Tuesday’s Workwear Report: Single-Button Collarless Blazer
This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
This collarless blazer from Ann Taylor is a bestseller for a reason. The shape is gorgeous; the fabric is luxe, but not too fussy; and the winter-white color is endlessly versatile. Wear this with dresses, skirts, or trousers for a perfectly pulled-together look.
The blazer is on sale for $132.30, down from $189, at Ann Taylor and comes in sizes 00-18 and 00P-18P.
Sales of note for 8/28:
- Ann Taylor – End of summer sale, last call — extra 70% off all sale, new markdowns added.
- CVS – Epic beauty sale, $10 off when you spend $30 (Walmart is having its “Beauty Event” as well right now!)
- The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns
- J.Crew – Last chance summer styles on sale
- J.Crew Factory – 40% off new arrivals, extra 15% of $100+ orders
- J.McLaughlin – Extra 40% off sale
- Lilysilk – Anniversary sale, save up to 70%
- Me & Em – Sale! Up to 60% off (new lines just added, exclusively online)
- M.M.LaFleur – Labor Day Sale Event, save sitewide! (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 – End of summer clearance, 70% off markdowns, including lots of colors of the reader favorite cardigan!
- Theory – End of season sale is on!
For a few weeks now, I have foot pain that seems to be consistent with plantar fasciitis. I have bought drug store insoles for my sneakers, and am not walking around barefoot in my house, mostly. I also bought some birkenstock knock-offs on Amazon which feels great on my feet when I walk. I also try stretching at least once a day.
However, the pain has not gone away especially when I get up to move, so I think it’s time to see a doctor about it.
Those of you who’ve been in that situation, how did you get care for this, and what kind? Orthopedic doctor? Podiatrist? Physical therapy? A combination?
And do I start with my family doctor for any referrals?
In my experience, orthopedic doctors just X-ray, find nothing, and then send you home with maybe a referral for PT, but they charge you a lot for a very short visit. But not sure my family doctor will be knowledgeable enough, so if I go that route, I want to be prepared to have an educated discussion about possible next steps.
Ok, hear me out… have you tried the plastic foot stretcher thing? It is terrifying but it improved my PF by 80%. I’m sure if it would be better if I believed in shoes with support/wearing shoes at home.
This!
I wear crocs in the house and also try to stretch periodically and just get more motion casually throughout the day. Sitting up in bed really aggravated it so I try to sit on the couch when I am reading, scrolling, or watching TV.
I’m intrigued. What kind of tool is this?
This one? https://a.co/d/00FIvZsp
I think that is pretty much what orthopedists are supposed to do! They do imaging, see if there’s the kind of injury that requires a procedure, and if not they refer to PT.
To me it sounds like you have no concern about an injury and want to see a podiatrist. You don’t need a referral unless it’s an insurance requirement on your plan (like if you have a HMO plan; if you have a PPO you can just schedule with podiatry unless for some reason the podiatrist’s office only sees referred patients, which I think is unlikely).
Good point – I mean I am not a doctor so maybe an orthopedist is the best first step to exclude obvious injuries.
I wouldn’t worry! Since it’s feet, the podiatrist can assess too though (they can do imaging if they think it’s needed). I haven’t seen an orthopedist for foot issues, but I’ve seen jokes about how readily they defer to podiatry if they aren’t themselves foot & ankle specialists.
Sleeping in a night brace was the thing that fixed it for me.
How are your offices handling raises, promotions, etc for people who were hired to do one thing and now they’re using AI to do that thing for them (with poor to mixed results)? The person I have in mind at my office was hired for his quantitative skills but they are not being used AT ALL now – he just lets ChatGPT do everything and will only QA under duress. Others at my office and I are starting to feel the unfairness – the quant people have always gotten a salary premium but they’re the first to use AI for everything. He’s literally getting paid for work he himself isn’t doing. What are you seeing?
I’m seeing AI decimate jobs and be an excuse for understaffing. It is not freeing up time for creative or enjoyable work. Begrudging raises for those vulnerable to job loss through no fault of their own, especially in a time with cost of living not keeping up is the least of my concerns.
you’re expected to use AI where it makes sense to improve your efficiency. Focus on sloppy work, not whether it’s the person’s brain or the person’s AI QA that’s the source of the problem.
Agree. You are mad he’s doing his work with less of his brain. That’s the idea—to work smarter and not harder. If his work is sloppy, that’s a separate complaint. But he’s probably still learning how to work with the technology, too.
