Suit of the Week
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For this week's suit, we're liking the birch-cloth cotton, short-sleeved skirt suit from J.Crew. We like the casual elegance of it, combined with the comfort of stretch. The jacket is $178, and the pencil skirt is $108.
Sales of note for 7/19:
- Nordstrom – The Anniversary Sale has started! 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., 7/23 Lancome; 7/24 YSL; 7/29 up to 40% off select lip products; 7/31 Bobbi Brown; 8/1 Jo Malone
- Ann Taylor – Semi-annual sale, 60% off sale and 40% off everything — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it's a great separate)
- Banana Republic – Summer sale up to 60% off sale styles + extra 20% off
- The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns
- J.Crew – 50% off select cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 60% off clearance
- Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
- Lululemon – Summer sale!
- Me & Em – Sale! Up to 60% off (new lines just added)
- M.M.LaFleur – 25% off jardigans (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom Rack – Clear the rack, extra 25% off clearance! 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 – Red Door Sale! Prices start at $15
- Theory – End of season sale is on!
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
Agree. Nothing of value to add. But I agree.
I don’t understand the point of a short-sleeve suit. It’s not formal enough for times when a real suit is required, and otherwise I think it looks a little strange. I guess if you just love wearing suit-like items, though, it would work, but I find suits somewhat uncomfortable as it is, so why wear more of them?
I love this and will wait for it to go on sale! This is the perfect summer equivalent to a black-and-white small pattern jacket with black pants – for client meetings where the partner will just throw a sports jacket on over his usual slacks and dress shirt, but such an ensemble would look ridiculous on a woman.
I have several JCrew suits and their quality is quite good for the price point. Suits like this one almost always go on sale too, so you will probably be able to get a great deal on this one in a few weeks.
C – any thoughts on the point that you couldn’t wear this suit when a “real” suit is required? I need a new suit and if I’m only going to have one, does it need to be more formal than this?
I live in the south and see these short-sleeve suits everywhere. Very practical, especially in summer. I’d keep to the ones with smooth, i.e., not ruffled or gathered, sleeves, so a cardigan (air conditioning) would go on over it without bumps.
I love J. Crew suits too. Always reasonable priced. The fit is younger and more modern than Ann Taylor, yet no too trendy. I tried some Theory suits which are about twice the price–I think the J Crew suits are still better made.
S — oh yes, you definitely need a more typical suit. We’ve got to write some sort of intro text for this Suit of the Week feature — it’s intended to be the similar to the flavor of the week. Vanilla and chocolate are still the flavors that are anchors — that’s your black/navy long-sleeved three button jackets-with-knee-length skirt suits (with matching pants, of course) — this feature is just the rum raisin of the week.
I second Corporette’s response to S. You definitely need a more traditional suit if it’s your only one, but if you’re getting many, I love short sleeved suits in the summer. My office is technically business casual and plenty of women at all levels don’t wear suits unless they’re meeting with clients, etc. but I’m one of a few female litigators and I look very young so I tend to wear suits every day because I think it helps my image around the office. I feel like the short-sleeve suit is a good alternative to the cardigans/skirts a lot of my coworkers wear that I think would make me look too young but still give me a more casual alternative.