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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. I always like a springy blue suit, although I tend to wear the pieces more as separates than I do as a suit. Today I like this nubby blue tweed from Ann Taylor (part of the 40% off sale they have going on today) — the color seems like a classic, I like the two jackets offered, and the seamed, lined A-line skirt looks flattering and comfortable. The jacket (Ann Taylor Tweed Sky Jacket) is $159, and the skirt (Ann Taylor Tweed Sky Skirt) (both available in regular and petites); the second matching jacket (Oceana Tweed Jacket) is only in regulars and is $179. Use code SPRING4IT to bring the prices down to $95, $47, and $107, respectively.Sales of note for 9.30.24
- Nordstrom – Beauty deals through September
- Ann Taylor – Extra 30% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off sale
- J.Crew – 50% off select styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything + 50% off sale with code
- Lo & Sons – Warehouse sale, up to 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Neiman Marcus – Friends & Family 25% off
- Rag & Bone – Friends & Family 25% off sitewide
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Fall Cyber Monday sale, 40% off sitewide and $5 shipping
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- White House Black Market – 40% off select styles
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
- What to say to friends and family who threaten to not vote?
- What boots do you expect to wear this fall and winter?
- What beauty treatments do you do on a regular basis to look polished?
- Can I skip the annual family event my workplace holds, even if I'm a manager?
- What small steps can I take today to get myself a little more “together” and not feel so frazzled all of the time?
- The oldest daughter is America's social safety net — change my mind…
- What have you lost your taste for as you've aged?
- Tell me about your favorite adventure travels…
Erin @ Girl Gone Veggie
I would not wear this suit but I would totally rock that first jacket with dark-wash jeans. Super cute!
NbyNW
My thoughts exactly.
Anonattorney
Flouncy light blue suits don’t work on my tall frame. It just looks . . . wrong. But I agree 100% about the jacket + jeans.
preg anon
I would wear this suit for sure!
Scout
I just love this! I may have to order this right now.
What do you ladies wear under 3/4 jacket sleeves? I’ve been doing short sleeves but I like how the model’s poke out but I feel like mine will quickly become less quirky/purposefully rolled up. Also I do not want to be buying 3/4 shirts for the sole purpose of wearing under 3/4 length jackets.
Susie
I wear sleeveless or short-sleeved shirts – with this probably a scoop neck tee in a solid, complementary color. I personally don’t like it at all when the shirt is longer than the jacket.
Bonnie
I wear 3/4 length sleeved shirts or long sleeves so the cuff peeks out. With the long sleeves, I don’t push them up but fold them up so the sleeve does not lengthen on me.
Anonattorney
tippie sweaters. I love them.
Baconpancakes
I adore this suit! I’d have to see it on me, though. It could go very, very right, or very, very wrong.
Susie
I like the skirt as a separate too. I have the dress version, which I think is quite cute (http://www.anntaylor.com/tweed-flounce-dress/333071).
preg anon
Gosh, after clicking your link, I saw this (below) and love it. It even has sleeves! It looks kind of Tory Burch-ish.
http://www.anntaylor.com/diamond-geo-print-split-neck-dress/321096
Susie
I don’t think they had that one in store when I went, but I like it! I think the spring collection on the whole is a hit, and a welcome change from the rather drab winter line.
Erin @ Girl Gone Veggie
I am in love with that dress! It does look Tory Burch-esque.
zora
oh god, me too!! Ahh!! want!
Bonnie
I didn’t see the dress when I bought the jacket. I may have to try it out. Is the dress as short IRL as it is on the model?
Susie
Hmm I think it’s about 2 inches above the knee for me. I’m 5’2″ and pretty sure I got petite.
zora
For some reason I love all the pieces of this individually, but I just can’t picture myself wearing this all together as a suit. :o\ Not sure why…. Maybe I should go try it on in the store and see myself in it.
Parfait
Once again, I agree with zora.
Polished Pinstripes
I’d like it better if it was a pencil skirt, but I love the color and texture!! I’d definitely at least try this one on.
