Corporette.com

Updated: Nov 2, 2021 142 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Saybrook Slingbacks

Coffee Break

This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

tan slingback loafer from Sperry

I think I need to do a Hunt for loafers, since I think they can be a much more modern look with a lot of work pants (particularly compared to round-toed ballet flats). The big divide is between sort of sleek, slipper-like loafers — and chunkier, lug-soled loafers like this or this. (OK fine, and super traditional loafers like this Born shoe.) (Readers, any early votes?)

Sperry has a relatively popular shoe in the first category (66 stars at Nordstrom) — and I kind of like the slingback version. It was $100, but is now marked to $60 in some colors. (The full loafer with tassel is down to $70 also.)

This post contains affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!

Sales of note for 9.10.24

Sales of note for 9.10.24

Some of our latest posts here at Corporette…

RSS Error: WP HTTP Error: cURL error 60: Issuer certificate is invalid.

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

    Has anyone here gotten Synuva nasal implants for sinus issues? I understand them to dispense steriods that would be in nasal rinse where they need to go (and often can’t get to if you are always stuffy and clogged). It is a step to try before what sounded like running a plumber’s snake up each sinus to unblock things.

    • Sloan Sabbith

      I haven’t but I did get the sinus surgery I think you’re referring to in 2018 and it was a pain but totally and completely worth it. My sinuses are FUBARed because of my chronic illness so they’re bad again 3 years later but it made an incredible difference for that time.

    • anon

      This is fairly timely as I just scheduled a sinus dilation (?) for the end of the month along with something re my nose to help with the constant stuffiness (not a full on surgery for either – 30 min in office procedures). Hoping they help!

  2. In Love

    Friends, I am in love. In love with a completely impractical $400 silk blouse from Judith and Charles. I lust for it, have eyes only for it, will not rest until it is mine. It is the only blouse; there are no substitutes.

    Please talk me down from this infatuation. I do not want to buy a $400 blouse yet I feel as though I cannot live without it.

    • Anonymous

      I find it helpful to do a Shopstyle search to find good alternatives, and tag them so I get notifications when they go on sale. You might find a brown and black pattern you like as well from another vendor.

    • anon

      That is a very pretty blouse, it will go with everything, and it’s neither too trendy nor too basic. I’ve rarely regretted a purchase I feel like I can’t live without. If you can afford it, and you have occasion to wear it regularly (i.e., you’re not WFH in leggings and a sweatshirt), get it.

      • Monday

        I would also look into reviews for quality, and make sure I’m up for whatever maintenance is involved. But otherwise, I agree. The things I tend to regret buying are actually lower-priced items where I thought “eh, this is good enough.” Often they are substitutes for the expensive thing I really wanted!

      • Senior Attorney

        Agree. Certainly you’ll be committing to having it dry cleaned. But a long time ago I bought a beautiful silk blouse for the then-unimaginable price of $250, and I wore it and loved it until it literally fell apart, like 8 years later. One of the best purchases I ever made. So I vote “go for it.”

    • Elegant Giraffe

      Those ruffles would never look as good as they do on the first wear.

    • Anon

      It’s very pretty, I can see the appeal. It looks short though. For that price, I’d want it to be longer to stay tucked in

    • Anonymous

      The blouse costs 400 dollars and dry-cleaning for every wear, if you want to follow the garment instructions.

      Or it costs 400 dollars and is a pain to hand wash and steam after every use. I do think you need to iron and steam this blouse for it to look as good as you want, because of the ruffle.

      Where I live dry-cleaning for a silk blouse would be 13-23 dollars each time, about 100 dollars for 8 cleanings. So if you wear it to work once a week for a year, or every two weeks for two years, that would be about 48 wears, and 600 dollars in dry-cleaning. Total cost 21 dollars per wear. Or 8 dollars per wear, if you do the washing and ironing yourself.

      I think both 21 and 8 dollars per wear is absolutely fine for that blouse, it’s lovely.

      • anon

        No way I’d dry clean it every time I wore it, and I would expect it to last way longer than two years. So, I think the price per wear would be lower.

        • Anon

          Agreed, I only dry clean a blouse like this about once every 20 wears – steam in between and wear a cami under and it’s fine.

