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Coffee Break: Pixelated Bag

white puzzle bag with pixelated details along seaming of puzzles

I was poking around the Loewe site recently — I've been drooling over their Puzzle Bag for a while now — and this pixelated version caught my eye. It is the “debut bag for LOEWE by Creative Director Jonathan Anderson.”

We've seen a ton of pixelated looks from high-end designers — I'm particularly thinking of Akris's recent collection, which included this suit — and I have to say, I'm kind of into it. I like the geometric nature of the patterns, the multiple colors that often go into them, and the amusing way they remind me of really bad graphics from decades ago.

This bag is new to the site (just last week you could only pre-order it) — it's $3400 at Loewe.

Sales of note for 12.5

74 Comments

  1. Does anyone know a place where you can get just a few contacts? I’m out but feel like my prescription is in flux so don’t want to drop $300 on boxes of contacts. Like $50 worth would be great.

    2. Talk to your eye doctor’s office (on the phone). If you just need a couple weeks, they can probably float those too you out of the samples. Otherwise, if you need dailies, you can buy them in packs of 30 for all the brands I’ve used. There are other options where VSP will refund you contacts if the prescription changes but this all comes down to you need to talk to the eye doctor’s office.

      1. +1 to a box of 30 dailies, that’s what I do because I wear contacts very rarely.

    3. I think it how much $50 is depends on what you wear. You should be able to buy single boxes, even online from somewhere like walmart. If both eyes are the same it should be cheap.

    4. I sometimes get 7 day packs of dailies when I’m considering a new brand. This is from a physical optician where I spend my eye money.

      If I’m bust out, I get my current in the smallest pack online.

    5. Webeyecare, Opticontacts, or Lens.com. If you google the name of your contact brand and click on the site through Google Shopping, you can get a better price than going directly to the site. You’ll have to order one box at a time (so two orders if your eyes have different prescriptions) to avoid inflated shipping and handling charges.

  2. I’m not in the market, but I like this! I look for accessories that aren’t boring but still can go with a lot of different colors or looks, which I think this would.

      1. Same. Which is not an insult to TJ Maxx, I shop there. But it blows my mind that this is $3400.

    2. Great point- It would look really cute with a lot I agree. It does seem like a very of the moment version of a very of the moment bag. You’d have to be rich, cool and daring to carry this. Well out of my price range for bags but I want to see my more well funded friends carry it.

    3. This isn’t my particular cup of tea, but I randomly bought a tiny white purse at H&M on a whim about a year ago and I have been shocked by how versatile it has been.

  4. Do any of you have argumentative bosses? Like bosses who just like to argue for the sake of it?

    My boss likes arguing and it’s sort of his default mode of response when you propose things to him. Instead of listening and giving feedback for the core of what you’re saying, he’ll just say whatever in the moment contradicts it, even if it misses the point. Usually I feel like I can keep my cool during this and just calmly restate my initial point.

    But last week, there was a big issue with a client that I’d been warning about for a month, and it finally came to a head. We addressed it, but it could have been solved a month in advance had people actually listened to me. This has been a pattern: I say something valuable and researched, boss argues for the sake of it and other boss ignores me, and then I’m proved right.

    After I was proved right this last time, my boss sat down with me after and said “You need to be assertive. You listen better than anyone else – make sure you’re vocalizing your point of view and keeping things in line.” It was validating and made me feel confident to stop second-guessing myself.

    Well, fast forward to today, I try to vocalize something to my boss, and he starts to argue with me almost immediately. Mind you, it’s not even something I think he disagrees with – he probably honestly agrees. But I wound up engaging in the argument and getting emotionally activated. I brought up counterpoints to what he was saying and said things like, “I don’t know why you’re arguing with me about this.” He also tried to say something about a client I’m working with to prove his point, when said thing with client isn’t accurate. He is never on calls with this client or in communication. I said, “I’m the only person who’s working with them and actually listening to what they say. XYZ is the case.” He then responds, “I’m sure it will actually be what I’m saying, you just don’t know it yet.” I also brought up other times no one listened to me and I turned out to be right, to somewhat disastrous consequences.

