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Updated: Jul 22, 2021 95 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Boll & Branch Sheets

Coffee Break

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Big thanks to the readers for turning me on to the Boll & Branch sheets — I was unfamiliar with the brand before they were mentioned in our post on what to buy first in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!

There are still a ton of Boll & Branch offerings in the NAS — I'm currently drooling over this signature stripe set, which looks great, particularly if you want a really minimal but elevated bedroom. They're currently marked to $178-$198, with options for queen, king, or California king beds — but after the sale they'll go back to $268-$298. Nice!

(The deals on “cooling sheets” from UGG are also intriguing, although I do love my linen sheets. Hmmn!)

Readers, have you bought any sheet sets recently that you're loving?

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Sales of note for 9.30.24

Sales of note for 9.30.24

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

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

About Kat

Kat Griffin is the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Corporette. You can read more about her here.

Comments

  1. Anon

    I applied for a job that was listed as Remote, and then got an email from the hiring manager informing me that it was actually 3 days a week on-site and asking if I had plans to relocate (since my resume shows a different location). How do I word my response? “Your job posting was misleading” seems like a bad way to start. I don’t have plans to relocate to the location of the job.

    • Anonymous

      “I applied thinking that this job would be 100% remote. I am not planning to move.”

    • Anonymous

      “JimBobSteve, No, I do not have plans to relocate. I applied based on the job posting which listed this position as fully remote. If that is no longer the case I am not interested in the job. Best regards, Petunia.”

    • Anonymous

      “The job listing advertised the position as remote. If that has changed, I’ll withdraw my application from consideration. Best, ____.”

      I prefer terse, but not rude, in those kinds of scenarios. What IS rude is false advertising.

    • Anonymous

      “I currently have no plans to relocate. Apologies for any confusion- this job was posted as a remote opportunity. Please let me know if you remain interested.”

      • Anonymous

        Disagree, remove the “apologies for any confusion.” That’s a perfect example of women apologizing for things that aren’t their fault.

      • Anonymous

        Pls don’t apologize for confusion that isn’t your confusion. In general, only apologize when you are the one who is sorry for something that you did.

        Their confusion is regretable, but not yours to apologize for.

    • Anon.

      I’d say no and highlight that the posting indicated that it was a remote position. The hiring manager may be different from the person who actually put up the posting.

    • Anon

      “I’m not interested in the position that is on-site. I applied for the remote position”

    • Anon

      I would say something along the lines of “My understanding from the job posting is that the position was 100% remote. I do not have any plans to relocate, but if you would consider me on an entirely remote basis, I remain interested in discussing the position further.”

        • Anon

          Not the Anon you’re responding to, but if you’re really interested you could clarify whether the three days on site are just for a training period, transitioning to fully remote, as maybe you’d be interested in doing that (or maybe not!)

    • Anon

      “This job was advertised as a remote role, not a hybrid role.” Then say something about how you would consider an actual remote role.

    • anon

      I’ve had something similar happen: A position listed as remote where they expected me to relocate across the country to be near their office, but would not actually require me to come into the office. I got other hints that they treated their employees poorly and withdrew.

      Just be glad they are showing you who they are now, instead of after you accepted an offer.

  2. Anonymous

    In my city, a lot of middle schoolers have to do community service hours, which they can do during the summer. My very woke church just announced service projects for next week, all of which are during the workday. I guess working mothers aren’t a constituency of note? So even if my kids weren’t scheduled for a camp and were at home (which would be age appropriate for them — they could walk the dog and fix their lunches and do some house chores and summer reading and then goof off the rest of the day), they would still need a person to drive them. Ugh. I feel like everyone else gets catered to and fussed over and I am just invisible. And notice today for next week means that juggling isn’t realistic at this point. A couple of weeks out or a month out and maybe I could plan around this.

    • Anon

      This was a thing at my church when I was growing up in the early 90s and all we had to do was ask about carpooling. Either one of the adults or high school kids who drove would take us. If it was one of the high school kids, my mom would usually send along a couple of bucks for gas.

