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Bargain Friday’s TPS Report: Ruffle-Trim Open-Front Cardigans

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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. Ruffle-Trim Open-Front CardigansWe've liked a lot of the ruffle cardigans we've seen this season, but have been flummoxed by the asymmetrical or uneven ruffle effect we've seen on a lot of them — some only have details on one side of the neck, others on one shoulder, etc. We like this Old Navy open-front cardigan for the evenly spaced ruffles — and we love the navy, pictured. It's $29, only at OldNavy.com (which is having pretty good sales anyway), and is available in navy, black, white, a taupey gray, peach, and a coral pink, in limited sizes (generally M-XXL). Old Navy Womens Ruffle-Trim Open-Front Cardigans If you've recently seen a great work piece you'd like to recommend to the readers, please e-mail editor@corporette.com with “TPS” in the subject line. Unless you ask otherwise, we'll refer to you by your first initial. (L-2)

Sales of note for 12.5

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

54 Comments

  1. I just ordered this cardiagan, in this color, over the weekend. I loved it’s versatility and feminine touch with the ruffles, and can’t wait for it to arrive

  2. I don’t know if this is just me, but lately I have had a serious issue with all the cardigans I by losing their shape, stretching out after the 1st wear/wash. Not sure what the deal is — they’re all different brands but this has happened pretty consistently. Has anyone else had this problem? Should I be buying extra small ones to ensure they retain their shape later?

    1. Are you hanging them to dry? If your cardigans are of natural fibers, you can handwash or machine wash on lingere/delicate with a little shampoo, shape and lay flat to dry. If you hand wash, roll it in a towel to get most of the excess water off and shape and lay flat to dry. I find that my sweaters last longer and retains their shape when I do this (knitter’s trick!).

  3. Very cute! I love Old Navy’s 100% cotton sweaters – they are great value. For something like this, which probably will look dated in a season or two, I wouldn’t wnat to spend more.

  5. Question:

    I recently bought 2 cardigans from Old Navy – my first purchases ever from this store.

    After wearing both of them only once, the arm pits seem to have bleached themselves from my deodorant (Secret Clear Dry). One is lavander and one is a light gray blue. Both now have pinkish armpits.

    Are they just of bad quality? I’ve never had this happen to me before and I am kinda upset seeing as how I got one wear out of each. Should I be more careful about deodorant and clothes?

    1. I’ve worn Old Navy clothing over the past several years, and never had an issue… I’m usually tired of it before it looks tired — maybe that was a one-off bad experience? I’ve also never heard of deoderant having that effect on anything!

    2. A lot of the clear deodorants do this … I use the Dove deodorant (you know, the ones that keep the “pricklies” away), and don’t get the weird white marks and I don’t bleach my clothes. It might be that Old Navy clothes are (obviously) lower quality than clothes you’d spend more on, and are possibly more susceptible.

      1. Hmmm…thanks guys. I have to say, I was really suprised at the affordable prices of Old Navy and how cute stuff was. I’d love to order a few more things from here. I guess I’ll be more careful with my deodorant around them, or try the solid stick type as KLo suggested.

        1. My husband kills shirts with his deodorant. Google around and you’ll find a lot of helpful suggestions. For our part, we’ve found that running his dress shirts through the wash once without any detergent and then again with detergent seems to lessen the color change issues. Good luck!

          1. I’ll search around and see, thanks for the suggestion. I assumed they were ruined!

      2. I’ve found some of the cheaper stores have this issue with blues turning to pink. I’ve had the experience at NY&Co as well as H&M. I think I had one or two that actually got bleached while I was wearing it, but it didn’t happen with them until the third or fourth wearing.

    3. Any chance of taking them back? Even without the receipts, they should be able to see they’re only been worn once, and honor it, at least with a store credit. Dunno how sticky ON is about returns. Dye grief is often a thing with inexpensive clothes, but this is just silly, their stuff has to be able to stand up to commonly-used deodorants. It could turn out they’ve been getting a lot of returns for this item, and will be cooperative about it, I’ve had that happen. Something that fell apart after a couple of wearings, I took it back and they said, ‘oh, those things, yeah, sorry’.