    • Cat

      I love the print… but here’s my help in not purchasing:
      1. Elbow length sleeves are the least flattering on me and the slight “puff” will not be “current” forever
      2. That ruffle will never look as good after you iron it
      3. At just 24.5″ long, it wouldn’t stay tucked into anything but THE highest-waisted of pants
      4. Will the ruffle look odd with lower-waisted items?

      • Anonymous

        I like the blouse, but the length would kill it for me. However, I would never suggest ironing the ruffle. It should be steamed. Really, I think the whole blouse should be steamed, not ironed.

      • Anon

        Agree, and the sleeves won’t fit well under most jackets or sweaters so won’t work for chilly office or being outside most of the year

    • Anon

      When I was in my 20s in the early 1990s I lusted after this brand of silk blouses that Nordstrom used to carry in their suiting/workwear department (It was called Women’s Tailored Clothing, then Studio 123, now I’m not sure what it’s called.) And I wish I could remember the brand of the blouses but they were gorgeous! I finally caved and bought one that was a wrap style with a wide portrait collar, and I really couldn’t afford it at the time but I saved my pennies for it. I wore it for ages to any Christmas party or really any party I could. I could also collect the collar into more of a normal looking drapey wrap neckline and wear it under a suit jacket. I loved that thing deeply and will always remember it, except for, apparently, the brand name!

      If you love it, go for it. You won’t appreciate the blouses you try to buy instead of this one nearly as much… just buy the thing you want.

    • Wheels

      Looks timeless and you could wear it so often.
      I was ready to find fault and expected to find a reason for you not to buy it, but I also love it.
      Buy it if it doesn’t cause you financial distress.

    • Anon

      Sorry, this is gorgeous. If your picks are always this good, Kat should start featuring them.

    • Anonymous

      You should definitely go for it, it is stunning! + there’s a 10% newsletter subscription… maybe that can ease it all. I’ll be interested to know how it went for you! Best,

  3. B

    Going back to the generational divide thing –

    At work we use a project management tool where you can assign tasks to people.
    My boss asked me to put together a list of things and I “assigned” him the tasks so that he could review it. Is that what that quote about “telling the boss what to do” means?

    If so, that’s dumb. That’s how the project management tool works.

    • Anonymous

      Not necessarily dumb. If there is a list of things in a PM tool assigned to me, a senior leader, it’s much more efficient for me to delegate having someone pull that list for me. It’s not a good use of my time to go hunting in a tool that I rarely use in my job. If there is a list of tasks that someone thinks I should do, then send it to me, I’m not going to go look for it, I have other things to do. In my experience, my even more senior boss would have me go into whatever tool and do the updates for him. It’s not a generational divide, but acknowledging that some people’s time is more valuable and limited than others.

      • B

        My boss knows and uses the PM tool, it has multiple uses, that’s not the problem here at all.
        But it sounds like you don’t mind having a list of things assigned to you, that’s all I was asking.

    • Anon

      Also, the CEO who was assigned a task on slack was in a 15-person company. Most 15-person companies that I’ve interacted with have very collaborative environments. This seems DRAMATICALLY different than if this were a bigger company.

  4. Anonymous

    I’m in love with all the chunky lug-sole loafers. I had a pair back in the mid-90s and I’m ecstatic that they are back!

  5. Super anon from yesterday

    Thanks for checking in with me this morning.

    I am starting to get my next steps in order – we have a therapy session on Saturday, STD testing for me and my husband in the next couple weeks (with follow ups in 3 months), I have a separate bank account that I get a direct deposit into (already set up that way) and I’m not planning to dump a bunch of my money into joint accounts beyond what’s needed for joint expenses anytime soon. Financially we are lucky to be fine so that’s not a factor in the situation. I make more than him but we each make six figures and could each support our lifestyle separately if we wanted to.

    I looked into bank, phone, and internet search records like someone advised. I’m still going through phone records (with a background check company) but have not found evidence of physical cheating (acknowledging that there may not be evidence even if it happened). He uses incognito mode to look online at p*rn etc so I know not everything is traceable.

