Thursday’s Workwear Report: Short-Sleeve Sweater
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
This short-sleeved sweater from Tahari ASL looks like a great layering piece for this fall. Wear this gorgeous green color under a camel blazer for the chilly mornings and on its own for a 70-degree afternoon. It comes in tons of colors, and there are also some petite and plus options if you do a little digging.
The sweater is $59 at Nordstrom and comes in sizes XS-XL.
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!
We started with a new cleaning service and they wanted to start with a deep clean. I asked multiple times how much it cost and the lady told me she would let me know after they were done because it was hard to estimate. The regular cleaning rate is $200/every 2 weeks. We stopped using our prior cleaners a few weeks ago but of course I tried to maintain cleaning and did a good run through before the deep clean. We have 2 teenage kids and a cat. Well after they were done yesterday, the cleaning lady asked for $2000!! This was way more than I was expecting – I thought it might be double or maybe triple for a deep clean. I only had $1000 in cash and she said she can swing by today for the rest. Her team did do a great job although they spilled something red in one bedroom. They arrived yesterday around 8:30am and left around 6:30pm with an hour break for lunch. I think we are just going to pay the rest but it really rubs me the wrong way and I feel like I messed up not insisting on an estimate beforehand. Should I do anything differently? I don’t want to start off on a bad foot with her but yikes that is so much, right!
How many cleaners were there? Yeh, if she can’t give estimates or tell you the hourly rate, I would not use her going forward.
Whoa. Requiring you to start with a deep clean is totally standard, even if you’re switching from another cleaning service and haven’t had a long gap. But they should have been able to give you an estimate and that price is crazy, especially relatively to their ongoing rate. 2x the regular rate is common in my experience, 10x is bonkers! But it’s also crazy that they spent 10 hours in your house, that sounds more in line with the 10x cost. Is your house insanely clean at least??
You just got bamboozled.
I would no longer use their services, and I probably would not give them any more money.
Absolutely not. And they left a red stain behind??
I wouldn’t keep using them. That was shady behavior. They should have said “our rate for deep cleaning is X per person per hour. For a house your size, an initial deep clean is typically 8 hours of work, but might be a little more or less depending on what we find.”
Sorry but you screwed up by not insisting on a quote beforehand. Eat the cost and don’t hire them again.
Whoa, that is not okay. MAYBE for a move-out or move-in deep clean. But it’s shady as hell that she wouldn’t give you a quote first.
I can’t avoid it in healthcare; but other than that, I don’t do business with companies that won’t tell me the cost up front.
Yeah it’s crazy you didn’t get an estimate before hand. I say that with sympathy I’ve had that experience before where you realize you got bamboozled
I’ve paid that post construction, but a deep clean is usually about 3x the normal rate.
I’d be uncomfortable with this too. For comparison, my cleaning service requires a deep clean when we start (or restart) services. They do not give us a formal quote for how many hours it will take, but they do tell us that it will be $60/person/hour (MCOL area). The last time it was around $1000 for 2 people, and it took them 8ish hours. My 2400 sqft house sparkled, and it was worth every penny to me in the end, but it was annoying that they couldn’t give me a firm quote.
I struggle so hard to find a coat for this fall weather. I’m in Boston. 45 degrees when I left my house and it’ll be 60+ during the day.
I have a Barbour barn jacket that doesn’t go with my business causal wardrobe (no jeans, think finance bro attire, but for women..). I have winter jackets, wool jackets, but nothing for these 50-70 degree shoulder weeks. I’m born and raised from here… you think I’d have this figured out by now.
I’m willing to spend money. I had historically used an Eddie Bauer Girl on the Go jacket, which is honestly great on the sidelines of kid sports games or casual weekend wear but a) it’s quite old and zippers are dying, black color looks warn by now, and b) it doesn’t feel polished at all.
Help? Size medium most likely..
Do you actually need a jacket yet? I’m in the Midwest with the same temps you are experiencing. My blazer is plenty for this weather, or when I lean in to the finance bro vibe of my office, a Patagonia fleece or vest are just fine.
Absolutely yes!
+1. I am in NYC, and I definitely needed a jacket this morning!! I wore my Barbour jacket today FWIW (with a sweater under), but I can wear jeans to my office.
What about a quilted Barbour jacket in a color like navy blue? It looks a bit less rugged than the barn jackets.
Not the OP but for me, I like a layer. Especially in the morning when it may also be misting a bit.
Yeah, this. I’m also dealing with this and think there’s not really a good coat for this weather. Though when it’s in the 40s in the morning, I just wear my Patagonia nanopuff and don’t wear it in the afternoon. Otherwise, wear a blazer, sweater, or vest and take it off later if necessary.
I feel like this could be a real trench coat situation? I have found Burberry dupes here and there (honestly, the best one was a Sears / JCP one I had in college with a quilted button-out lining) and I feel like they visually look more put together. I have a cotton one that works for mid-temps and a wool one that looks good visually but is very heavy and the lining is wearing out. Banana usually has something good, as does Land’s End; both can have epic sales where I’ve gotten something that fits the bill for what is a reasonable price to me.
