ByKat Hours Updated
Comments 56 Comments

Coffee Break – Classic Q Groovee

9Weirdly enough, Zappos seems to have an even better sale on Marc by Marc Jacobs than its sister site, 6pm.com — it seems like lots of additional bags and colors are available there. We like this lovely steel “Classic Q Groovee” bag (also available in kelly green and teal). Was $498, now $373.50 at Zappos. Marc by Marc Jacobs – Classic Q Groovee (Steel) – Bags and Luggage

56 Comments

  1. Can anyone recommend some websites/catalogs to search for inspiration for weekend wear? I want to upgrade my jeans and sneakers look. I don’t like jeans very much, I prefer cords or something else machine washable, but I want to be warm and comfortable, but want to be very stylish. (Does comfort and stylish exist in a shoe to be worn all day?)

    Thanks in advance. -E

    1. Jcrew has some nice cords in their last catalog.

      I would also recommend Boden for well made, stylish but comfy clothes.
      I have also sometimes had good luck with Garnet Hill — though admittedly some of their stuffs ends up being a bit shapeless, it’s nonetheless a good source for warm & cozy but not devoid of personallity items.

      You may also try the Sundance Catalog (very Utah chic but may give you some ideas) and check out the Anthropologie website (some of their stuff is overpriced & doesn’t even look right in person, but it’s great for inspiration; they manage to have some fresh ideas in terms of putting items together).

      As for shoes — get a pair of nice boots! They don’t need a heel and many are incredibly comfortable for all day wear & then some. And a cool pair of boots will make a plain pair of jeans look awesome.

      1. Boden was the first thing that popped into my mind. When I look through their catalog, I want to be the people pictured! I imagine myself strolling through the farmer’s market on a crisp fall morning or walking my dog and running into friends in my neighborhood.

        Clearly, their marketing has worked on me!

        Also, despite the ridiculous heels with sweatpants spread that a Corporette reader pointed out earlier this week, I’ve found that InStyle tends to put together some great outfits, even if it’s just for inspirational purposes. The same goes for Lucky.

        I have to say, though, that my #1 place for getting ideas of how to put outfits together is The Sartorialist. I know I could never look as impossibly chic as the people featured, but I have gotten some great ideas there of how to put together things I already own, particularly when it comes to weekend wear.

          1. From the above site, 12/15/09, a woman with fewer fashion choices than I, yet looking far more stylish than I can pull off with all the choices in the world:
            http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/12119JX9177Web.jpg

            I’ve looked through Boden and Garnet Hill, and I like them for REALLY casual wear, not so much for after hours. Maybe what I just need to do is add an Hermes scarf to my ensemble to punch up the outfit.

          2. @EM — wear your hermes scarf as a belt. Never fails to perk up my mood and outfit!

          3. @ EM, love that you put up the 12/15/09 pic, and love your comment. 3x!

            The sartorialist is my new personal fave!

        2. I could remake most of the “outfit ideas” on Boden’s website using Target clothes (and it would probably be cheaper). Target has some really cute funky stylish clothes for adults.

    2. Have you tried Land’s End Canvas? I love this new line. Corporette has featured a few items, but I’ve been really happy with the quality and the looks. And like someone said about Boden, I see the pictures and want to be them!

    3. If you’ve got the $$ and like the look, I’d recommend Eileen Fisher. There’s a website, most major department stores carry it, and if it does suit you, the sale prices at the end of the season, in the stores, tend to be fabulous.

  2. Threadjack/rant: my midlaw employer just firewalled Corporette! We have previously been firewalled from Facebook and other interactive ‘social media’ sites, but most people (I’m not a facebookie so not one of them) just have the app on their i-phones and stay on all day anyway. And they did NOT firewall the fantasy football sites which are just about full participation by the male associates and partners, or for that matter Above the Law (which is less ‘social’ than Corporette?!). And since we don’t have wireless available (why? well, who knows), I can’t even bring my own laptop and check in during the day.