    I did find that he’s been spending about $100 a month on OnlyFans subscriptions since mid-August. I remember a conversation he had with me (maybe around that time? When OnlyFans announced it was not doing p*rn and then backtracked?) where we hypothetically discussed if OnlyFans is cheating and we thought no – I would have been fine with it. BUT he has been hiding the charges from me (we use YNAB and he’s been deleting the charges early in the morning or stopping them from coming through), which is a huge breach of our financial relationship. $100 a month is not a huge deal for us and in my view OnlyFans is not a huge deal for loyalty, but hiding spending in this way is not the way we operate. It also flags that he thought he had something to hide.

    All that to say – I’m still in investigation mode and I’m not doing well emotionally. I feel like I’ve been doing as much as I can to assess the situation, and i have mixed results (no smoking gun but more little lies). I also don’t want to keep assessing damage forever – I want to figure out how I can trust him and how much I can trust him. There is a lot of work I want to do to figure out my own feelings before / separate from resolving the situation with him. My next step is to move out of investigation mode and pay attention to how I am feeling.

    • Anon

      I don’t think you can trust him. All of these things just scream “Do not trust him.”

      • Monday

        +1. I am so sorry, OP, but his credibility is out the window indefinitely due to this pattern of coverups. I’m not sure what is meant by “nickel and dime the damage” below, but I don’t think that’s a fair way to look at it. This is someone who has been betrayed and deserves to know the scope of it. The complete truth is clearly not coming from the husband, so of course she wants to nail down what did or did not happen.

        • Elegant Giraffe

          I was referring to where OP says she doesn’t want to keep assessing damage forever.

          • Super anon

            Yes, I do want to know the full extent but I don’t want to be combing through phone records and Google searches forever.

          • Monday

            I understand that, but it’s been a matter of days and she’s still finding things out.

      • Senior Attorney

        Yup. I think the little lies ARE the smoking gun.

        Hugs to you, OP.

        • Super anon

          Thanks. This is where I am now (can’t trust him) but I’m not sure what to do with it given what I currently feel (that I love him and want to make it work). What does it mean to not trust someone and to love them and have them be your life partner? So sh*tty.

          • Senior Attorney

            I was married to somebody who was awful in other ways (I trusted him not to cheat on me but he was periodically horrendously emotionally abusive). I loved him and wanted to make it work — for fifteen long, awful years. I finally realized that a relationship stands or falls not on the best parts (even the worst person is great some of the time, otherwise you wouldn’t be with them), but on the worst parts. The worst parts in my marriage were the unpredictable yelling and silent treatments and gaslighting. I decided it was ultimately a deal breaker and my only regret is that it took me so long. Your worst part is you can’t trust him. You need to decide whether that’s a deal breaker, given that it’s vanishingly unlikely to change.

            And yes, it’s incredibly sh*tty.

          • Anonymous

            If you make it work, the trust doesn’t just happen because you decide it should. You will need to rebuilt the trust. That happens over time.

    • Elegant Giraffe

      It’s so good to hear from you. I know you are in the thick of it emotionally, but you sound far more organized/prepared today than you did yesterday. I’m proud of you for the steps you’ve taken in the last 48 hours.

      It makes sense that you don’t want to nickel and dime the damage. Please keep us posted.

      When does he return home from the work trip? Have you made a decision about whether you’d be comfortable in the same home with him?

      • Super anon

        We are meeting in another city this weekend for a pre-arranged trip (it was supposed to be fun)! So I will see him Saturday. I’m not kicking him out at this point partially because it would be very obvious to others and I need some privacy to work through this. I know that protects him also but I don’t want input from others in my life yet (beyond one trusted friend who helped a lot yesterday).

    • BeenThatGuy

      I’m so glad you posted a follow up. I did not respond to your original post because it brought back a wave of emotions for me. I had been though something similar with my former husband. I understand that you are in full on discovery mode but at some point you’ll have to decide to move forward and trust him or leave. I chose to trust and move forward; until I found out the whole disgusting truth and we got swiftly got divorced. There’s more to this story and I think you know this. Please be kind to yourself.

    • anon

      You can’t move forward with the relationship until he comes clean about the extent of the damage. All the lies add up to something being very, very wrong.

      • Super anon

        Yes. Any tips about how to ensure I get the whole truth are welcome….