      • Anonymous

        This was my thought too. Would the church or someone at the church coordinate transportation?

    • Anonymous

      I think the tricky part is, which you can certainly raise this with the church, it’s volunteers setting this up. Do you want to take on the project of finding volunteer work for middle schoolers? Should the volunteer just not present the option because it might not suit everyone?

    • Anonymous

      That’s a tough one, because presumably the service projects are all things that have to happen during the day. I personally wouldn’t think that was a specific affront to working mothers.

      • Anonymous

        Lord, it’s never a specific affront to working mothers. For one thing, that would start with awareness that we even exist.

        • Mary

          Ain’t it the truth. Now let’s talk about school open house during work hours. Ugh.

    • Anonymous

      Sometimes these opportunities are for orgs that can’t do nights and weekends. I bet they would welcome your constructive feedback. Could they catch a ride with a friend?

      Is there a list you can reply to saying “X would love to participate, but I am in the office all day. Would anyone be able to give him a ride?”

    • Anon

      Who are you mad at, the school for requiring the service or the church for not taking your needs into account?

      • Anonymous

        I’d be mad at the church, which is sensitive to some but not to all (probably noisily sensitive to some; deaf to others).

        The school is assigning this to all, no? Equally oppressed; unequally #blessed.

      • Anon

        I feel OP. My kids are older now but so many programs for kids just assume a stay at home mom. It’s ridiculous that this is still happening in 2021. Kids who have working parents miss out on a lot (in my daughter’s case, girl scouts.)

        • Anonymous

          Amen, a thousand times to: kids who have working parents miss out on a lot

    • Anonymous

      That is such a bummer. I wonder if you could ask the church if they have a second series planned yet so you can get it on the calendar if they might inspire more or open a discussion for more opportunities. Anyway to look beyond the church directly to get the hours? For confirmation when I was young, I was able to help kids practice for the special Olympics on weekends and it was able to “count.” Maybe suggesting some alternatives that are off work hours might get you guys to what you need? (I’m still constantly shocked by how many things are suggested on no notice like this though. I swear there is a group out there who just assumes everyone has a stay at home wife…)

    • Anonymous

      My company offers some community service days, which are great for things like this. I also use PTO when I want to volunteer during the day and have used up my community service days. I would assume that some of the middle school students could walk, take a bike, ride a bus, or be driven by perhaps a babysitter for a younger sibling or an older sibling, so I don’t think this is intentionally excluding you.

    • Anonymous

      This may have been set up by a volunteer who works nights and weekends, or a church employee who has other programs at those times.

    • Bonnie Kate

      Super frustrating!

      This advice may be no good if your church is larger, but in the church that I was raised in it would be very normal for the church to arrange for carpooling and rides – my stay at home mom frequently picked up kids of working parents for church activities. It was a super normal thing for my church. Could you email the minister and explain that you’d love your kids to be involved in the service projects but they would need a ride since you work during the day? If anything, that might prompt the people in charge to realize they’re planning things at times when it’s difficult for working parents.

    • anon

      Can’t your kids just do their service hours elsewhere at a time that isn’t an inconvenience for you?

  3. Anonymous

    Pear-shaped friends — are any jeans on offer that are not skinnies or flares but something more akin to old-school straight-leg jeans? In a curvy cut? I don’t want to have to add darts b/c they seem to inadvertently be sewn in too tight or create a muffin-top. I’d rather start with something that fits my shape off the rack (aka every instance of 2015-era curvy skinnies).

    • Anon

      I am a mega-pear and I love the Madewell Perfect Vintage style jean. It’s a true straight leg and fits me great. I find they run slightly big, so I tend to go up a size.

        • Anonymous

          Thank you. I get so frustrated with reviews when this happens. If the jeans run big, you have to go down a size. If you are going up a size, the run small.

