Bargain Friday’s TPS Report: Swag Pencil Skirt

71 Comments

1. Eek – no thank you the chains.

   1. My exact reaction.

   2. Really? I thought they were sort of playful and not too “out there.” I think it might be hard to wear this if you aren’t pretty much flat across the stomach area, though – otherwise the chains might not lay right.

      1. I think my style is just much more feminine than a lot of people’s on here. For example, I like bows and ruffles and wear them to the office (with moderation), which is apparently blasphemous in some others’ minds! (OK, that’s an exaggeration, but I’m feeling feisty today.) I guess I wouldn’t think it was so odd to see the chains on another person, but my initial reaction was negative because the chains would definitely keep me from buying this.

         1. I’m in complete agreement about the bows and ruffles, in moderation of course! I’m a young lawyer at a big firm and am honestly not sure what reaction it gets from others, esp. older male partners, but I like it for me. I think it helps that I’m not an overly “girlie girl” to start with (low key makeup and no-fuss hair), so the entire look isn’t too over the top.

            Plus, I think most people just appreciate people who make an effort to dress nicely and professionally, without worrying so much about whether it’s their personal preferred style. Just MHO.

2. Very nice skirt – I like – the removable chain is a nifty touch. And I always go for things that are washable. I think I will buy this one.

   1. wow, i actually agree with 75 for once.

3. Can’t see myself w/ a chain across my belly, but glad it’s removable (will never understand pieces like this that aren’t)

   Any lawyers see the NY Times piece on lawyers choosing to stay in public interest law instead of going to “big law”? (http://tinyurl.com/2cu7jez)

   1. I think that most folks in the biglaw world have been aware of this for the past couple of years–I knew a lot of people who were put on public interest deferrals and many of them would have loved to stay after the deferral year ended. But it’s only feasible to do so if you can service your debt on that salary (or if there are loan repayment options available to you that are actually workable–my law school had guaranteed loan repayment for public interest employees, but your household income and assets had to total under $75,000 annually, which meant I could only get LRAP if I didn’t get married or if I had a non-working spouse).

      And of course, many public interest organizations could only fund those positions because the law firms were paying the deferred students’ salaries. What I’m seeing is that those jobs are evaporating when the law firm stipend does.

   2. There’s also this one in Slate today about lawyers leaving Biglaw: http://www.slate.com/id/2264501/

      1. How apt— today is my last day in biglaw! What is the law firm equivalent of sliding down the emergency chute with beer in hand?

         1. Well, when I left, I waited until 30 minutes before I walked out the door to send the “Adios” email. The very few people I cared about, my secretary, HR, and the partners I worked with knew I was leaving, but it was a bit of a surprise to everyone else. I kind of feel like I just pulled a slide and left :).

         2. Ha! A coworker and I were just saying that today, that if we had to leave for some reason, we might as well grab a beer and unleash the emergency chute!! (even though our CPA firm doesn’t have an emergency chutes, darn).

      2. thinking about leaving the big law world. Started with about 160K plus in loans and have gotten it down to about 80K. Any thoughts as to when a feasible time to leave big firm life would be? Obviously it depends on a lot else – but I’d basically be going from a 200K job to probably a low-100K job. Anyone done this still with a lot of loans? thoughts? Thanks!

   3. Shayna – I think due to your age, you may not be aware that the chain belt look is actually a quite classic, Chanel-type of look.

      1. Ugh, why is everyone jumping on Shayna lately??? Enough already. I don’t like the chain either, regardless of whether it is classic or not.

         1. I didn’t read Sharon’s comment as jumping on Shayna. Just adding some info.

         2. I wasn’t jumping on Shayna at all. I’m just suggesting that because I think she is a young twenty-something, she may not be aware that the chain-across-the-belt is a style that years ago, was regarded as being quite classy and ladylike. No woman who came of age in the mid-1980’s failed to have a navy dress with white collar and gold buttons and a chain waist! It was sort of a Nancy Reagan-esque, Chanel-esque, St. John-esque go-to look.

            1. Sorry, I’m with Me Too — that was condescending.

            2. Sharon, please don’t compare this skirt to vintage Chanel! I’m young, not dumb.

      2. This particular chain does not scream “Chanel” to me. But I see your point.

      3. This has nothing to do with my age or lack thereof— It may be a “classic look”, but I still don’t like the focal point of my outfit to be my belly.

         1. @Shayna total cosign!

            1. Agreed!

4. It’s OK. Even though the chain is removable, I don’t like the buttons that attach the chain to the skirt.

5. Cute, but pencil skirts really look better on me when they’re high waisted. I like the chain but I’m not much of a bow girl.

   Thought of the day: How do you react to a stranger on the bus telling you your shirt’s tag is sticking out? I personally would be so grateful for someone not letting me walk around like that all day and I do sometimes tell other people but I’ve gotten a very huffy reaction once. Is it too invasive?