      • Anon

        I don’t feel OP should be sleuthing. I feel like now is the time for her husband to put the cards on the table rather than making her comb through bank statements and phone records. He’s been exposed. The jig is up. The fact that he won’t just come clean with her about everything now is so troublesome to me. Does he really intend to stop the things he’s been doing that she doesn’t like? Or is this going to be a situation where he waits for it to blow over and then goes back to doing whatever he wants to do?

        • Anon

          +1. OP, a bit of this is out of your control. I know you love him, but it takes two people to WANT to make a relationship work. He’s not coming clean and not telling you the full story – so he doesn’t WANT you to find out the full damage. He doesn’t WANT this to work.

          You can do all the assessing possible, but at some point he has to want to tell you all, in a way where you feel confident that he’s telling you everything, and he has to want to commit to better actions going forward. So far, he’s given you zero indication that he wants any of that. You can’t really trust someone who doesn’t want to be trustworthy. And you can’t really spend the rest of your life with someone who doesn’t want to make the relationship work for both of you.

        • Monday

          Good questions, especially since below, sadly, OP is already anticipating that he’s also going to play dumb about the OF charges she has found. She shouldn’t have to sleuth, but he’s giving her no other option (aside from condoning his cheating).

    • Anon

      Hugs and prayers.

      The only advice I have for you is that your husband has to be fully committed to making this work in order for this to work. (Even then, if you’re ready to leave, leave.) Nothing you can do can carry the marriage on your own; he needs to own up to everything, come completely clean, and do whatever it takes in the future to restore trust.

    • Anonymous

      There seems to be this pattern where he brings something up to test the waters and then takes whatever you say as blanket approval for anything related to that topic. Spending that kind of money on OF is not the same thing as looking at OF back when they banned p!rn. Just like interacting with cam girls is not the same thing as watching free videos. I would want to hear from him that he recognizes he was wrong and he was being manipulative. If he gaslights you or claims he was confused then that’s a different story.

      • Anon

        It sounds like he still is not being entirely forthright. That would be my biggest concern at this time. I don’t think you can rebuild trust until you believe he is being honest. You would be shocked at what people can cover up if they are motivated enough.

      • Super anon

        I haven’t brought up the OF thing because I want to see if the charges stop on their own this week….I also want to see if he brings it up on his own. I do think he will be “confused” off the bat when I bring it up which is such a hard thing to think (because it’s such bs). Maybe he will surprise me and bring it up himself.

        • Anon

          I think that convo is super shady – he tried to figure out how mad you’d get about him exploring OF without telling you he was going to do it, and then hid it from you. That’s very thought out deception.

    • Anon

      Not “how I can trust him” bit “if I can trust him.” For me, the answer would be no.

    • Emma

      I also didn’t respond yesterday because I was a little overwhelmed, but I was married to a cheater. It started with little things little messaging girls “just for fun, I would never go through with it” while I was on extended business trip. I tried to make things work for wayyy too long and gradually found out that (1) actually, he had gone through with it several times (basically whenever I was out of town and he was “lonely”); (2) he also used our money (in his account, but we were married so legally ours) for very stupid things without telling me about them or outright lying about them, and (3) he would say he apologized and loved me and we went to therapy and did all the things, and he just went back to carrying on. I left him and my only regret is giving him so much slack because he was depressed and not doing it sooner. I know the shock you must feel; my ex was the nicest guy in the world until I realized this. Sending you hugs and strength through this.

    • Anonymous

      Hugs to you OP. My only advice is to just take things one day at a time. This is still very new, and you don’t have to make any decisions about the future of your relationship until you feel sure. As time goes on, you learn more and see more about how he responds to what you are doing, you’ll get more clarity.

  6. First World Problems

    Any suggestions for what I should hint that I want for Christmas from my fiancée?

    I want us both to limit how much we spend on presents as we save for a wedding. I also don’t need or want anything. I already have all the subscriptions and memberships I can possibly want. But BF’s love language is gifts and I know it’s driving him crazy that he doesn’t have a good idea for what to get me. Last year (per my hint) he got me a watch and that made both of us happy — he got to research watches and pick it out and I enjoy wearing it every day. But I don’t want another watch so it’s not repeatable. I wear the same jewelry every day (gifts from family, so sentimental) and don’t really switch it out, so I would prefer that he not get me jewelry. He doesn’t think consumables are a sufficient gift. We already exchange books on Christmas Eve (his family’s tradition), so more books doesn’t work either. He’s so sweet and I want to give him a hint to help him out but I’ve got no ideas. I would be thrilled with a pair of wool socks and my favorite hand lotion but that’s not “enough” in his mind.