    • Own my curves

      I’m a very curvy pear and recently discovered the Curvy Low-Rise Dark Wash Girlfriend Jean from Banana Republic Factory. They are fantastic! I bought multiple pairs. Note the Mid-rise version was not flattering on me at all. I was surprised at the drastic difference between how the two pairs fit (in same size).

  4. Anon 2.0

    Recommendation for a hotel for one night near the Boston airport? Never been to Boston, will be alone and I’m a tad nervous when traveling alone to new places, and only need one night. Meeting family from out of state the next day to drive elsewhere in MA.

    • Anonymous

      The Boston airport Hilton is connected to the airport if you’re really not comfortable doing anything

    • Anon

      If price is an issue, there is a much cheaper Hampton Inn right down the road from the airport that has its own shuttle. You can also park there if you have a car. You still pay for parking but it is much cheaper than the airport lots.

    • Anonymous

      I stayed at the Westin at Seaport last week. It was about a 10 minute Uber ride.

  5. Anon

    I posted about scent the other day. I was going through my samples and applied Jo Malone Fig & Lotus Flower. Oh my, it’s lovely. It’s fresh and green and close to the body. Such a nice breezy summer cologne. Notes are fig, lotus flower, and a base of vetiver.

    What are your favorite summer scents?

    • Anon

      Glossier You
      Dusita: La Douceur de Siam
      Diptyque L’ombre Dans L’eau
      Ormonde Jayne Frangipani
      Ormonde Jayne Sampaquita

      • Anon

        Oh Glossier You is such a good scent on so many people. I will have to try the rest – where do you buy your Ormonde Jayne? I’ve been seeing that brand a lot recently on social media.

        L’ombre dans l’eau sounds right up my alley based on the description on Fragrantica. Thanks for the rec!

        • Anon

          I ordered Ormonde Jayne samples on Lucky Scent! They have a huge selection.

          I actually only have full-size bottles of the Glossier You (I LOVE it — I am way out of their target demo but I’m still obsessed with the dry down) and the Diptyque, which was a gift. Everything else is a sample. I order like 10 every season and it costs less than a full bottle of any one scent. It’s hard for me to commit to expensive perfumes, so this works well for me.

          Happy shopping!

  6. Elle

    Can someone sanity check this for me. I was daydreaming about buying a new home. I used nerd wallets how much mortgage can you afford tool. I entered my husband and my salaries and our debts (very little) and the expected profits on the sale of our current home ($100k ish). For a combined HHI of $185k it said that we could afford a $750k house. That seems really high to me? People who have similar HHIs what did you spend on your house?

    • LaurenB

      I always heard the rule of thumb was 3x income, so with $185K that would put you at $555K.

      • Anonymous

        I think you have to factor in downpayment. If I were buying a non-first home, I might be putting enough $ down to have a low mortgage on a pretty pricey home. I’d look at mortgage relative to income vs purchase price.

    • Anon

      What’s your monthly take-home and what are the projected mortgage payments?

    • Anon

      You should figure out what you want your monthly payment to be and start there. Things like taxes, HOA, and insurance can have a huge impact on your payment even if the houses cost the same. A realtor should be able to pick out some sample houses and show you what you would pay.

      • Duckles

        +1. Also home shopping (which as an aside, is idiotic to do right now) and the bank approved me for 2.5x what I said my anticipated purchase price was. Lol no thank you.

    • Cat

      What a bank will approve you for, and how much money you actually *want* tied up in your house, are two wildly different answers.

      On our HHI of about $400-500K (depends on the year and bonuses), we were told we could buy a 1.2M house. We went for a $500K house because we didn’t need or want a bigger one.

      • BeenThatGuy

        I just used the Nerd Wallet calculator and it said I could buy a house up to $1.4M. I had a good chuckle since I have a $600K house and currently owe $250K on it with a $300K annual salary. I would feel comfortable with a bigger payment but I enjoy saving money (didn’t have much growing up) and I don’t need any more house than what I have.