The problem (and our company president agrees – or is at least troubled) is that he’s using almost none of his brain and the results still look so slick on the surface that it’s hard for anyone else to verify it either. He’s certainly not working harder and also not working smarter – so why is he being paid so much? Should he not get promoted this year? What about a typical annual raise? Would you promote someone in this position if (pre-AI) they used to get merit raises every time they came around?
I think it’s on the company to evaluate whether or not this is a necessary position tbh. He should be finding ways to make himself more valuable to the company, not highlighting how replaceable he is by AI.
I’m honestly curious: what have you used AI to do well?
I don’t personally use it. My job entails a lot of writing and strategic thinking and I don’t find AI useful or helpful. I also have significant environmental and social concerns about it.
I find it really helpful for emails to people who care a lot about hierarchy and respect. It writes the fluff that used to nauseate me
Yes, I’m always asking it to make my draft smoother and to do respectful intros.
Helping to get a draft of a job description started for new positions
If someone’s results are poor to mixed, does it matter how they got there?
I think it does – our company president herself said to this employee “if ChatGPT is doing everything for you, what’s your value add to the company?” It’s a good question. Why should he get paid $180K for pressing “run”?
To me that is a question about good results achieved via ChatGPT, not poor to mixed results.
Does your president have enough skills to just press “Run”? If yes, he should do it. Otherwise he’s just being b i tchy.
Hugs to the poster yesterday with a rude extended family and in laws who wanted to spend Christmas with her kids. As someone who really disliked Christmas until I had kids bc of difficult relatives, I try so hard to enjoy the holidays now and live it through my kids. Spending the holiday without them would break me, so I totally get what the OP is going through. I hope you can find the best compromise for your situation and enjoy the holiday this year.
Unpopular opinion but moms complain way too much about Christmas while doing way too little to set boundaries or make it manageable. You don’t have to do the elf, the massive family dinner, or anything else. You can “make it magical” for your kids if you want to, or you can skip the entire holiday and go to Tahiti if you want to. I can’t be the only one sick of the annual posts complaining about how much it sucks to do the same thing year after year with little to no mention of exercising any agency whatsoever.
What home DIY projects have been the biggest bang for your buck? (Buck here can mean literally money, or time, effort, or something else).
For me two stand out: painting the front door and putting translucent film over our bathroom window so we can keep the shade open – it’s soooo much brighter and that light also comes into our bedroom. Wish I had done it ages ago!
Yard work.
At first I was going to say paint and lighting in small spaces, but i see the yard work poster below and now would say getting dead trees removed – by far.
This is regular maintenance, but make sure you replace the flap in your toilet every 3-4 years. When I moved into my apartment, the toilets were running all the time. I asked maintenance to do something about it and they were like “can’t fix it.” My water bill was insane. Finally I googled how to fix it, bought new flaps, and it was fixed in 10 minutes.
I’m headed on a business trip to Scotland in April. I’ll be spending time in Edinburgh for work and then my husband and toddler will be joining me to tour around the rest of Scotland. We’ve never been so I am looking at places to stay 2-3 nights in the Highlands or Isle of Skye. Let me know if you have any places you loved that are kid friendly or any other Scotland advice! We’ll have a car and enjoy hiking and trying all kinds of food.
Wait, is this style jacket in fashion again? I’ve been feeling mildly frumpy over the past year or so when wearing one or two that I’ve had for awhile.
I think they look nice, generally. It wouldn’t occur to me that it was any more out of fashion than other business formal pieces.
Jo-Lynn Shane has a blog post today about jacket trends.
You’re not wrong – the oversized, longer blazer has been more trendy in the last 2-4 years – primarily with pants vs. a dress. Think the Veronica Beard suits.
This style of blazer (imho) still works best over a dress though I’m mainly wearing open chanel style blazers because they are easier to wear with both pants/dresses. This style of blazer with slimmer pants would look dated to my eye – either wear it with wider bottoms or more straight leg jeans. Wearing it over a matching sheath dress would also look slightly dated but fine for courts/very formal days.
Your eye, maybe. My eye would say “that person looks nice today.”
Where do you get the really nice big yard planters from? I’d love to up my outdoor skills game but what I see at the Home Despot this time of year is very picked over.
Also: what material are the good ones made out of (and how heavy will that be? Even with delivery, I may need helpers)? How do you deal with drainage? I grew up in an apartment, so no one in my family has any idea. Help!
Garden centers usually have a nice selection. I try to avoid very heavy ones because with the dirt and plant, they get heavy.