    It doesn’t help that I have a spectacular idea for his gift that I know he’s going to love. If he feels like his gift to me isn’t as “good” he will be very sad.

    • Anonymous

      You can’t get him a spectacular gift and then tell him he’s not allowed to give you a gift because he has to save for the wedding. If you are saving, you are both saving.

      • First World Problems

        Oh the spectacular gift isn’t expensive! It’s just very… creative/thoughtful. Cost is under $50.

        • Anon

          Care to share? I could use a good idea! For you, what about a handbag or something pretty from Cuyana? They have some lovely accessories in the sub $100 range that are great gifts.

    • Senior Attorney

      Upgrades of something you already have? A service? Like, “wool socks, my favorite hand lotion, and you arrange for my car to be detailed in a way that inconveniences me not one single bit?”

      • Senior Attorney

        And also? You may want to reconsider the “I wear the same jewelry every day because my family of origin gave it to me.” It can still be just as sentimental if you mix it up with things your husband (to be) gives you.

        • Anon

          Agree. I have a few old sentimental pieces, but the pieces my husband has bought me over the years, along with jewelry I bought myself to commemorate promotions etc, have become just as sentimental and special.

    • Nesprin

      Ask for flowers/photographer/etc for the wedding. Something where he gets to pick out the perfect whatever, and you get to celebrate him getting the most amazing bouquet forever, but channels his impulses into the wedding budget.

    • AIMS

      What about some kind of experience? Tickets to a show (the nutcracker?) and a nice dinner? Weekend trip? Spa day?

    • Leatty

      What about something special for the wedding? Like blue shoes you would wear with your dress, jewelry you would wear on your wedding day. Or something for your honeymoon, like a passport cover (monogrammed if that’s your thing) or new luggage. Or perhaps a jewelry dish for your rings.

    • Anonymous

      I’ve been slowly collecting wine and picnic things and they all make me so happy. We’ve spent a lot of time at wineries that have huge outdoor spaces and it’s so nice to have a comfy set up. We have a water resistant blanket, low chairs, a little table that holds glasses and has a built in cheese board, and cute insulated wine cups that we got on a trip together. I love pretty much everything from corksicle fwiw.

    • Anon

      I am such a fraghead that I can always come up with suggested scents for people to buy me, but how would you feel about your husband picking a new scent for you? He could pick one he finds sexy and you could just wear it to bed if you don’t enjoy it during the day. Maybe also some beautiful sleepwear to go with it.

      I’d say a sexy perfume, luxurious PJs, wool socks, and hand cream sound like a wonderful gift that would be used immediately and often!

    • Anonymous

      Silk knickers, camisoles or nighties.
      Not silky or “sexy” polyester, proper silk.

    • roxie

      just another example of how people whose love-language is gift giving are wildly selfish and self-centered!
      you have to go through all this to make HIM feel better about HIS “love language” (which btw was created by a conservative evangelical sexist christian)? hard pass.

    • kag

      Perfume. Nice skincare. Luxurious PJ or lingerie. Board games (Ticket to Ride, Azul, Splendor). Hobby articles.

  7. Anonymous

    I found reasonably priced dressier loafers, with lower vamps, at Ann Taylor and Jack Rogers.

  8. Sloan Sabbith

    I don’t like the sharply pointy toe loafers but I do like a slightly more rounded toe. I bought 3 pairs of Cole Haan knitted loafers earlier this year (all different styles) and wore them until it was too cold/wet. Two of them have the GrandZero type sole which is great, one of them has a completely smooth sole which ended up with me falling on a slick downhill sidewalk in downtown Seattle….those are now 100% dry day shoes, which is not Seattle until April or so.

    • anon

      I have some Sperry loafers that I’ve really been enjoying! But sadly, loafer season is almost over for me, too.

    • Wheels

      Oh no, hope you are ok! Will you be getting a cobbler to add a textured rubber sole to them? I imagine you’d have quite a few wet slippery days in Seattle.

