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Coffee Break: Square-Toe Buckle Slingback

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black slingback heel

Ann Mashburn is having their seasonal sale, and there are a ton of nice pieces marked 50% off — including these lovely slingbacks.

We just gave a shoutout to this brand in our updated roundup of the best brands for comfortable heels — so it's great to see the prices come down by so much. These slingback heels have a cute square toe and buckle detail to make them just a bit more interesting. (As the brand page says, it's “one of Ann's favorite (and Frenchest) ways to zhush up a pair of jeans.”

The slingbacks were $395, but now come down to $197.50 at the sale. (The sale also has a ton of clothing and other accessories.)

Sales of note for 8/21:

18 Comments

  1. I just saw a long-time “career expert” post about how she is truly broke and trying to reinvent her life. I think she’s angling for a viral audience, book deal, and future Oprah appearance (best wishes to her) but it’s painful to watch someone publicly reveal their deepest failures to everyone and anyone. Why can’t she go get a job and earn money that way? Why the confessional? I hear the phrase “bring your authentic self to work” so many times these days, but I think most people would do well to just keep their heads down and value you steady paycheck. Isn’t there value in working through your struggles in private? It does remind you that a lot of “experts” are really the opposite.

      1. yes, now you’ve got to tell us! especially if you saw it somewhere public please drop a link. :) Unless you’re thinking of that fashion editor who went viral because she can’t get a job at 50?

        1. This is such a gross comment. Just because someone is putting themselves out there as losing doesn’t mean we need to take joy in that loss, even if the person isn’t great and has poor judgement. Feels a little too much like cheering for the lion’s den. No, I don’t take pleasure in anyone not being able to get a job at 50. Deserved or not. I’m embarrassed for this individual without even knowing who it is.

    2. These things are complicated. A “functional medicine doctor” I know (I use scare quotes because she did not have a medical degree but used that title) just died of cervical cancer that was diagnosed at stage IV, which…shouldn’t happen to wealthy white women in the richest country in the world. This woman had newsletters going out for years about how cancer was due to inflammation and bad juju and all the rest. Isn’t dying of cancer the ultimate failure of her ideology? But even with thinking she was wrong and that this was preventable, I still feel sad for her family, friends, and community. Watching people’s failures can bring up a lot of emotions.

    3. It’s so funny you post this today. There’s an article today in The Cut about how we never posts failures online and it warps our brains.

    4. I tend to agree with you, and I personally like to remain marketable in case my current job ever goes away. Many of us internalized this idea that our career had to provide personal fulfillment and be an expression of our truest selves, in addition to providing an income. Now that I’m in my mid-40s and have seen some things, what a freaking lie that was.

      1. So much this.

        I’m also always stunned by the LinkedIn dummies who post or agree with workplace gripe content or how unfair the job search is. Like y’all know employers and future employers and more important all of your network can presumably come across this.

    5. I’m going to say this wrong so bear with me. But this is the opposite of authenticity, in my view. I say this as a person who was raised by entrepreneurs who very much believed in positive thinking. I also believe in entrepreneurship and positive thinking. But a lot of these influencer and social media based “professionals” have taken the “fake it ‘till you make it” idea too literally. You were supposed to fake your confidence while expanding your skills, not your skills or contributions. There’s a difference between being a attorney or sales professional whose voice shakes when they argue the first big motion or pitch the big deal and just pretending you’re an experienced expert on social media when you actually have no experience, skills or talent. A “career expert” who can’t manage her own career is just a fraud, in my opinion.

  2. To the poster this morning who was looking for articulation/presence recs, what, specifically, are you trying to address?

    Lorraine K. Lee has some LinkedIn Learning courses that might be useful if it’s overall “show up well and be remembered” coaching that you need. She’s also part of a Masterclass course with Matt Abrahams, Vanessa Van Edwards, and another exec, who each bring a slightly different flavor of expertise to this area. All of them have free content available on their websites, podcast, LinkedIn, etc. if you’re looking to consume/coach yourself, and I think they offer 1:1 coaching or guided cohorts if you want live feedback.

    If it’s accent reduction or purely articulation, the recommendation to read aloud to yourself is a good one. Also, practicing with non-familiar or intentionally-difficult phrases, like tongue twisters and Shakespeare. Say them out loud, fast. Read out loud from a page, at a reasonable pace. Put the phrases on slides that auto-advance, and practice “presenting” them as they advance.

      1. … PT never occurred to me but I get really out-of-breath when I’m speaking in front of people! Not OP but I’ll look into this.

        1. I used to have this issue, but a warm up exercise from a speech therapy friend has totally fixed this for me. The classic way is to inhale through the nose and exhale through a straw for some minutes, but you can also just make a small opening in your lips and pretend that there is a straw. That makes it inconspicuous enough to do in the conference room while waiting for your presentation. Exhaling against this bit of resistance warms up the muscles around the throat and chest.

          1. Interesting! I get out of breath when publicly speaking, too, and used to think it was anxiety or nerves. But sometimes it happens in one on one conversations where I am at ease. It never dawned on me that it could be muscular, although it makes sense. I have found that subtle yoga breathing helps it pass when I can feel it coming on (not always possible if I am already speaking), and if I remember to do the yoga breathing before I start talking it helps minimize it.

    2. This is so useful! Thank you! I realize my post was unclear. I’m looking for resources on presentation skills and how to make myself more articulate in day-to-day interactions (less working on the actual physical articulation of sounds, more increasing my polish and authority.). I appreciate these suggestions.

      1. In that case, Lorraine’s work sounds right up your alley! She has a book, “Unforgettable Presence” that gives practical advice for this, and she regularly shares free tips on LinkedIn and Instagram in this vein.

        You might also like Nausheen Chen’s work. She’s more for formal presentations, but she has great tips about gestures, posture, etc. that enhance the overall sense of confidence and perception of expertise.

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