, so that isn’t how TAs typically add value. But if she was framing this as ground-breaking advice, I agree with you that it’s pretty silly.
Eh so what. I do all those things and had to figure it out. She’s clearly not aiming for your demographic.
We do the other things suggested some of the time, so I’m familiar with the value of indulgence, and am in her demographic, generally speaking. It just felt like Captain Obvious Spend Money And Be More Comfortable advice, not something enticing me to pay for more.
Agreed – reads very Captain Obvious to me too.
I travel on the cheap, so I had never thought about half of this. But I’m probably not the intended audience either!
You had to learn it somewhere though initially.
The only one that I think is a genuine ‘hack’ (if you can afford it) is to book at least 1 room the night before your arrival to guarantee a hot shower and a bed to nap in when you get in early. It wasn’t something my family could afford and I was shocked when my first big consulting firm treated it as something that everyone should/could do. That’s a bigger value add to me than traveling in business for a flight under 8 hours and considerably cheaper!
I also agree with using black car services (Addison Lee) or directly through the hotel for foreign travel on arrival/departure days for an added level of security. I’ve traveled for 20+ years now and professional black car drivers are just on another level vs. an uber driver. It is a cost, but that’s one I am willing to pay on arrival day in a strange country, jet lagged, with kids. Even my penny pinching husband agreed that was 100% worth it when we’ve gone international with kids.
Annoying. Although the group vs private tour thing could be useful. Sometimes the cost isn’t that much different, or the excursion sounds more fun to be in a group (but isn’t), or sometimes there is a huge cost difference and it’s not worth it.
I went on a small group hiking tour that made me never want to hike in a group again. But I’ve been on other group tours that were really fun, I was glad to get to socialize, and I think it would’ve been kind of boring to do just me and DH.
Re: MP compensation. At our firm MP makes 25K. It in no way compensates for the # of hours that the MP spends on firm business. The rest of the mgmt committee is not compensated.
What hiking boots are like Hokas in terms of cushiness? I need something like that for when I run the weed wacker and am in heavy brush, etc. Like for standing more than actual hiking. Feet are not having it in my actual hiking boots.
Hoka makes a couple of mid- or high-top hiking shoes; I suspect they’re what you’re looking for.
For me, the Lowa Renegade hiking boots are the most comfortable for everything, including days when I’m standing on concrete.
Blundstones with Vibram soles feel like sneakers to me.
New Balance hierro boots are insane. I’ve never tried on a hiking boot more comfortable, plus they are gortex with vibram outsoles.
I bought some tall boots on sale this spring. They take up so much room in the closet I. Their boxes. How do you store yours when they are out of season and in between wears when they are in-season?
I have 3 pairs. They live in a large Rubbermaid container. I stuff the boots with tissue paper and also layer tissue in between the boots. Sturdiest pair goes at the bottom. Since it’s only 3 pairs it’s not a big deal to have them standing up in the closet when in use… ymmv if you have a lot.
+1, and if you get underbed Rubbermaid totes you get them out of sight (though you could just put the boxes under the bed if you go this route)
My tall boots live under my bed so I can store them flat with all the paper in to keep their shape.
I have a larger closet, but I put boot stands in mine and stand them up under the hanging items in my closet.
inspired by the travel agent thread – what useless advice do you hear the most often?
– sleep when the baby sleeps
– follow your passion
– get all your clothes tailored
-avoid credit cards, as if using them is synonymous with irresponsible spending / racking up debt
“Just don’t worry about it.”
In my book, getting clothes tailored is not at all useless. It’s the secret to looking polished and stylish. I have most of my pants and skirts hemmed and most structured workwear altered because I am not built like the curvy, short-waisted, perfectly symmetrical dress form all the clothing manufacturers seem to use. Back in the days of pencil skirts I had all of mine tapered at the bottom and hemmed to the perfect length to de-frumpify them.
Just use AI.
God, so true.
Looking for recommendations for a blouse to wear with navy pants to an interview. Details: interview is in NYC with a capital market company for a new grad role in the computer science field. The interviewer specifically said “we are a casual office, so no need to dress formally.” Budget is up to $200, but need it by Sunday. Pants are from Aritzia’s suiting collection. I would love specific suggestions!
This seems like go to a real store territory and just try tops on until you find something that fits you nicely off the rack, is in a color that flatters you and goes with the trousers, doesn’t gape weirdly, and is in your price range.
Maybe something like this?
https://www.anntaylor.com/clothing/tops-and-blouses/cata000010/twist-front-top/841082.html?dwvar_841082_color=9192