Susie
I like that it’s a different shape since I already have about 20 pencil skirts and just 2 other shapes both of which are black. I’m considering pulling the trigger on this, which would be my first St John piece: http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/st-john-collection-flounce-hem-milano-knit-pencil-skirt/3606889?origin=wishlist
Susie
Just realized that’s also classified as a pencil skirt, oh well! At least the flounce adds some variety. I’m pretty sure people who don’t know my name in my office refer to me as “the pencil skirt girl”
Anonattorney
What sort of body type do the flounce skirts work for? I just don’t really get them, at all. I love pencil skirts, and I think a-lines can work well, but I don’t really get the in-between effect with the flounce skirt. I can’t really pinpoint why I don’t like them, but I think sometimes they look a little unpolished?
BUT, I keep seeing them everywhere, so I think I need to come around. I also shy away from overly feminine details for me, even though I like them on other women.
Tired Squared
Very thin women with less butt. There is an attorney in my office with that body type who looks FANTASTIC in flounce skirts.
Fiona
I think they also look nice on curvy women. It’s like the boot cut on jeans – the flounce balances the other curves.
I love them. I think they are a way to be more feminine while still being professional.
B
Would it look ok to wear the dress and jacket together, or is that too matchy? I love the look of this material.
hoola hoopa
Style-wise, I think it would work. My main concern would be that it would feel too bulky and hot on top.
Toffee
Two questions: what top would you wear with this jacket and black slacks? I don’t love the dark blue they paired with it.
Two: TJ how soon is too soon to miss 1.5 days of work? I lateraled to a big firm a month ago. The nanny scheduled vacation without asking for next week. H is traveling so my 7.5 month old will have to stay with strangers. She’s going through an extreme b stranger anxiety phase so I’d really rather limit her time with strangers. But I hate to take time off right now. Although my group is extremely nice, they don’t seem to miss work. How bad would it be for me to miss? It shouldn’t happen much since H only travels once or twice a year.
LawyrChk
Others may disagree, but I wouldn’t take off this early and for this reason. If it were an emergency or truly couldn’t be helped, I’d feel differently, but this isn’t that you have no childcare opportunities; you just don’t want to use the option available. This isn’t an emergency, and if they find out the entire story, I think it will reflect poorly on you.
ac
I reluctantly agree. I think after 3 months of regular/absent only in emergency or illness attendance you can start taking more “discretionary” absences, but I think taking off this early for something like nanny vacation & stranger-fearing baby could be misconstrued as entitlement. I totally sympathize and it is a sucky position to be in!
mama of 2
This sucks and I totally understand why you’d want to take off. But I think you should use back-up care if you have it. It sounds like face time matters in your group and honestly, there will be lots of times when you need to use back-up care options. It’s helpful (I think) to get comfortable with that as early as possible. There will be plenty of times where you need backup care in a legitimate crisis and better to figure out your options and your systems NOW, when you have advance notice and it’s not a crisis. Think of it as a dry run for the inevitable disaster. One other note: if you’re planning on using an emergency back-up care center, you need to get lots and LOTS of forms in advance – medical, guardian, etc. Start sorting it out now.
LH
What about asking to work from home? You’d still need someone to come over and watch her, but it might make her and you a lot less anxious if she got to stay in her familiar surroundings and you were there. Obviously it depends on your group, but I think that would go over a lot better than asking for vacation so soon. I also don’t think you have to go into details about why you need to work from home.
preg anon
That’s what I’ve decided I’ll do in the future. I was so stressed out about the random woman who came to watch my son that I basically sat and watched the nanny cam all day at work anyway. I would have felt much better if I were working in the next room.
Anonymous
As someone whose kiddo is in the throws of stranger anxiety right now, being home with baby and the temporary sitter would make matters worse! Seriously, they recover a lot faster from a quick, established routine of kiss and bye bye than a long drawn out good bye or knowing you’re around but not accessible!
AnonLawMom
Disagree. 1.5 days is not a huge deal. Assuming you were upfront in your interview about being a mom, I would not stress about this. You can get work done from home during nap time and be on email all day. You are a person with a family. Your coworkers should understand that. You can make up any work hours either before or after.
Anon
Agree. Even if you weren’t upfront in your interview (we’ve hired people w/o knowing they had children). It’s 1.5 days, not a whole week.