    I feel like I may have upset him by pushing back, and I regret pushing back so much. But I’m also just frustrated by this pattern and don’t know how to assert myself without getting embroiled in an argument. Anyone have this experience?

    2. Wow. Sounds frustrating and very inefficient. It sounds like just a reflex..which is a terrible style for management communications, but you might be stuck and are not likely to change this about him. Is there any chance you can state your case, let him start the argument, and tell him you’ll come back in X time to discuss “both points of view” once he’s “had a chance to think things through?” It would be very inefficient to have the discussion twice, but it sounds like having it once isn’t really productive either. And you could even start by using his words: “when we had that issue with client X, you told me to be more assertive and I want to make sure I’m following your advice. On the matter of Client Y, I made This Point with you yesterday and you proposed an alternative. Now that you’ve had a chance to think about it, I want to revisit the matter, as based on my research, This Point is still the best way forward. “

    3. I had a boss who constantly second-guessed my every action/decision and it was horrible. Your boss is a jerk and the whole thing sounds exhausting. Job search.

    4. he sounds exhausting.
      I would immediately write “boss, on DATE you told me to be more assertive and vocalize my point of view. Today, I did that in X example and and you stated that you didn’t understand why I was “arguing” with you.
      I’d like to have a better understanding of how we can more effectively communicate when we have different points of view. Would you be willing to offer more guidance on what you need from in order to achieve this goal”

      Only use this if you are pretty junior though, that was my read but I might be wrong!

    5. Yes- try pulling and not pushing: phrases like “do you trust my judgement on this?”, “what would you do in my situation”, “would you like me to pull up the documents?”,”can I finish before we start discussing”, “would you like to take over the thing” can be helpful to make him think and listen instead of reacting.

      And then he gets the level of follow up email followup and documentation you’d use for the complete ass your boss appears to be.

  5. Does anyone have a good resource for planning a dinner party menu? I want to plan a luxe but light summer menu.

      1. I really question how well Chat GPT can plan a dinner party menu that is cohesive, sensible, and well thought out. I bet it gives you like, a recipe for jello pudding and steak frites or something.

        1. Okay, but clearly you haven’t tried it.

          I typed in “Please plan a 3-course dinner menu featuring summer produce.” It gave me an appetizer of grilled peach and burrata salad, an entree of lemon salmon with asparagus, and a dessert of mixed berry pavlova. It also provided ingredients and recipes for each. I cook a lot, and the recipes do look correct.

          As an experiment, I then said “Please make it vegetarian,” and got watermelon + feta salad, stuffed zucchini boats with quinoa and roasted vegetables, and mixed berry parfait. So if the first menu isn’t something you like, you can ask again with other parameters!

        2. Have you even tried it? There’s a reason why ChatGPT is so popular…it can do anything you want.

        3. One of the nice things about ChatGPT (or Bing chat in “creative mode,” which I use more) is that you can argue with it. If you don’t like the first suggestion, explain why. It will adapt its next suggestion to your feedback.

        4. I really like Chat GPT as a search tool too. As long as I’m not looking for current events, I appreciate getting an answer to a question in plain English rather than a page of 20 links I have to wade through to find the answer.

  6. Fathers Day thread! What are you getting your dad for Fathers Day

    I’m hoping to find a day that works for both of us so I can take him to a Phillies game. He has a partial season ticket plan with much better seats than I can afford but should be fun to go together (even though we’re so terrible).

    1. Oh thanks for the reminder. My dad doesn’t want stuff – this Christmas he said “buy yourself something and send me a pic of you enjoying it” – so lately I’ve been getting him nonfiction books. He’ll read them but they’re also easy to pass along/donate when he’s done.