      1. yeah, maybe I will try and return. It’s a shame cause I really like them, but there is no way I can wear one of them, the stains are huge. While less noticeable on the other, it might just get worse with wear.

  6. This is cute – and I love that Old Navy’s clothing is available in a useful range of sizes (I’m having anger issues with some clothing lines for making anything bigger than a B cup ‘plus size’ or just not available: http://tinyurl.com/y9yal5c )

    And $29 – that’s an appropriate price for a cardigan I’m likely to drag around with me through air conditioned offices all summer

    1. I’m not sure I get the bra size to chest measurement conversion in that link… I wear a 34B, but measuring around the fullest part of my chest with a measuring tape gives me more like 32 or 33 inches, meaning that 1X would be WAY too big, not just barely fitting me.

      1. If the fullest part of your chest is less than 34 inches, then I’m not getting why you wear a 34B — Then again, bra sizes are notoriously overinflated/diluted/inaccurate thanks to manufacturers’ attempts at vanity sizing

          1. Actually, that website I linked to apparently tells me I am a 34D and I KNOW that ain’t true!

          2. Most women (worldwide) wear too-small cups & too-big bands because they’re just SURE they can’t be larger than say a C. (I used to be one of those). Stores often don’t carry sizes larger than say D/DD so women haven’t many options.

            I now order online from Bravissimo where, to my surprise (shock, actually) I take a 30 band size but have had to go up several cup sizes!!

            And ER (below), you never know what ain’t true till you actually buy and try.

        2. I haaate vanity sizing sooo much. Would love to see all the manufacturers to get together and standardize sizing. Yeah, I know: is it nice on my planet?

          But imagine. Drop the meaningless 6s and 10s and 16s and instead base it on actual measurements. ‘This blouse is size 38’ (bust measurement). ‘This skirt is size 44’ (hips). Dresses… hm… go for bust measurement because it’s easier to get the skirt altered than the top?

          Is that what European sizes do? Just to make things more confusing, now I”m starting to see high-end (and aspirational) clothes in those sizes, so now on top of everything I have to remember what European size I am. Grrr.

          Sorry for going off on a rant, but this week I bought two pairs of pants from the same manufacturer, very slightly different style, two different sizes, they both fit me exactly the same. Come on, clothiers, this isn’t rocket science.

          1. speaking of vanity sizing, I never realized how dramatic it was until my mom made me try on her old wedding dress when i was home not too long ago. she got married in 1982, and the dress is a size 10 with no alterations. Here in 2010, I wear a size 0 or 2 in tops, 2 or 4 in pants. Um, yea, why have sizes changed so dramatically? and why can’t we just have standard waist sizes like men’s clothes?

          2. KZ, wedding dresses have weird sizes. You’d probably be a 10 in wedding dresses today. I usually wear a 6 and I wore a 14 in my wedding dress.

      2. When I used to shop at VS ages ago, they always told me just to go into the 34B even though I know I am a 32C/D. That’s probably the case for you as well. 32C is not as widely carried, so many stores will just shove you off into 34B in order to make a sale. I find that the 32B does not fit me right at all- it’s either too big in the band or too small in the cup size.

        1. For the person who said that they know they aren’t a 34D, you might be surprised. That’s my size and I think my boobs are pretty small. Most women actually wear too large of a band size and too small of a cup size. I highly recommend getting a professional bra fitting (I do this at Nordstrom every six months or so, even though the size hasn’t changed in years). Among other things, it has a very slimming effect to have your boobs high, where they belong. For example, my mom wore a 36C for years; about a year ago I took her to Nordstrom for a fitting and turns out she is a 34DD (or something like that). The second she put on the new bra, she looked at least ten pounds thinner and actually had a waist!

          1. DITTO!! I wore 36 C for years, got a professional fitting at a high end bra store and was told 32 DD but didn’t feel comfortable in the bras. Tried some new ones at Aerie (American Eagle cute bras) and fit very well in their 34D though I never considered myself a D cup. The higher you go in band size the bigger the cup is regardless of the letter. So, my bands have always been too big. If you are in between, go with the bigger cup/smaller band in a demi and it will just give you 3/4th coverage (assuming demi’s give half coverage) and look fine! I love wearing the proper size now.