PA
Agree. Let them know you’ll be available to the extent possible, and then try to be as responsive as possible (respond to emails during naps, etc). But 1.5 days isn’t long enough that it should be a problem.
Samantha
+1, I think you can do it. Or work from home with a new backup caregiver as a second option.
After you get back to work, just put in extra hours and do everything you can do appear professional and be on top of everything.
People's Republic
+1. For sure. You might as well introduce your new company to the reality of who they hired – a real human with the occasional need to be a human outside of work. (gasp) You can check in during the day, and show that you are conscientious, if that would make you feel better and reflect well at work.
anon
as a non-mother, this comment annoys me–the idea that if you are a mom and you disclosed this in the interview, then it is perfectly ok to take random days off from work. The fact that the OP is a mom, or needs the days off for mom-related duties, is not relevant. Either her company will allow this (unplanned days off for personal reasons) or they will not, but to expect special treatment because she is a mom, and can’t possibly held to the same standards as other (non-mom) employees is off the charts. This comment screams to me that the person who wrote it (and presumably, everyone who chimed in with support) thinks that moms or people with families are somehow entitled to special treatment.
Anon
This. And for anyone thinking that a non-mother can take 1.5 days off for other reasons – we all know that’s not true in practical circumstances.
a lawyer
+1 Sorry, but moms in my experience often to seem to think they are entitled. Sometimes I want to tell my male colleagues that in my “lunch hour,” which they now think we all should have together, I do all the things their spouses do like pick up drycleaning, run by the grocery, empty the dishwasher, etc. (I live in a small town and often come home for lunch.) Point being, those of us without spouses have a lot to do, too, and no spouses to help.
Anon
Disagree. I am not a mother, I work at a large firm, and I have taken days off to care for my parents or grandparents when their medical conditions required it. No one batted an eye.
Also a lawyer
+1. I couldn’t agree more. I agree with the first commenter who said this isn’t a true “emergency” where she doesn’t have any childcare options. She just doesn’t like the options she has available. As a non-mom, I would never expect to be given this type of extra consideration.
KLG
Well obviously she doesn’t think it’s “perfectly okay” or she wouldn’t be polling people to ask whether they think it’s okay.
I’m so tired of people having these battles. We’re all on the same team here. If we’re single and/or married with no kids, our male colleagues assume we have tons of free time to spend at the office when in reality we need that time grocery shop, pick up drycleaning, get the oil changed, etc. If we have kids, our male colleagues might cut us more slack to take a day off for a sick kid but then they also assume that we are not as dedicated to our jobs as our childless peers.
Everyone needs to google Ash Beckham’s TED talk on Hard = Hard.
Fiona
+1 And it’s not just male colleagues – I’ve worked with plenty of women bosses who were less accommodating than my male colleagues. Everyone’s time needs to be respected.
But no where did the OP ask for “special” or “entitled” treatment. She was gauging the response of a reasonable accommodation. Childcare issues happen. Sick pets, broken vehicles, and all manner of other personal issues happen. Sometimes, they don’t conveniently happen on the weekends or outside of regular work hours. It should not be the deciding factor on whether someone is a good performer at their job.
Toffee
Thanks, everyone. I’m going to keep thinking about it. At this point, I go days without speaking with anyone about work related stuff, but we chat daily. So I’m unlikely to be needed on an urgent basis, but I’m still very uneasy about missing work, even though this really is an exception. H is available to take her the vast majority of time.
Anyway, although I could answer email instantly all day, I doubt I could get much work done if I’m having to take care of DD. She’s just a bit to needy, lol. So I’d feel disingenuous if I said I would work from home.
WestCoast Lawyer
If DD is 7.5 months old, is she napping consistently. I find I still get quite a bit of work done when I have to work from home with my little one because she takes 2 naps of 1-3 hours each (entirely depending on how she is feeling). I try not to schedule a lot of calls, because when she’s up she’s not exactly quiet, but I can consistently rely on 4 hours of productive work time while she’s napping, can selectively respond to a few emails while she is up and then can make up any additional work after she goes to bed. It’s not 100% the same as being in the office, but I wouldn’t feel disingenuous about working from home if that sounds like something you can do.