    I.am.furious. I spend 60 hours a week at this place, then more at home (sometimes involuntarily/on demand when client or ‘big’ partner wants me to deal with whatever). Maybe, just maybe, of those 60 inmate hours, three or four altogether are spent on Corporette, and maybe another three altogether are spent collectively on news sites and the like. If I was posting under something besides my usual moniker, I would express so much vitriol about this situation/the whole place in general (at least right now). Grrrr.

    Seriously, being able to check in, look at whatever Kat puts up (most of which is just folly in that I don’t frequently ‘shop’ direct from the site and almost never do so from the office computer), and see what’s going on with my little ‘community’ is such an important *positive* break in my day – I feel like I have to go to work in a cave now. I HATE that feeling, like I’ve been demoted to kindergarten without crayons. This is especially galling since am a partner w/more than double decade experience and I manage a big caseload, productively and profitably, I might add.

    Today I ‘rebelled’ – there was some semi-mandatory all office get together (let’s call it a ‘basketball’ tournament, except suffice to say more women are interested in basketball than the actual sport), that started at 3, and from which I was originally excused from b/c I had a hearing, which cancelled. And that is why I got to coffee break at 4 today instead of 10 tonight.

    Who else is firewalled and what do you think about it? Since I am still a blackberry-saur, I haven’t bothered with seeing about a corporette ‘app’ – is there one?

    Rant over, sadness for who knows how long. Thanks for listening!

    1. Oh, Suze! My sympathies. I agree (and I think many Corporettes would agree) that logging in to check the latest post or threadjack is a much needed break from the normal day’s activities. I have to admit that one of the perks from working out of my house is no firewalls.

    2. That totally sucks. : ( Are you able to click on the “cached” version in Google and get to it? My firewall blocks a lot of sites, but the cached options still work…it just looks a bit wonky.

      1. Try an RSS reader, like Google Reader, and subscribe to the Corporette feed. You might not be able to access the comments, but the posts will still be there.

      2. The Google cache was going to be my suggestion as well – my office doesn’t have a firewall (weird but true) but our subsidiary has a heavy duty one so while working in their office I experienced it – and once you are “in” you can get to the live pages (at least that’s how theirs worked).

    3. You’re a partner, not an employee – is it possible to call the IT people and get an override for just your computer? It’s done in other situations all the time. Kind of odd and might call attention to things you don’t want attention called to, but it might be possible all the same.

      Also, if they are that obsessed about where people are surfing, keep in mind it is likely that they have recorded all your comments, etc. Might be better off commenting from your mobile device. (*Hi to my IT People if you are reading this :))

      1. Yes, I am a partner, of the nonequity variety (of which there are many), and primarily for that reason, it would be politically incorrect (and probably not productive) to request the firewall to be removed for just me (or everyone, for that matter). Plus I don’t really want to call attention to something that almost definitely will just draw negative commentary/response. One thing I’ve learned in big and midlaw is that the squeaky wheels tend to get thrown off the truck, so it’s important to only pick the really, really good and very, very winnable, sides of the angels fights. This is not one of those, regrettably.

        And, yeah, I assume they’ve recorded/reviewed my comments, some of which have been made from my work machine, many of which from my home machine. As the regular commenters here know, I am generally pretty innocuous and never purport to give ‘legal’ advice or anything like that that would implicate the employer’s interests. And, being conscious of the record/review possibilities, I’ve also been careful to use a different moniker (and post only from my home machine) when I have sought ‘personal’ or career type advice.

        So there, IT dept snoops! How do you like my posts now? I have been thinking about taking the position that if I have to be this ‘big brothered’ on the work computer, then I just won’t use the home computer for work – down with the vpn! I realize that is ridiculous, but so is firewalling a site like this one – particularly when the people being firewalled aren’t ‘on the clock’ – we record time that is spent doing work for clients, which doesn’t include time spent surfing news, sports (see op re fantasy football – double grr), or fashion sites (at least not for me).