          2. I read somewhere (maybe even on another thread here) that the band should be what holds up your breasts, not the straps, so the smaller band is necessary… Bra shopping is my least favorite of all clothes shopping… at least when you’re swimsuit shopping its because you’re headed off on vacation (or at least to the pool!)

          3. Lulu, I am so glad to read your comment. Also worthwhile to know you have to add a cup size for every band size you go down. So 34C = 32D = 30E. While an E cup may sound awful, it’s no bigger than the C cup (higher band) but may end up taking 5 pounds off you!! I speak from experience.

  7. Question about cardigans in general: Do people usually wear them open or buttoned-up? I just bought a few and am having a hard time figuring out what is the right “look” with them–open somehow feels too sloppy, buttoned-up too stuffy. Advice?

    1. I belt them. Keeps the cardi looking neat. Nips in the waist. Belt adds some visual interest and polish. Love it.

      1. I love the cardigan belt look. Do you have suggestions on belts? Preferably with links :)

    2. I’ve seen some people just button one or two buttons. Of course you won’t have that option w/ this particular sweater.

      Love this sweater and I’d probably belt it.

    4. I’m wearing a button-up cardi this morning with one button fastened at about my bust. I have a button-front shirt on that has somewhat of a v-neck and a bow that gets tied and falls right over that area. I buttoned the cardi just below the start of the bow, so that the bow falls over the cardi. (I’m not sure I described this well…but I think it looks pretty good.) I’m not a big fan of blouses that do the tie in front thing, but I actually like this one, especially since the button-front aspect makes it a bit dressier.

      1. I have always remembered Carson Kressly using a “three button” rule: you should/can button the top, middle, or bottom three buttons on a cardigan in order not to look too “buttoned up” or prim, so I’ve tried to follow that guideline most of the time.

        I also love a skinny belt on a fitted cardi or a wide belt on a longer style for a classic Michelle Obama-esque look.

    5. Try buttoning it only halfway — buttoning only at the top runs the risk of looking too prim and proper a la 1950

    6. does anyone else have large boobs and find that cardigans don’t sit right when belted? I’ve skinny but have big breasts, and I feel like when I belt my cardigan it looks so off. the only way I can make it look right is by buttoning the cardigan, belting it, and then undoing the buttons so that the cardigan sits as if it’s buttoned but isn’t. obviously this is a pain because things shift and i’m constantly correctly my sweater. much easier to button and be done with it. i’m wondering if i’m crazy or other women feel the same way.

      2. I’m not a belted-cardigan fan… actually I really only like belts on pants (if at all)… I dont need to add extra layers/attention to my waist

        1. I don’t like the belted-cardigan look either. I button two buttons at the waist, it nips me in and keeps the cardigan from flapping around.

      3. Have given up cardigans as am reasonably slim but cursed with big boobs that invariably make me go up a dress size !

      4. dee, I completely agree. for me and my DDs, nothing looks good when belted. i never tuck shirts in and never buy anything with a natural-waist belt (such as a trench coat, blazer, cardigan, etc.). i find the longer lines help draw attention away from the bulk around my bust.

        1. Totally agreed on the belted look being a problem. I can’t wait for this trend to GO AWAY!

  9. Old Navy currently has a promotion (code: ONSAVEBIG) through this Sunday where you get 15% off of a $75 purchase, 20% off of $100.

  10. I have an off-topic question. I just got done with a phone interview for a summer job that I’m really excited about. The problem is that I don’t have the interviewer’s email address or physical address, so I’m not sure how to send a thank you note. I can’t find any information about her on the company’s website, either. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do in a situation like this?

    1. Call the interviewer’s office/secretary, ask for an address or email address. Or google it.

      1. If you found the company website, could you send directly or call a main number from that? They can possibly route appropriately. The other option would be to call back and just ask her or if you can get through to an assistant, that would be ideal.

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