   1. I would just say thanks and tuck the tag in! Honestly, I can’t see why anyone would get huffy over something like that when the commenter is obviously trying to be helpful and in a nice way. It might be different if the issue was not immediately fixable or possibly intentional.

   2. I might be a little embarrassed, but I would be happy someone told me!

   3. I would be grateful. Once when I was a summer associate I somehow managed to put the cardigan in my sweater set on inside out (it is an open weave-type one, and not super obvious when it’s inside out). A nice woman in the elevator told me though, so thankfully I did not walk into the office with it on inside out. I was a little embarassed, but less so than I would have been had it been one of the partners who pointed it out to me.

   4. I had my skirt *unzipped* once! I was pumping gas and a stranger came up to me and told me! I was thrilled to have avoided getting to work like that!!!

      1. To me, the rule is – tell people if it’s something they can do something about immediately (lipstick on teeth, sweater turned inside out, tag showing that can be tucked in, toilet paper on shoe, pants unzipped, etc.).

         If it’s something they can’t do anything about in the moment (stain, run in pantyhose right before walking into important meeting), what’s the point of telling them and making them self-conscious?

         1. That is a great rule! I tell my daughter that when she points out a flaw of mine, LOL! Only tell me the fixable ones!

         2. This is a rule to live by!

   5. You did the right thing! I had a price tag sticking out of my new skirt and two guys behind me mentioned it when I was walking. I was embarrassed, but I appreciated them saying something.

   6. I always tell people because I would want them to tell me. That said, I had a male colleague who would come up behind me and tuck in my tag for me…which was creepy. Tell people, don’t touch people ;-)

      1. Agreed. I might do that (walk up to the person and tuck the tag in for them) with someone I’m close to (my BF or a really good friend) but not to a work colleague and certainly not to a stranger.

   7. Many (many!) years ago in college I volunteered at the campus hospital. One day a staffer walking behind me in the corridor hollered, “Hey volunteer! Your skirt!” (I was easily identifiable as a volunteer by my puke-yellow lab coat-type jacket.) I realized that the bottom of my long denim prairie skirt had gotten tucked into the waistband of my hot pink tights (hey, this was Chicago in the winter, I was wearing boots and my skirt was SUPPOSED to cover my legs) and my fanny (in tights) was showing. I was beyond grateful and it was such an embarrassing situation I had to just laugh — then, and now, thinking back to my atrocious outfit. Which in all honesty was the norm, not the exception, back then. :-)

6. The skirt looks cute and if it were from anywhere else, I’d probably check it out. However, I’m be wary considering the brand. I used to like White House/Black Market, but I’ve had very bad experiences in recent years. Quality seems to have gone down somewhat.

   1. I’ve heard this comment about several stores lately. Is this something that seems to be happening all over? Do we just have to accept that we will be paying more while getting lower quality?

      I just moved out of shopping at Target/Walmart. So I am having a tough time adjusting to higher prices. If the quality is low, why bother to move out of the lower end market?

      1. I haven’t noticed it with White House/Black Market, but as far as other stores, I think two things are happening:

         #1 Stores like J. Crew, Banana, etc. are lowering their quality.
         #2 Stores like Target, Wal-Mart, H&M (to some extent) are upping their quality.

         Honestly, I don’t notice a huge difference in quality between “mall stores” and Target/H&M. I don’t really shop at Wal-Mart, so I can’t speak to their level of quality.

         Of course, there are exceptions. I would put Boden in the same category as J.Crew, etc., but I think their quality is much better. And there are some stores, like Forever 21, that are still just extremely low quality.

         1. How do you find Boden’s fit? It looks Talbots-esque to me. I’m not above tailoring a good piece for work, so Talbots can be good, but if Boden is both boxy and casual then it seems not worth it to me.

            1. I’ve found that it varies by piece, which can be frustrating, since you can’t try it on in a store. If you sign up for their e-mail list, they regularly send out offers and a frequent one is free shipping both ways (meaning to you and also on returns/exchanges). I usually try to wait to get that offer before ordering.

               On a side note (and this may or may not apply to you), I’ve ordered some of the mini Boden stuff for my niece and nephews and it’s all been great. Even on their kids stuff, the quality is amazing.

            2. I haven’t found it to be a boxy fit at all. I like their cuts, usually. Am not a fan of Talbot’s at all.

            3. I’ve never tried Talbots and still think of it as a store intended for people older than I (mid-20s), but I heart Boden and do not find it to be boxy in the slightest. To the contrary, I have had to return things on occasion that were too formfitting for my liking – at least for work clothes. FWIW I’m a 32DD.

   2. I agree, Va Gal. I also think that WH/BM is shooting for a young crowd now. More social than professional, even in their basic pieces. Then again, “young” is all relative, being past the 20 year mark in my work field.