        1. Friend, this is why law firms are the worst. This is why you’re probably in the wrong field. They take and take and take…and then they take some more. They can’t even allow you your internet dalliances?

          Find. A. New. Career.

          And good luck.

          1. I know, right?!

            Thanks. I could say more about just how dim my view is of law firms in general, never mind my present sentiments, but it is enough to say a change is needed :).

            And thanks to everyone for the various ‘workaround’ suggestions – we’ll see. In the meantime, I guess I will probably mostly be talking with you all at night and weekends. Sigh.

    4. You’re a partner? Can’t you bring this up with your partners and get it un-firewalled? It doesn’t seem like the IT department should be able to dictate to the partners, who are essentially the owners of the firm, what sites to look at.

      My employer only uses a net nanny type blocking service to weed out sexual and other inappropriate sites. I guess they figure that we’re almost all salaried employees and are paid for the work we accomplish, not the hours we spend working on it, so it doesn’t matter if we waste a bit of time.

    5. I’ve had to do some marketing/CLE/news articles etc. and I did my research using blogs that lawyers frequent such as above the law. Maybe you could mention you are using this site for something you plan to write in the future and need it unblocked.

      1. Also we use Facebook and Myspace to research witnesses, opposing parties, etc. Depending on your kind of law you can say you need access for those reasons.

        1. Yes, BL, you are sooo right about that. It has been raised in the past, to no avail – still feeling that kindergarten/inmate vibe. But you make a good point that I will file away for future ref…after I stop seething, hopefully :). Thanks!!

    6. My employer has a pretty draconian firewall. It blocks all the obvious sites (Facebook, I suppose porn and gambling, although I haven’t tried accessing either, etc.) and then it has some kind of category index that stops a lot of sites going through. E.g. Corporette is under the “Society and Lifestyles” category, and another blog might be under “Blogs and Personal Sites.” To their credit, I suppose, the sports sites are also all blocked, even sports articles from news sites — so it’s equal opportunity frustration. No wi-fi either.

      I second using an RSS reader (I use Google Reader, which syncs to my home laptop) because this seems to get around it. You can get posts but no comments, and some of the pictures don’t display depending where Kat links them from.

      On that note, can I request a feature? It’s possible to make RSS feeds of comments; can we get that for Corporette? If you include the link in the post, then people on RSS readers can get the URL, copy and paste it, and will at least be able to lurk even if we can’t post. Thanks in advance.

    7. I was firewalled from nytimes.com and wsj.com at this job I had over the summer. I had given my notice the day before, and I was bored because they wouldn’t give me any work to do on my last day. I was like…seriously guys??

  3. Not sure if it would work for you, but my company firewalled TMZ and I can get around by signing onto my AOL account and viewing it there on a web search.

    1. I’m not sure if it’s a firewall or some other super secret IT trick, but we can’t sign into aol, google, yahoo type email accounts. The ‘cached’ suggestion might work sometimes (I have occasionally wound up on facebook that way), but (a) it takes extra time and (b) why?? I know I sound like a petulant child…but, then again, I think I am being treated like a child! I would be fine with the ‘nanny net’ type filters (no porn, no gambling, etc), but this is absurd. They might as well disable ALL media except access to court clerks, recorders’ offices, westlaw, and only *very* official sites.

      1. I have heard of firms and even government agencies that are encouraging folks to use social networking sites as a way to make contacts, keep up with the younger generation, etc. Becoming modern and “with it,” I guess, in the hopes of staying current. If you ever did decide to take this on, you might use that route. There are future clients who use the Internet to communicate and reach out, and will not choose your firm if it’s a dinosaur. I’ve seen this mostly in the West Coast and with firms/agencies that do high-tech work. I could be wrong — it’s just my unscientific impressions here.