      • Sloan Sabbith

        My pride was more hurt than anything. I will go do that at some point before spring. ;)

  9. Anonymous

    Any tips for getting a dog to use a new bed? I just bought my Golden Retriever mix a nice memory foam bed to replace the sad thin crate mat she has been sleeping on (not in a crate), and she refuses to use it. She seems to be afraid of the squishy texture. I’ve tried feeding her treats and petting her while she is on the bed, and putting her old bed on top of it. She has now decided that the floor next to the new bed is her sleeping spot.

    • Anon

      Take the new mattress out, keep her crate the way it was, and get her used to sleeping on the mattress as another dog bed, maybe next to where you work. Put a blanket over it to keep it clean. But don’t change her crate- she likes it as it is.

      • Anon

        Ok not in a crate but the point stands. Leave her the thin pad where it was, and set up the new mattress as a separate dog bed somewhere else.

      • Anonymous

        She doesn’t use a crate (rescue dog with apparent trauma from being crated during a transatlantic flight). The crate pad was her bed with no crate.

    • Anonymous

      I have found sometimes my dogs don’t love things until they get a little bit stinky, honestly. They want the thing to smell like them or us. I’d give it some time. Also, unfortunately, your dog may just prefer a firmer bed to sleep in.

      • Wheels

        Good idea. Memory foam has a really strong smell to me (and how much stronger is dogs’ sense of smell!) so try airing it out in the sun for a few days then putting an old sheet over it.

        I started to only buy my dogs wool and cotton beds for this reason.

    • Anonymous

      Positive reinforcement – treats, toys, praise, training on the new bed. Also, could be it’s scent? Maybe once it smells like your house, she’ll be more comfortable. If she gets too hot on the new bed, that might be a reason to avoid it; she may like it for shorter periods.

    • Anon

      That’s dogs . What we think they should like and what they actually like are often at odds. See also: rolling in stinky dead things.

      • Sloan Sabbith

        I once stuffed a down comforter I was getting rid of into an Ikea bag to take it to Goodwill and my dog (puppy at the time) made it into his new bed. 6 months later I shoved it into a laundry basket because he was clearly not giving it up. 3 years later it’s in the same laundry basket with a fleece blanket over the top and that’s where he sleeps when I’m working most days (another preferred perch is top of a velvet throw pillow).

      • Anonymous

        Yeah, for a cat, my answer would be to place the lovely bed inside an ugly plastic grocery bag, which the cat will adore.

      • Anon

        Yeah imagine having a dog’s sense of smell and then having to deal with the off gassing! I strongly feel that many products made for household pets aren’t really designed with household pets in mind.

    • Anonymous

      A little delayed on my reply but my doggo is the same! Either the new bed is too squishy/high up and she will never like it, OR it’s going to take awhile and you can put old bed or old blanky on top of new bed, put treats there to entice her to get close to it, and give it time. My neighbors with dogs have been the recipients of a few nice beds that my dog never warmed up to (and that I was too quick to rip off the tags on, haha, so couldn’t return).

    • Vicky Austin

      For our Lab it took a while to accept the new bed. I would give it time. Other things that worked for us:
      -Leaving treats on the bed
      -Storing a toy on bed when not actively in use (dog would wander over to bed to get a toy and started after a while to flop down right there to play with it)
      -Once you notice her settle down there once or twice of her own volition, start to introduce “Bed” or “Spot” as a command. I highly recommend training your dog to do this if you’re not already. Mine (see above re Lab) inevitably gets distracted or interested by something off the bed, and “Bed” gets him back and only requires me to mute for about three seconds on Teams ;)

      • Anonymous

        This dog knows “bed,” but when I give her the command she looks at me disdainfully as if to say “That’s not my bed.”

    • Anon

      Get rid of it and get your dog the cuddler bed. It’s sold by a bunch of places and is basically a shaggy donut. My dog rejected all beds but loves that thing and it is The Skirt of dog beds ….

    • anonymous

      She may just prefer a harder surface. I’ve read dogs prefer hard surfaces for sleeping on and my dogs seem ambivalent about beds. Sometimes our 6 year old dog will sleep in the bed, other times he’s fine on the floor. The 1.5 year old prefers hard surfaces. She literally folds up her crate mat so it’s somewhat out of her way except for a little pillow. Other than that, I second the recommendations to let it get stinky. Our younger dog only started to enjoy her dog bed once the older one started sleeping in it and she could roll around in his stink and hair.