NbyNW
Ha! My DD never napped consistently and then only one per day max. She would occasionally nap in the car while we were driving but would never take a “planned” nap. We now joke that she was just so stubborn (and still is) that she just refused.
OCAssociate
Agreed…at 7.5 months, we generally got 2-3 naps of 30-45 minutes. Just long enough to get something started or answer a few emails, but not enough time to get work done. If you don’t have a great napper, working from home without another caregiver there just doesn’t work.
Susie
For your other question, I think I’d wear this jacket and jeans with a solid white, green, yellow, or gray shirt.
Natalie
I would wear it with white or cream or you could do a nice coral/salmon or mint with it if you want to make it feel light and spring-like.
Natalie
ourstylefiles.com
NOLA
Reposting, since I posted so late on the early thread:
Okay, I tried on these shoes the other day in the Quarter. They are totally cute but I feel like I’m nuts to want them. They’re essentially jellies made into a wedge!
http://www.shoebedousa.com/collections/all/products/lady-couture-fun-a145
See my tumblr for what they look like on. I think they’d be really comfortable.
NOLA
Oh and have to say I love the skirt with this suit.
zora
they look amazing on her. seriously.
Single Anon
Following up on this morning’s thread on being single and the pros and cons, this blog post really struck me the other day.
http://www.theawl.com/2014/04/all-the-single-ladies
I actually keep rereading it. It’s just so validating.
TO Lawyer
I love this! I really like the first paragraph which explains how finding someone is different from excelling in all other areas of your life – I wish I could explain that to my extended family who just cannot understand why I’m single and unmarried.
NOLA
Wow, just bookmarked this to read again.
Single Anon
Right? I love Heather Havrilesky’s writing.
Ellen
This could be ME! The onley thing I would add is that most men that I meet just want to have sex with me but do NOT want to comit. What is that all about and do other’s in the HIVE have this probelem? I can NOT understand what the big deal is with them. Yes I understand that sex is fun for them, but once they are OUT of high school and college, seeing a naked person should NOT be so hot. Nowaday’s with the Internet, they can see alot more then they ever could before, so the time should be for them to find a QUALITY woman (like me) who is BOTH pretty and smart, and THAT is the kind of women they should be interested in MARRYING and setteling down with, not just huffeing and puffeing in bed until they do their thing and then just rolleing over and leaveing afterward’s. FOOEY on men like this. FOOEY! I realy am speecheless when it come’s to looser’s like this. At age 33, I should have been MARRIED with 2 kids; Rosa has 3 and a husband and a house and an SUV and a Housekeeper, but all I have is my PROFESIONAL CARREER as an attorney at law, duly admitted in the State of New York. That can ONLEY take me so far. So far it has NOT found me a HUSBAND. FOOEY!
January
If you liked that, then I would also recommend that you check out Sara Eckel’s “It’s Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons Why You’re Single.” Very reassuring.
(If you haven’t guessed by now, one of my apparent hobbies involves reading self-help books).
Single Anon
Thanks. Just ordered from Amazon.
zora
this is amazing, I’ve been reading it over and over since it was posted. I’m obsessed
zora
Also this one.. it’s like she’s Writing About Me!!!!
http://www.theawl.com/2014/04/ask-polly-how-do-i-make-my-boyfriend-listen
“And then there are smart women with lots to say who are also very sensitive and weird and analytical and incredibly talkative, who ALSO listen very closely. These women are often labeled “a little too intense.” We think way too much, and slice and dice everything under the sun like a Ginsu knife that’s been sharpened one too many times and is now capable of cutting a watermelon in half like it’s made of crepe paper.”
Single Anon
I AM A SHARP F*CKING KNIFE.
zora
A SHARP MOTHERF*CKING KNIFE!!
zora
And I am SO LUCKY to have NOLA and other amazing SHARP KNIVES on thissite to be some of my Champion Listeners!!! lurvyou!!