  4. Sadly my law firm decided this very day to block all shopping websites – I can no longer visit any stores or even see the pictures posted on Corporette… Is its discriminatory if they don’t also block ESPN?

    1. In my opinion (and it is my PERSONAL opinion), absolutely! That is part of what just frosts me about this – the ‘boys’ are yukking it up over fantasy football which of course requires frequent attendance at Sports Jam or whatever online. And h*ll will freeze over before they firewall THAT. Trust me.

      Sorry this happened to you, but I feel a tad better that I am not the *only one*. What is with these firms??

      Still.just.furious.

      1. I bet all the law firm management “professionals” had a conference call about it

        1. Yeah, love how those ‘professionals’ (read: non-revenue producers, a/k/a redline items, who get paid & have jobs ONLY b/c the real professionals are generating revenue, which we did just fine before we got cut off from the outside world) spend THEIR time…and wish that they would spend more time making the computers actually work on, you know, things like moving files around and not losing big pieces of excel spreadsheets.

          Not bitter at all :-/.

          1. Suze, I’m coming to this a few days late, but as someone who only several weeks ago updated from an old RAZR phone, I suggest you might want to look into buying a Droid (or iPhone — but where I live, there are so many iPhones that every single call gets dropped). You can get Corporette, including all comments, anywhere you get a phone signal.

  5. I need some advice! I just graduated from law school and have been working at my small yet very professional company as a staff attorney for just two weeks. I love my job!! My partner, who started on the same date as myself, has definitely clashed with me on certain issues. Today, she insisted that our secretary, who is still breast feeding, should pump in the bathroom or her car. I think that’s disgusting, strongly disagreed and told her not to worry about it because our secretary can use my office. My partner then proceeded to walk down the hall, pull up her skirt, and mooned me. MOONED ME!

    Question: keeping in mind that I have only been working there for two weeks, is an office mooning a reportable offense? Can I report it without making an ass of myself in the process?

    1. Whoah! Not sure I’d report the mooning just yet…but,

      First of all, your state may have some laws about your assistant’s rights – and you may *may* wish to point out (ideally, anonymously) to your HR person that those rights (assuming they exist/apply) are not being respected. Second, try not to get mixed up in a battle that isn’t *really* yours (yet…one mooning can be ‘chalked up’…more than that, maybe not).

      Yikes, is this person in need of an intervention/medication? Steer clear, I say.

    2. I have no advice, but omg. I cannot imagine a professional woman mooning someone. YIKES.

    3. SHE is the one who mooned you, and YOU are the one worrying about making an ass out of yourself?

      :)

    4. If the partner is like that–yet alone after being there only two weeks herself–you know it is going to get MUCH uglier moving forward. The breastfeeding issue sounds like the least problem.–I can’t even FATHOM someone dropping clothing in the work place! Is there a way to minimize any one-on-one interactions with her? I’d be wanting others around to keep things in check as much as possible.

      Here we are debating sexism about that reporter in a football locker room–and now it appears women also have to worry about one another?!?

      I’m just disgusted.

    5. WOWOWOWOW!!! That is so utterly despicable and disrespectful (in any workplace under the sun). It’s on par or worse than any of the shenanigans I have read about on Above the Law. Please keep us posted on the aftermath…this one’s a doozy! Honestly no clue how I’d handle that one…I would probably sit frozen and shocked with my jaw-dropped till the end of the day.

    6. I must be the short-tempered one here because I don’t think I could have refrained from telling her to take her disgusting, disrespectful behavior and get the f**k out of my office. If you responded with more calm and less vitriol, then my hat’s off to you.
      But seriously though, this kind of behavior needs to be addressed ASAP. It may not rise to the level of harassment (my expertise is definitely not labor law), but it’s highly disrespectful. I know that clashing with one’s superior is not always good for one’s future employment, but this broad needs to get a clue that that behavior isn’t tolerable. Report it to whatever appropriate channel, be it her superior or HR. This is important because (1) even though she might have thought she was being cute, if disrespectful behavior isn’t stopped it’s going to continue and potentially get worse and (2) if you are retaliated against/fired, at least you have a paper trail.
      Ok sorry, rant over – I just find this behavior so disrespectful and unprofessional.

