Suit of the Week: Brooks Brothers
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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!
This “Colonial blue” suit from Brooks Brothers is such a pretty color. (Why is it “Colonial blue”? No idea. Do they have Oppressor Orange too?)
In any event: I like the three button blazer — it feels classic but also more modern (buttonpalooza). I like it best with the pants, but there's also a matching skirt and shirtdress.
The pieces are $168-$348 in sizes 00-16, at Brooks Brothers.
Sales of note for 9/11:
- Nordstrom – End of season clearance, up to 50% off
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase + extra 15% off when you spend $200
- Anthropologie – Extra 50% off sale! The reader favorite wide leg pants come down crazy low in some colors/fabrics, but they're down to lucky sizes
- Athleta – 30% off select styles (including my favorite sweatshirts as well as these reader favorite pants) + extra 30% off sale
- AYR – Archive sale, up to 60% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles – readers love these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- CVS – Epic beauty sale, $10 off when you spend $30
- Design Within Reach – the semiannual sale, 25% off everything! (readers love the Herman Miller Aeron and Sayl!)
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off all stores, plus an extra 10% off when you buy a pair of jeans
- 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 – Extra 40% off select clearance
- Talbots – Buy one get 50% off everything
- Theory – End of season sale is on!
If you’ve tried various brands of electrolyte drink packets, can you let me know which one seems to taste the best?
I’d look this up in a disability forum, they know what’s up. That said the average person does NOT need electrolytes.
My favorite is Ultima.
I’ve got POTS and take the Vitassium or Klaralyte pills instead and find it much easier.
Pedialyte berry frost powder is my fave for when I need rehydrating.
A lot of them have so much added sugar and other junk, but the one that I found doesn’t have all that added sugar and junk, but also tastes very mild is Just Ingredients. I used the Thorne ones for a long time but I don’t really like the flavors and Thorne has just been purchased by P&G, so they will probably turn into junk.
Just Ingredients have stevia so they taste like dirt.
LMNT, unflavored. Just deal with the saltiness, better than all those other weird flavors!
Hydrant.
Have we been hearing that skirt suits are in this fall? I’m not seeing any fun ones available at my usual places.
I have a child in college and parents’ weekend is coming up. A friend of mine, who is a mom who has a child in the same class as my kid, asked if she could share my hotel and rental car (I reserved these a long time ago because there aren’t a lot of hotels near this college and I heard that they book up right away) and we can essentially “go together” to the event. Initially I thought nothing of it, but as I get closer to the date, I’m getting a little worried that this friend is going to want us to do stuff together at the event and I’d like to focus on my kid. Our kids know each other, but they are not friends (they were not friends in high school and are not friends now, but they are friendly). If she suggests stuff (e.g., let’s all meet for lunch at X location), how can I nicely say “no” without making things awkward? FWIW, her kid is the one that’s outgoing and always had a lot of friends, went to prom, senior trips, etc. and my kid is the one who always had more trouble finding her own way and was not included in group trips, etc. Can I tell her, e.g., that I’d like to take the car and take my daughter to dinner off campus so she’ll need to Uber herself back to our hotel? Unfortunately, our hotel is not walking distance from the college campus.
Respectfully, unless your kid specifically does not want to hang out with this family: this is how you make friends and sustain relationships, which leads to being included in things. Have the lunch together.
My daughter has known this girl since they were 3 years old – they went through K-12th together. If they wanted to be friends, they would have been friends before now, especially since her mom and I have been friends all this time (ironically, I went to college with the mom). There’s no hanging out with families – only I am going and my friend is going – no dads or siblings.
That was a pretty big ask of her (and you are a better person than I am). You are right to want to do things with your child (vs in a group that you’ve never otherwise been a part of). I wouldn’t have any problems saying “Hyacinth and I have plans; I will see you later tonight,” BUT BUT BUT some college are parking nightmares for similar weekends and I might Uber myself (using the car just to go to / from the airport. But not offer to chauffeur or route plan while in College Town. Your rental agreement likely requires you to be the sole driver, so she should not try to take it out at all.
You’re right – the rental agreement requires me to be the driver. I did not think about that angle. Originally she was planning to go on another weekend but when I ran into her one time in person, she asked me if I was going to parents’ weekend and I said yes. She later texted me asking if it would be okay if we shared my room and rental car and we could split the cost. I frankly did not care about splitting the costs, but I thought it would be weird to say no to her. She is a truly nice person and we get along great – it’s just that our daughters are very different people.
She’s already made things awkward. You can smile nicely and note that you have plans with your daughter. She’s a weird person if she doesn’t understand that she’s not part of your family.
That sounds like what I will do. Thank you for the support.
It’s also fine to say “I’m heading back to the hotel now if you want to meet me at X,” but I am one of those people who can take an hour to leave an event, so no one sets their clocks by me. But like offer a rider if it’s convenient and maybe say “I’ll text you before I leave the campus, but IDK when that will be” if it’s the sort of small college where everything is 5 minutes away from everywhere.
I think exactly what you said is fine. You can also say “I’ll be with my kid on and off campus during parents weekend so we may not be able to ride together a lot when we get to there. You may need to uber when I’m using the car.”
That said, I would also plan on spending time with the friend because your kid may not want to spend the entire weekend with you.
This is a good point. I will definitely be spending time with the friend separately as my kid has things they need to do as well. Maybe that will be strike the balance and my friend will know I value time with her.
+1 – straightforward and clear is the way to go. She’s benefitting from you planning ahead and I would think it would be common sense that you’ve got first dibs on the car for your own plans with your child.
Unrelated but I’d also ask your kid if they want to invite their roommate or other friend to a dinner/meal out. My parents never made the trip up for parents weekend and I always appreciated when my roommates parents let me tag along with them. You’ll also be very popular if you bring treats for your kids floor and load them up at the grocery store before you leave.
I would have said no to sharing the hotel room and car tbh. At this point, I think you defer to your daughter on plans. If she is interested in doing something all together, that is fine (sounds like she will not be interested in that though). If she isn’t interested, then tell your friend that you are doing XYZ with your daughter, and you will see her later. Let her figure out Uber or other transport plans.
The Oppressor Orange joke made me laugh. That is all.
As the seasons change, I note a rising hatred of jackets with non-full-length sleeves and blouses that do. Ugh.
Ugh, I think I’ve got to end the relationship with my cleaner. She doesn’t do a great job, takes forever, and is not reliable about showing up on time. But is cheap.
Is anyone else here old enough to have grown up watching soap operas? Serial killers, spies, secret twins, murder, hospitals are for hooking up and sweeps week drama? I somehow watched the NBC ones and some of the ABC ones and some if I was late to the common TV in college. IDK how this common culture will exist going forward now that people watch screens vs TV.
I once pretended to be sick at school so I could go home and watch a particularly exciting episode of General Hospital. Dr. Noah Drake still looks amazing, by the way.