NOLA
Awww thanks! Always happy to listen … except when I’m falling asleep over dinner. ;)
Tuesday
Reposting from this morning’s thread, hoping for more replies:
Does anybody here know anything about the Cocoon brand raincoats? I need to replace my decade-old Burberry, and am having trouble finding anything under $2k. Cocoon has one that would be ~$1k, but I don’t know anything about them. They’re UK-based, and their website is cocoon-online.com.
And/or, can anybody help me find a replacement for my Burberry? There seem to be two factors making the search hard: one, it’s long (below my knees), and two, the zip-in liner. Cocoon has the length but not the zip-in liner (their liners attach via “small stud fastenings” — would that be “snaps” in the US?).
Thanks, ladies.
BB
Hi, me again! Have you looked at Traditional Rainwear or Mackintosh? Not sure if they have exactly what you want, but they came up in my search. As you mentioned, men always get the better made clothes (ugh.), so often when I need something like this, I look through Style Forum for the good men’s brands and see if they make women’s lines. I did this for boots and it worked quite well.
Tuesday
Thanks, BB. I have seen those two, but TR’s only women’s raincoat is double-breasted, which is not for me, and Mackintosh lists prices (about $1300 for the one that looks closest to what I want), but not details, so I don’t know if it has a lining.
I did not know about Style Forum, so am off now to start browsing…
ss
I have a Mack, in the classic shape with the high buttoned collar, no lining, a warm orange colour, has held up nicely through a few years of regular spring and autumn use. My main caveat if you are not used to this make is that the special bonded treatment of its fabric to render it water-proof also means that it is very very stiff. My coat stands away from the body and while I like the effect of interesting volume myself, not everyone will.
Tuesday
BB, I’m still looking around, but StyleForum led me to O’Connells Clothing, which has some Aquascutum coats for women: http://www.oconnellsclothing.com/home.php?cat=309&sort=orderby&sort_direction=0&do_not_use_navigation=Y
I’ve never heard of O’Connells.
BB
(Yay for working at home today so I can vicariously browse with you. :) )
O’Connells looks like it has an amazing coat selection, and I will definitely be looking more closely at it. From what I understand, Aquascutum closed its British manufacturing when it went out of business 2 years ago. An Asian firm bought the name, so I don’t know if O’Connells’ stuff is from the old British factory or the new owners whose quality might not be the same level. Too bad I don’t live anywhere near Buffalo and can’t go visit.
Style Forum’s reviews are generally pretty reliable. My husband has found and used many boutique retailers on there. If many members seem to have good experience at O’Connells, it’s probably fine. Also, I notice that they sell Alden shoes, and Alden is super picky about their retailers, so that’s a good sign.
Tuesday
There are actually a couple worth considering for me; I’ll be checking the choices more carefully over the next couple of days.
I bet if you called them they’d tell you if it’s old or new Aquascutum.
Anonymous
Non-permanent ways to cover grays – got any? I don’t want to use permanent haircolor because of the chemicals and because I don’t want to have to start a coloring cycle every X weeks. John Frieda’s old glazes help but not enough. Does the newer version work better? Hair is dark brown.
Anonylicious
Have you looked into semi- or demi-permanent dye? It fades after so many shampoos, so you’re not stuck with an obvious line of demarcation that necessitates coloring your roots, and you can just let it fade away gracefully when you’re tired of dyeing it.
hoola hoopa
Consider henna. IME it’s more permanent than not, but it meets all your actually requirements and looks great with dark hair.
Olivia Pope
This would be my suggest. A henna gloss may be enough.
Olivia Pope
My suggestion. I need to start reviewing these posts before I submit them…
anon a mouse
I would also love this information…. henna was way too labor intensive for me, but I may need to revisit. My grays are multiplying and we are starting to think about TTC so I will need to give up my salon habit.
Weight-lifting
Following up on the morning thread, do you ladies have any suggestions for resources for getting back into lifting? I used to lift while on a sports team, under supervision of our coaches, but haven’t done it in a few years, and I’d like to review different types of lifting, and see what will work best for me. I have limited machine equipment and basic free weights available to me at my (free) work gym, but no trainer.