    7. Wait, so this person thinks that the secretary pumping in the office is NOT okay, but MOONING someone in the office IS okay? What? Unbelievable.

    8. Watch yourself and how your respond directly to her. No matter how disgusting her behavior, try not to be drawn in to any type of direct confrontation with her. I might let this incident slide but if there’s another one, I’d go to HR. Can you talk to your boss? It’s hard but sometimes necessary. I had to go to my boss 6 weeks in to a new job, because one of my colleagues showed up at my hotel room door and asked me to iron his shirts on business trip.

      Document date and time of all incidents. Have your secretary go to HR and inquire about her breastfeeding rights in the workplace. Support her and encourage her. She might want to ‘drop it’ if she knows it’s causing problems with someone higher up, but let her know you support her.

      I agree with the other poster that if she behaves this way only 2 weeks in to a new job, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

    9. YIKES

      This behavior is so far out of the left field that I fid it hard to beleive.

      Are you a guy trolling as a corporette and pulling a fast one on us?

    10. I am shocked and disgusted that a partner – or anyone in a business setting – would behave that way.

      My only advice is, perhaps she will catch on that people at her new law firm do not act like middle school aged children and stop acting as such. She is still new too afterall. But most likely, it’s going to get worse, as others have suggested.

      I don’t know the size of your firm, but if you have an anonymous way set up to report these things to HR, and you were not the only one to witness the incident, you may want to report it. If you were the only one around then obviously she is going to figure out it was you. But if she’s acting like this at a new job, chances are she’s going to continue and there will be many more incidents for you – and others – to report.

      I feel for you – hang in there!

    11. Yes, I think you should report it, especially because your colleague has only been working there 2 weeks as well. Presumably new hires have some sort of probationary period. Better to report this now than when she’s been there longer. At my office that would be a fireable offense.

  6. Hello Corporette readers! I’m a long-time lurker and would like to know if any of you have tips on getting ear piercings to close. I have three piercings in my ears, one of which was stretched fairly wide until recently; I’ve stopped wearing jewelry for the last few months and all three sets of holes are starting to shrink and become less noticeable. Have any of you successfully healed ear piercings? Do you have tips on camouflaging the marks piercings leave behind? Thanks for any and all ideas!

    2. We have the same ears!
      I don’t know how many people on this site can sympathize, but I also had my ears stretched (0 gauge) for about three years. I did take them out and they did shrink down pretty quickly (looks gross for a while). I didn’t do anything to make it happen faster or better, but the holes are pretty small now. The holes look bigger than normal, but not huge, and no one ever notices, although my earlobes pull down a lot if I wear heavy earrings.
      As for the other two piercings, which were never stretched, those will close. Although you can see the mark where it was pierced, for some of those holes I would have to basically re-pierce my ear with an earring to get one in, and I have had these piercings for more than 10 years, probably more like 15.
      Not sure how to speed it up other than not wearing jewellery and when you do, stick to studs (useful to cover up the size of the hole) and if you’re going to wear dangly earrings, go light.

    3. I had an uber-stretched pierced hole in one earlobe (from huge ’80s earrings), which eventually stretched through the bottom (didn’t notice until it was there), and had a doc stitch the lobe back together, restoring everything. Yes for a while it was funny looking to me having a “split” lobe, don’t think anyone else noticed, wore clips for a while, then back to regular pearl/crystal studs after the fix. I don’t do heavy earrings anymore. :) Not sure if stitching could do it but just an option.

      1. Thanks so much to everyone! All your tips sound useful, and I actually also feel relieved to know that others have gone through this process. I’ll post an update when I get the piercings to close.

  7. Haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve heard Mederma (salve to help scarring) can help.

Comments are closed.