   3. I’m wearing a WH/BM top now. It isn’t stellar quality but I like it. I don’t buy much for them because I do think their price point doesn’t match the quality but a sale fixes that!

      1. Exactly – I buy only on sale there.

7. Does anyone else think it hangs/drapes kind of awkwardly? Kind of an ‘if it doesn’t hang right on the model, it definitely won’t hang right on me’ thing. I dunno, maybe it’s just me but I don’t like the sort of gappy/choppy look around the hem and it almost looks wrinkled down the sides and front. I’d have to go to the store/mall which I absolutely cannot do the weekend before school starts. Oh, well.

8. I’m worried about the cotton material. I got a skirt suit from BR recently and the material is part cotton– the skirt always wrinkles, no matter what I do. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it possible to use starch or something?

   1. This is probably entirely TMI, but I’ve noticed that all my skirts wrinkle in the stomach area when I pull them up to use the bathroom. Is there some sort of trick I am unaware of that would avoid this scenario? Pulling the skirt down seems to be the only other option and very unfeasible.

      1. Haha, well, since this is anonymous, I can say that I fold my skirts up instead of bunching them up when I sit down!

      2. I fully unzip and then raise, so the skirt is right-side-out, unfolded, and pretty much around my chest. This may be less feasible for the more bosom-y corporettes.

   2. Yes, starch when ironing will definitely help.

   3. You can use starch or Magic Sizing. The latter will help with wrinkles without giving it that hardened starchy feel.

9. I used to absolutely love White House/Black Market, but I can’t get their sizing right anymore. Doesn’t Michelle Obama shop there? I hope because of that renewed publicity they step up their game again

10. OK, this is a complete thread jack and not at all Corporette-related, but I need to quickly vent.

    First, there were all of those problems with the Gap groupon yesterday, now Gilt is featuring the new designer lines at Target and: 1)I logged on at exactly 12:00 (I kept refreshing the page) only to find out that different things I had my eye on were all sold out. I moved through the page quickly, so the latest I tried to get one of those things was 12:05 and 2)I’m trying to buy two things that weren’t sold out and the page has been loading for 3 minutes or so, so I’m guessing they are actually sold out.

    I understand these sites provide great services, but I don’t think they should host sales of this magnitude if they aren’t prepared for the volume!

    Rant over. Carry on.

    1. I hope you stuck with it. I had a lot of problems in the first five minutes, but then got it to work and picked up all the John Derian stuff I wanted.

       1. Unfortunately, by the time I got it to work again, everything I wanted was “In Members’ Carts.” Although, there were only two John Derian items I wanted; the rest were all Tucker or Mulberry.

          It’s not a huge deal, it’s just annoying!

    2. I second your rant. I was logged on before 12, went directly to the item I had my eye one. When I tried to purchase the bag at 12:01, it was already sold out.

       I do realize that this was probably a huge draw for Gilt, but it’s still super frustrating and makes me wonder how many items they actually had for sale.

    3. Yeah, considering that in less than 2 weeks most of that stuff will be on the target.com site, I’m not too worried that I missed out – but I really liked some of the housewares and couldn’t believe how fast they sold out!

       1. Unfortunately, the Mulberry collection (which is what I wanted the most) doesn’t hit Target stores/on-line until October 10. Boo.

11. Thanks for posting. I’ve been looking for a lower rise black pencil skirt. High waisted pencil skirts are not very flattering on me. I ordered an 8 though I had no idea what size to get. Based on their chart, my waist had me in the 2 category but the hips had me in the 14!! I went with 8 because that is what I wear in BR pants while I wear a 4 at Express. Go figure. Despite what appears to be a huge difference in numbers I have a super straight body type. 32 Waist, 35 hips, 34 bust.

    1. 35 hips had you at a 14??? That wouldn’t even clear my upper thighs, and I’m usually a 6. Why must sizing be so inconsistent?

       1. Not to speak for Blonde Lawyer, but I looked at the sizing chart because I was super-confused and I think she may have accidentally switched the numbers…Based on the measurements she’s given, it looks like a 14 in the waist category and a 2 in the hips.

          1. You got it. Thanks.

          2. OK that makes a lot more sense, thanks. It still seems off though — 32 waist as a 14?

             1. Yep, that’s pretty standard.

    2. 32 waist, 39 hips here. Buying pants is a nightmare. Skirts are a bit easier b/c they don’t look sloppy if they’re slightly loose in the hips. But I sympathize with you.

12. Many who work in big law firms or the equivalent are thinking of leaving. Please think twice – thrice – before doing so – it is a cold – and expensive – world out there. Where are you going to find a new job with a pension or the equivalent? Once you leave, can you re-enter? This is not like two beers and a quick exit – there is much more at stake.

    1. ???

       To each his/her own.

13. Cotton-spandex is the most disgusting fabric ever. I avoid it like the plague, to be honest. It looks so cheap, especially when used in tailoring.

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