Anonymous
Check out the New Rules of Lifting for Women
Mpls
I have this one – the “for Women” part is mostly to say that women shouldn’t be afraid of weight lifting. Get the actual book and not just the ebook (in my opinion) because it makes flipping through the lift example part of the book easier. The book talks about what the intention of the exercise is, so you can focus on that instead having “perfect” form. The internet is also helpful for working out some alternate moves if you just have free weights.
(also in a free gym, with free weights and no long bar, with no trainer)
Anon
A lot of people recommend Youtube but I have injured myself pretty badly trying to emulate exercises. For me, I needed someone to show me how to do the lifts propery, which I achieved through the combination of personal training and a friend who was into lifting. It may be worth finding a trainer you can hire for a few sessions to go over the basics.
Anon99
YouTube is dangerous if you don’t have a trusted resource (person, book, forum) to point you to the good videos – there are plenty of great ones but also plenty of horrible ones and if you cannot tell the difference, they aren’t of any use as a guideline.
Anon
I would go to a class or see a trainer at gym where they have equipment. Once you have a routine, you can do it on your own.
Anon99
Almost all trainers are either idiots or poorly educated themselves, and will teach you how to do things incorrectly.
I agree with the NROLFW suggestion, and would add http://www.stumptuous.com/ .
Hair Color
Is there a good resource that explains the different hair color techniques (foil vs. balayage vs flamboyage vs. all of the others I’ve never heard of) and treatments (glosses?)? I have naturally dishwater blonde hair and have highlighted it for the last 15 years or so. The first few years were through the cap, and it’s been foil ever since, with occasional lowlights in winter. I’m getting kind of bored with my color, feel like there’s a bit of uniform striping when it first gets done, and it’s just sort of dull and not shiny enough. I’m thinking about trying something different this time–I plan on consulting with my colorist, but wanted to do some background reading of the different options and see example photos beforehand (and get an idea if I need to give her a heads up for a longer appointment).
Anonymous
I can’t recommend a resource but I recently started getting balayage instead of highlights for my dirty blond hair and I love it. It lasts so much longer and grows out much more naturally. Highlights and a haircut used to take 4 hours but I am in and out in 1.5 hours with balayage. I recently went five months between appointments and was still getting compliments on my hair after 4 months.
Hair Color
Thanks, this is really useful! Balayage is what I’m leaning toward, depending on what my colorist thinks. I am just so predictable with my hair and scared of change, so when I look at pictures that are captioned as balayage but that I consider to be more of a really dramatic ombre, I get nervous that I don’t know the terms and will end up with the wrong look (my colorist is really good and would clarify with me so these are probably unfounded nerves, but I just can’t stop googling the pictures!).
Sadie
what do you mean by uniform striping?
Hair Color
Just that the highlights are all evenly spaced within each layer and each layer is evenly spaced, and each highlight strand is the same thickness and intensity of color, so it’s like my hair is a solid grid of natural and highlighted shade. They’re pretty thin highlights so it’s not like the raccoon stripes of trends past, but it still looks so orderly and non-naturally occurring.
Samantha
Can anyone recommend a flat iron to me? Never owned one but want to have an easy and quick way to iron my hair. I occasionally have it done in a salon and like the look, and at home would probably use it 1x/week for days I want to look extra-put together.
A friend recommended going with a 1.5 inch rather than a smaller plate (does this refer to the width of the flat plates? Clueless here) since that would mean fewer passes through my hair. But the sheer variety of options on amazon (tourmaline/ceramic/ionic/chi) has my head spinning.
Anonymous
CHI is always highly recommended. I bought an FHI 1.5″ ceramic on Folica and have been really happy with it. It’s held up for years, heats up quickly, and only takes one pass over each section (I always see younger girls doing a dozen fast passes over the same section–SO bad for their hair!). I had 1″ straighteners before this one and like being able to move down a section faster, and with a thicker plate you can curve it at the end to get a soft curl. With the smaller plate, the curl angle was too weird and looked like I zoned off with the curling iron.
anon
I have the same one & love it – it’s replaced a curling iron for me too as I use it to make wavy/not too curled looks as well as pin straight.
roses
I love my CHI too, but be careful if you are buying off of Amazon, as some people have complained of fakes. My stylist uses a GHB and I like that a smidge more, but they’re a lot more expensive.
hellskitchen
I got this from Amazon as my first flat iron and it works well: Remington Wet 2 Straight 2″ Wide Plate Wet/Dry Ceramic Hair Straightening Iron with Tourmaline. The wet to straight allows me to use it on damp hair without damaging my hair but I tend to use it on a low heat setting. One lesson I learned as a ironing newbie – flat ironing straightens hair but I also lose volume at the crown which I hate. I wish I had bought a thick barrel curling iron instead because it can style and straighten hair but still allow you to keep some volume and wave.