  10. anon

    This is mostly a rant on the state of my wardrobe. I was doing okay with my return-to-work wardrobe until the colder weather hit. Now I’m realizing that I have a closet full of tops from BR and ATL that I can barely stand to wear. Most are some sort of poly blend. And all my blazers feel uncomfortably tight. They’re passable but I am so physically uncomfortable (still working off the covid gain). I don’t want to blow a bunch of money on work clothes but I’m having a hard time remixing my old fall/winter wardrobe because it either doesn’t look or feel right. I am at odds with what looks polished and what is actually comfortable. My tolerance for stuff I don’t like has gone WAY down, and I really don’t have the time to shop at the moment. But clearly something’s gotta give.

    • Anon

      I recently bought some sweater jackets from Talbots, and was eyeing the factory link someone posted this morning for another. Regular blazers are more constrictive than I’m willing to put up with at the moment, after nearly two years of comfy wear.

      • AIMS

        This was going to be my suggestion – the factory sweater blazer.
        I also got some pants at Uniqlo that I like. I feel like styles also changed in the last two years in a way that makes some pre pandemic clothes just feel off.

    • Anon

      Hit the thrift shops or consignment stores for more comfortable or slightly larger tops. Such good stuff around ours after everyone did big pandemic clean outs.

  11. Anonymous

    I want to like loafers but I’m having trouble getting past the penny loafers my mom wore (and made me wear) in the early 90s. The silhouette screams old lady/little kid to me. But then I see loafers on other people and they look so elevated and classic. Suggestions on where to start?

    Maybe related maybe separate: I’m so tired of my feet being cold all the time at work. During lockdown I got used to wearing comfy socks and slippers all day. Professional shoes are COLD! I used to have an under desk space heater but they are banned now. Is there such a thing as a warm professional shoe?

  12. Anon

    What kind of socks do you guys wear under short boots? I have one pair of above-ankle-high cashmere socks that seem to be perfect because they’re thin and long enough (maybe 3” above the ankle?) that they don’t slide down under my heel, which drives me nuts when I wear actual ankle socks. I am not going to buy a week’s worth of cashmere socks so I’m open to suggestions of anything that costs less!

  13. Anon

    For the person looking for Boston recs – we recently had a really great meal at Nautilus Pier 4. Surprisingly good.

  14. Anonymous

    If you wear loafers instead of flats are you wearing socks with them? Trouser socks? Nylon knee highs?

    • Anon

      I wear no-show smartwool socks for now, but 8will soon be converting to Uniqlo heattech crew socks.

    • Anon

      Socks. I buy them big enough to fit a sheepskin innersole and wear with socks as I get cold feet.

  15. Vicky Austin

    So for the first time in our married life we live in the same town as a Sam’s Club. It’s just us + dog for now. Would you recommend getting a membership? Waiting until we have kids? Skipping entirely?

    • Anon

      I’ve had a Costco membership on my own as a single person and found it worth it, so I would say yes.

    • Anon

      I found Sam’s to be subpar. They get a lot of one-off deals that never repeat, which encourages people to shop frequently and browse. BJs or Costco are better for repeatable value, at least in my area.

    • Anon

      My husband and I find it useful, especially if the Sam’s Club sells gas and you need premium. I don’t shop there a lot but always buy: nuts, vegies, coffee, flour (for sourdough), crackers and some smaller quantities of meat. Occasionally I buy moisturizer or peppercorns or some other minor item. I pay almost no attention to their deals flyer.

  16. Hollis

    Paging poster from this morning re procrastination. I, too, was a procrastinator and I still am to some degree, but I’ve improved a lot as I have stopped letting the guilt/bad feelings make my procrastination worse. For me, I found the tips in this book to be helpful: Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change
    Pychyl, Timothy A.

    Paging morning poster re weaning off of sugary drinks at night: Try drinking Bengal Spice Tea from Celestial Seasonings (non-caffeinated) or Yorkshire Tea Biscuit Brew. I love sugary drinks (love frappuccinos) but these two teas satisfy my cravings somehow.

Back to Top

About

Work with Corporette®

Serious Stuff

work fashion blog press mentions