    • Vicky Austin

      Mortgage calculators overshoot massively. I would never buy as much house as they say I could afford.

    • test run

      HHI of about $225k and we just bought a place for $615k. We were hoping to stay around $550k, but that was a little unrealistic for our market. I probably would not have been comfortable with $750k, but it depends on so many things: the market where you live, whether you see your expenses/salaries changing significantly (up or down) over the time you live in the house, etc. etc.

    • anon

      It seems in line with what the calculators are programmed to suggest. It sounds like you’re talking about a $650K loan. At 3.25% interest, your principal and interest payments would be $2829 per month. Assuming you don’t live in an area with really high state or local taxes, that plus escrow payments would be pretty close to the 28% that lenders usually use as a guideline. That doesn’t mean you have to live in a $750K house, but 28% is the number used to calculate what people can “afford.”

      Our monthly take-home pay is around $8000, and our mortgage is $2000/month, including our escrow payments, so we’re right at 25%.

    • nuqotw

      It doesn’t sound excessive to me, but specifics depend on your down payment, other financial obligations, attitude to debt. One rule of thumb: don’t borrow more than 2x – 3x annual income. Another rule of thumb: the monthly payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA if relevant) should not exceed 1/4 – 1/3 of monthly take home. Lenders will lend you WAY more than these rules would suggest but that doesn’t make it good idea.

      If you bought a 750K house, put down 20% (i.e. 150K) then you’re talking a 600K mortgage, which is a shade over 3X your income, so a tad high but not necessarily unreasonable.

      Our income is a little lower than yours, we made a 22K down payment, and we spent 220K on a small townhouse. The lender would have loaned us way more based on income alone (like in the high 6 figures or maybe even low 7?) but we couldn’t have actually made the payment on the higher loan amount because of our huge daycare bills.

      Don’t stretch on a down payment. We could have done that…our car broke down completely and we had to buy a new one a month after we closed on/moved into the house.

    • Anonymous

      At the time we bought our house, our HHI was around I think 280k (it is now slightly higher) and we paid 347k for our house. We actually initially put an offer on a house for I think 425k and didn’t get it, and that was about as high as we were willing to go (and honestly, anything more than than in our area would have been way too big for 2 people. Even that 425k house was probably too big). But we’re also hoping to retire early. Don’t go on what it tells you you can technically afford, decide what you want to spend per month and work backwards.

    • Anon

      Our HHI was $215k when we were house-hunting in 2018. We qualified for at least a $650k mortgage, “we could probably go higher if you find something you really like,” according to the mortgage broker, as our credit scores are in the 800s. In our area, we were able to find a $375k house that we liked aesthetically, it wasn’t too big, was older but had been mostly renovated, and was in a nice neighborhood. So less than even 2x our annual income. Could we have swung a $400k, $500k, even $600k house financially? Yes. Am I glad every single day that we didn’t buy that much house and our mortgage payment is a measly $2k a month? Also yes. We’re putting the extra money in retirement and also saving for a car for my kid and for a bathroom renovation with the money we’re not putting into the mortgage. I realize in HCOL and VHCOL areas there are no decent $375k houses, especially now, but I still think buying way less house than you qualify for is a good idea financially.

      • Anonymous

        Snaps for being perfect! The cheapest house in my city is 550k, and it is caving in. To purchase a free standing home of any size that is not a hovel is 650

        • Curious

          I don’t think the poster sounded perfect. She acknowledged that her situation wasn’t the same as in HCOL.

        • Anon

          She literally said, “I realize in HCOL and VHCOL areas there are no decent $375k houses.”

        • Anon

          Sorry this hit such a nerve with you – I hope you realize that’s your “emotional stuff” and has nothing to do with what I wrote (as others pointed out).

      • Anonymous

        Yeah, in the Bay Area, it’s not that there are no decent $375K houses – there are no $375K houses. There are barely $375K one-room condos. Sigh.