This is something I’ve never owned and is likely what I need.
Upper Midwesterner here, and I have a black London Fog trench coat with a removable lining that I get an immense amount of wear out of, from work to casual. It’s not phenomenal quality, but priced so that I can replace it every few years. This is the time of year to get something like that – in the spring nothing has the removable lining.
Good point that now is the time to shop. It’s tricky, because you don’t get to wear these coats for more than a month or so, but when you need one, you need one!
Anon at 9:43, you’re right, but I find that I can wear something like this into the low 30’s with the lining in, and during summer rainstorms without the lining. And it’s classic enough to last for years.
This. Get yourself a trenchcoat. And layers are your friend. I also add a scarf because I feel warmer when my neck and chest are warm.
Light or medium weight trench for the win.
I use a Patagonia better sweater puffer for this.
I have a simple cotton coat that I got at Target 20+ years ago that is still going strong for this time of year. It’s thigh length and lined but not that warm. Kind of like this except I bet I paid $30 for it. https://www.everlane.com/products/womens-cotton-twill-mac-coat-beech
This is good!
I have an ancient Brooks Brothers short trench with a swing back that I wear in the Fall and Spring. I have seen similar short trenches with cape shoulders in stores.
+1 to a cotton trench
Since there are so many from Team Trench here, is there a good current offering of a classic trench with a button- or zip-out lining? I really want one adaptable coat (already have longer puffer for casual wear / dog walking and a dressy coat). Layering a fleece or puffer under feels so in-elegant and is hard to do over a suit or wool sweater due to friction or eventually not being able to move my arms well.
Commiseration that it’s hard to find that middle ground between casual outerwear and fancy and/or wintery. I have a cotton utility jacket in a fun color that is passable with my business casual wardrobe. I’ve gotten lots of compliments on it, so I think it’s working? It’s a few years old, but I found it at Gap, of all places.
I have a different color, but this is the style: https://www.gapfactory.com/browse/product.do?pid=1172456011&vid=1&pcid=1050905&cid=1050905#pdp-page-content
I added a short trench coat to my coat collection last year and I’m getting a ton of use out of it. I got the Women’s Trench Rain Jacket from Lands End, but sized wayyyyy down per usual from Lands End. Looks like they don’t have it in the XS you’d probably need. So if I was buying right now I’d probably get the Lands End Womens Squall Waterproof Hooded Short Mac Jacket. I like that it has a hood. The medium review is from someone who didn’t size WAY down, which is what you have to do with Lands End.
I REALLY wish retailers would offer a wider color range. That khaki color is the literal worst against my skin tone.
What do you think is the most flattering sweater weight and neckline for those of us with larger chests and/or who are plus-size? Unfortunately what I find the cutest (a classic bright crew neck) doesn’t always look the best for me personally.
Have you tried layering a necklace over the crewneck? I find that it helps to interrupt the high neckline so my torso doesn’t read as a vast expanse of bust.
I find v necks or scoop necks the most flattering. Crew necks are the worst. I like medium weight knits that are large enough to drape. And I like sleeves that have some volume.
I prefer something like a shallow v, henley, popover style, or polo collar. Otherwise I feel like my head is just floating above a vast expanse of solid fabric.
I am chesty and I eschew crew-necks in favor of v-neck sweater, preferably of a medium knit with a slightly drapey hand. My fabric preferences are cotton/silk or merino/silk blends or 100% merino, cotton or cashmere, again medium weight so neither clingy nor bulky.
I look terrible in crew necks, and I’m slim with a medium chest. They are flattering on men, usually, not on women. V necks or boat necks are my jam.
For me, a medium-to-heavier weight cardigan worn by itself as a V-neck sweater. It takes a little trial and error to find the ones that aren’t too deep that way, but when I do, it’s the best look on my body.
I love a boat neck, but it’s always a struggle to find them.
I’ve been looking at this sweater for awhile, and it’s on sale. But, I bought a couple of sweaters from BR Factory and returned them both because they were a lot more cropped than they appeared to be in the photo. Has anyone seen this in person and can comment on length? The fabric would be perfect.
https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=915793002&vid=1&pcid=5032&cid=5032#pdp-page-content
Is anyone else heading to Ocean’s Calling this weekend? I’m super excited, but a little worried about the weather. Hopefully it’s okay. I haven’t found a great news source to monitor the situation.
Look did I think the is a water bottle professional conversations from back in the day were overblown? Yes . But the kids are now trying to bring ice coffees into interviews
So? I’m on the cranky side of workplace norms usually but that wouldn’t bother me at all.
This doesn’t bug me at all.
I wouln’t bring an iced coffee into an interview as the interviewee, but I also think the pearl clutching about bringing a drink to an interview is a little overblown. Particularly because the last several interviewers I had before taking this job about 6 years ago carried in iced coffees.
FWIW, I’m a 41 year old lawyer at a niche but lucrative boutique firm.
I can be really cranky about the younger generations, and I honestly wouldn’t even take note of this. Literally who cares — it’s a common beverage.