    2. A wallet. Which feels cliche, but when I was visiting last week he bought something and I noticed that his wallet (which he has had since 1987, no joke) was falling apart. We went shopping and he was looking at cheapie tourist trap store wallets, so I got him a nice leather one from saddleback. I’m feeling pleased because he’s hard to buy for and I love giving presents that’s an upgraded version of something the person needs. Plus if he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it.

    3. My dad is no longer with us, but my husband wants a very niche car part (he’s a car tinkerer) so the kids and will stand with him while he orders it online because there’s absolutely no way we can even do it with a link, because it’s so specialized. Not that exciting for us, but he will be thrilled.

  7. My sweet dad just called me to nudge me to buy an elaborate oyster shucking device for my husband so I could bring it over and we could have oysters on Father’s Day. So I guess he wants the oyster sucker and a big bucket of blue points.

  8. Hi Nee Yonkers,
    I hope you are coping with the bushfire/wildfire smoke. I feel for you as it was terrible in January 2020 here with our bushfires.

      1. I’m not a NY-er and not only do I love your sentiment, I also thought this was a serious Aussie pronunciation. <3

    2. Thank you! It’s considerably better today than yesterday, which was admittedly eerie. Fingers crossed it clears altogether soon.

  9. So many of the recent items featured here have been from J.Crew Factory, so I bit the bullet and bought a few things recently and I wanted to share with you my thoughts since I’ve gotten so many great ideas from the ‘rettes:
    1. Puff-Sleeve Short-sleeve Top. The white one was featured here maybe a couple of weeks ago, but I tried getting the one in Banker Blue. I didn’t like the fabric – it felt kind of cheap and not very soft or smooth for cotton. The shaping of the puff-sleeve, along with the higher neckline, made me look like a large raggedy ann doll.
    2. Short-Sleeve Tie-Waist T-Shirt Dress. I bought this in black in my normal size and I love it. It is perfect for the summer. I’m normally not a t-shirt dress person because t-shirt fabric does not flatter my love-handles, but in this case, the fabric is textured (you cannot tell from the photos online) kind of like linen even though it’s not linen, and the tie-waist can be tied in the front, back, or wrapped all around and tied in the front. It is the perfect weight and nice enough for me to wear to work on a Friday.
    3. Classic Jean Jacket. I haven’t worn a jean jacket since high school (back in the ’90s, but I won’t talk about it in this blog since some people don’t feel like it’s relevant to the current day – sorry). I sized down because it’s stretchy and I’ve never going to button it up but instead use it as a cardigan substitute. This jean jacket is so great – perfect color, perfect length (just a little cropped but not too cropped and I am 5’7″) and the seams are flattering. It goes perfectly with the t-shirt dress also and I’m not sure why I’ve waited this long to get a jean jacket.
    4. Gauze Button-Down Shirt. I bought this in my normal size and I was disappointed after reading so many great reviews and seeing this type of shirt look good on other people. I bought the white and you could see the lines of my bra so I didn’t like that. The other thing I didn’t like is that the pocket is made very white because it’s a double layer of fabric, but the rest of the shirt was darker since it’s only a single layer of fabric. I felt like the fabric made me look larger; I wasn’t thrilled with the other color options.
    So, I am keeping 2 and 3 and returning 1 and 2. If you are going to buy from J. Crew Factory, be sure to use a coupon code because they send them out all.the.time. Thanks for reading and I hope someone finds this helpful!

    1. A-plus snark on Item 3. Heh heh.

      I bought #1 in two colors, the plain white and the banker blue. I actually like the banker blue version a lot. The white is a bit sheer for my liking, but I’m keeping it because it fills a wardrobe hole for now.

      Thank you for saving me from the gauze shirt. I considered it, but I’m now convinced that it would look tragic on me.

      And yay for finding a good denim jacket! I bought one last year and have worn it a surprising amount.

    2. Thanks for the reviews! The tie-waist t-shirt dress is very cute and looks flattering, but I know it would be indecent on me (I’m 5’11”). Wish they made talls!