Orangerie
Sedu makes the best flat irons. They aren’t cheap but the tourmaline plates are so much less damaging to hair.
Budget Girl
I have a nanocroc, its 3 years in and still perfect. Expensive I believe (it was a gift) but totally worth it. I can get my lob perfect in about 4 minutes. Something that provides so much chic in so little time is well worth the investment. Okay a quick google says its about 250, but I am sure there are ways to stack sales ect and get it for less, lots of sites seem to have sales for about 150 on it.
Samantha
Thanks all for your responses. Sounds like these are all brand name recommendations (chi, sedu, nanocroc, remington, fhi). I’m wondering what features I should be looking for and based on your answers it seems like:
– 1.5inch plate
– ability to iron wet and dry (I thought one always ironed damp hair, that’s what my stylist does!)
– tourmaline material to minimize damage
Anything else?
I’m also confused because when I search for “chi” on amazon, a lot of non-chi-brand name products come up, making it sound like chi is an attribute rather than a brand.
anon
check out the blog “the beauty department” – they do lauren conrad’s hair and have tons of advice on all things hair & makeup. fwiw, I have never flat ironed damp hair – only bone dry.
roses
I actually don’t recommend wet to dry. It is basically boiling water on your hair – every stylist I’ve talked to says it’s very damaging.
Anonymous
Agreed. It’s convenient, but not good for your hair at all.
I think you have to buy Chi at authorized salons only, so anyone selling on Amazon is either selling fakes, used, or stolen merchandise, or is violating their distributor agreement by listing on there.
Folica mentioned above is a great site for hair tools, and they’ll have both FHI and Sedu, usually at the best prices you can find online. Check for promotions–it seems like they’re always running some deal where you can get 10-20% off.
Anonymous
Forgot to add–the products that are coming up on Amazon when you search Chi but are non-Chi are probably appearing because (a) the product description attempts to compare it to Chi, (b) people mention Chi in the reviews, or (c) people who search for Chi and don’t find it end up buying that product.
Maddie Ross
Chis are much more widely available now – Target carries them now.
Anonymous
Oh, good to know!
Brunette Elle Woods
I just got an Izunami hair straightener. It was recommended by my hair stylist and it is amazing! I used to use the Remmington wet to straight, but this one is so much better!
http://www.izunami.com/
CPA
I have been trying to get my husband to get a physical for a few years. I started a new job 10 months ago that incentivizes employees to better manage their health through a wellness screening – they pay each employee and spouse $750 per year for going through the screening. My husband definitely wasn’t leaving his $750 on the table so he went through the screening. I’m so glad that there was something there to finally motivate him….
He received the results for his blood work and his triglycerides are 222, which is pretty high (should be under 150) and his HDL is pretty low at 48. His total cholesterol is 188, which is under the recommended 200. I realize these scores aren’t horrible but they aren’t great either. He’s only 32, what are they going to look like when he’s 50? I’m really hoping that this will encourage him to stop his occasional cigarette habit and cut down on his consumption of beer and red meat. I don’t want to be a nagging wife every time he eats/drinks/smokes something that he shouldn’t. I’m scared that he’s not going to want to change and that I’m going to resent him for it.
His body fat was also at 23%, which isn’t awful but isn’t great for a guy either. His BMI is in the overweight, almost obese category (I realize BMI isn’t a great measurement).
We are planning on TTC in the next 3 months. This really stresses me out. Do I want to have a child with a person that isn’t taking great care of themselves in their 30’s??? What will it be like later?
Am I right to be concerned about this or am I overreacting? I’m open to any advice you all have for being supportive and encouraging without coming off as a total nag.