    • Anonymous

      Our HHI is $150k and we bought a $350k home plus immediately did $115k of renovations (redoing kitchen and finishing basement). We were able to put $200k down though due to savings from a job in which I earned a lot more money than I do currently. Our budget when we were house-hunting was only $500k, despite our large down payment, because we wanted to be able to afford the house on one income and pay off the mortgage early if we maintained two incomes. Anything more than a $300k mortgage did not feel comfortable to us, given those conditions.

    • Anonymous

      With a HHI of $175k, we bought a $600k house last year with the traditional 20% down. There are two caveats: we have low fixed costs/minimize in certain areas (no kids, no healthcare costs, no plans to travel during COVID) and we aren’t cash poor (our emergency cash fund is six figures even after the down payment and splashing out on new furnishings). If both of those factors hadn’t been true, then it would have been a terrible idea. We also expect our HHI income to double in four years.

    • Anonymous

      150K (single) earner spent 680K (in NYC), and although I can easily afford it, it’s stressful and I wish I didn’t have such a big mortgage.

  7. Anonymous

    Has anyone bought shoes from either Italeau or Flattered? Both are following me around the internet and look very appealing to me.

  8. LaurenB

    Regarding the sheets that were posted here: I can’t get into high prices for sheets (these aren’t outrageously high, but still). I feel totally fine with buying a decent brand such as Wamsutta at Bed Bath and Beyond, or frankly whatever looks decent at Target is fine, too. I’m not aware of sheets that feel SO fabulous that it would make a difference; after all, I’m sleeping when I’m using them.

    • Cat

      I like The Company Store’s percale sheets – they’re well made and wash very nicely, at a moderate price point.

      Boll and Branch has been making the *rounds* with influencers this year. I think I’m on the 4th or 5th set of insta stories about them this month. Cupcakes and Cashmere, Mackenzie Horan, Krista Robertson, Stacie Flinner, maybe Carly too? It’s super obvious and turns me off to the brand.

    • Anon

      I tend not to buy big name sheets but I can definitely tell the difference when I’m sleeping in long-staple cotton (pima is my jam), high threadcount sheets. Most hotel sheets are miserable for me. I also don’t enjoy the break-in period for new sheets. I’m the princess and the pea, apparently.

    • Anon

      I can tell the difference between sheets I can go buy at a store and age old heirloom sheets that are still going strong. I assume I would have to pay for Frette or similar to get the latter new though!

      My main fussy thing is preferring linen to cotton.

      • CapHillAnon

        Same! I’m spoiled for linen now. Gave away my high-thread count cotton sets and now it’s linen only for us.

    • Anonymous

      One time a friend had polyester sheets on her guest bed and I still haven’t recovered from the horror.

    • Susan

      I adore Boll and Branch. I wouldn’t call myself super picky about sheets but between a messy husband, two messy kids in and out of our bed and two cats w claws, we are hard on sheets. I felt like every 6 months I was at TJ Max buying sheets only to get holes and snags. These sheets are miraculous. I’ve had them four years and no holes, snags, etc. really good quality!

    • Maudie Atkinson

      I am picky about sheets and linens generally, whether bed, bath, or kitchen, and (unfortunately) have expensive taste in department. That said, I did not like the Boll & Branch sheets I bought a few years ago and absolutely do NOT think they are worth the money. They sleep very hot and pilled after just a couple washes. They are packaged beautifully and marketed well, but not at all deserving of the hype, in my experience.

    • Anon

      I specifically buy cheap sheets because my husband’s psoriasis regularly destroys them.

    • Anonymous

      I love Ralph Lauren sateen sheets from Macy’s. They last for decades.

  9. Anon

    What is the Factory J Crew signature fit like? I can’t seem to find a description of it. (I promise I’m not our resident b-d creep, I’m looking for some new work clothes for my post-pandemic body.)

  10. Anonymous

    I just hit it out of the park with a presentation at work. The clients said, among other things: ‘you should give her a raise’ and ‘that was exactly what I wanted to see’. I can’t concentrate now!!!

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