      1. Same! I just looked at the dress and the length is 35 3/4” which is way too short on my 6’ tall self.

    3. I just bought the gauze button down too! I liked it and ordered it in a second color! I got it in light pink and wore it to a casual party with jeans and sandals last Saturday. I thought it draped nicely and wasn’t see-through with a n*de-for-me br*. Not sure I’ll wear to the office, but great for casual yet nice activity.

    5. I was also excited about the top and bought 3 but had to return them all. I agree the cotton was cheap feeling. But the bigger problem is the elastic on the sleeve was too tight. And I don’t have thick arms; I am on the very petite end of sizing. I was really surprised that the sleeves were so tight and uncomfortable.

      1. I bought all three and returned as well because of how short they were. But now that you mention it the arms were awful, too.

  10. 40-somethings who carry the ubiquitous Lululemon belt bag: yay or nay? Also, I am considering purchasing the larger version for travel, but I already have a Patagonia Atom sling bag. Which I love, but it also gets very hot to wear in the summer. Can I justify a belt bag, too?

    1. And another Lulu question: Is the Swiftly tech tee clingy around the waist? The size 12 seems to be the right size for the bust but I’m self-conscious about my soft belly.

      1. Swifty does not cling, but is cut fairly tailored. Darker colors hide a lot though.

    2. I am in my ’40s and I love my belt bag. I have the normal sized one in blue. I think a larger one would be good, but I’m the type of person who would add more stuff in there, which would make it heavier, which is not what you’d want in a belt bag. If you want to save $$, you could probably find one discounted in poshmark or ebay.

    3. I am 40-something and like the large belt bag because it will hold wallet, keys, phone, and sunglasses. Sunglasses do not fit in the smaller one with the other items.

    4. I’ll enable you here: cute Practical everyday things are almost always worth it to me.

    5. yes as long as you wear it crossbody. I would not get anything bigger than the standard size since they’re not meant as backpacks!

  11. I see a lot of people wearing what I thought was a skort but actually looks like shorts with giant ruffle-y pockets. In a sporty fabric. Sound familiar? Where can I get some?

  12. Folly Beach question. Are the beaches public? First-come-first served? Any public beach access points and public bathrooms? Have never been and there are still some rentals several blocks from the water. Also, any not miss restaurants and bars?

  13. Anyone have any experience with either of the following:

    – laser treatment sessions to erase/lessen the red now-permanent color on the neck and chest from pre-sunscreen days in the sun (aka the 19702)?

    – Invisalign in your 50s (ie, I had braces as a teen, but now my teeth are shifting slightly)?

    To ‘retest younger than I am, apologies, but these are things important to me.

    2. A friend had Invisalign in her 50’s and it went well for her, so I’m considering it now.

    3. My work colleague is in her 50s and uses Invisalign. You can barely notice it and it has worked wonders for her.

    4. I’m in my 50s and I’m doing Invisalign right now. I had braces as a kid and then some slight shifting started a few years ago. It’s working great and I’m so glad I did it.

      Also, there should be zero reason for posters over 50 to *apologize* to younger readers of this blog. It’s terrible that ageist attitudes are seeping into this site so much that you felt an apology was needed, OP. Post what you want!

    5. I’ve heard Invisalign can be tough on your jaw as you get older, my teeth aren’t perfect anymore but I’m just letting that go because the pain doesn’t sound worth it.

    1. Whoot Whoot! It’s the thing he’s done that I care about the least, but still .. it’s SOMETHING. Rather he go to prison for inciting an insurrection or interfering in the Georgia election, but if this comes with jail time … I’ll take it!

  15. Cheers to anyone else who’s just getting through today on the bare minimum, or working on empty.

    Woke up drained and tired this morning after a busy couple of work days. Beautiful morning now that the smoke has dispersed from my area but I just want to curl back up in bed.

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