Corporette.com

Updated: Oct 30, 2018 129 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Stacked Heel Pump

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.

business casual stacked heelWhen we were doing our roundup of basic black pumps for work yesterday, I found this great — but admittedly more casual — stacked heel pump, and it's too good not to share. I normally hate a wooden heel (or more accurately, a heel that looks like wood), but I kind of love it now. (It reminds me for some reason of the last time I went to London and all the women were wearing black skinny jeans tucked into dark brown boots.) I'd wear the heels with a casual, breezy shift dress (like this one or this one), and trendy delicate jewelry. They're $129 at Nordstrom, available in sizes 4-12. Louise et Cie ‘Jianna' Stacked Heel Pump

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. Shopaholic

    I actually really like a wood heel – I think they can look really chic although they definitely do look more casual.

  2. Gaffe

    I made a stupid, stupid mistake today. At a conference, I was telling someone what I didn’t like about an earlier presentation by a Very Important Person, who turned out to be sitting a few feet away and heard everything. I made myself look like an idiot and represented my organization poorly. I am experienced enough that I should have known better. Now I just want to hide in my hotel room until it’s time to go home. Ugh. I am so stupid.

    • dots

      Ugh, sorry. I assume your criticisms were valid, though — and that is likely the only way that the VIP will hear criticism, so maybe s/he took it in that spirit.

    • Anon

      First conference? Why would you possibly think it was a good idea to critique anything at the conference — rather than after it’s over??

      • Not necessary

        Hi there, have you ever heard about not kicking someone while they’re down? OP obviously knows it was a mistake.

        • Nati

          Seriously! When you know you’ve messed up it’s annoying when people respond this way. She already knows.

    • Anon

      I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. Yes, you probably wouldn’t have said those things to Important Person’s face, but you’re entitled to your opinion, and your opinions don’t automatically attach to your entire organization. Skip any event you can, and just get through it. You won’t even care about this in a few months.

    • Ellen

      Kat, these are great shoes! We must be NORDSTROM twins! YAY!!!

      Hug’s to the OP. Yes, I too have made a few dumb mistake’s by putting my foot in my mouth at work. When I was in DC, I told my freind in the cafeteria that my boss had made sexueal advances to me in the copy room (which was TRUE). I did rebuff his advance’s, but I do NOT think I should have said this to my freind in the cafeteria b/c his boss over heard me. His boss came over to me to question me about this and I HAD to tell the truth. My boss got mad, and hardley spoke to me all semester, and I did NOT get a job offer b/c of that. FOOEY! In retrospect, I probabley should have kept quiet about his sexueal behavior and then I would have had a job in DC. But I can’t be to sad b/c I eveneueally got THIS job with the manageing partner and am makeing 6x what I would have made in the goverment (but am workeing 7x as hard). DOUBEL FOOEY. I also could have been MARRIED by now b/c I would have had the time to find a HUSBAND in DC, b/c here in NY, the men do NOT want to get married to me. TRIPEL FOOEY!

    • Jana C.

      It will be incredibly painful, but think about apologizing to the VIP, if there is anything to apologize for. Speaking from 35 years of experience, you will appear both memorable and mature.

  3. Just curious- Prime Day

    Anyone get anything neat from Prime Day? I know we talked about how useless it was last year. I looked at the website today and there’s nothing I need, but the stuff seems less random this year.

    • Anonymous

      I did. I agree that it’s less random this year. I bought some kids shoes, a Jones New York short down jacket, some sneakers for me, a pair of Cole Haan wedges, and some other small things. The jacket was a great deal (usually $168, got it for about $57), but other than that it was mostly 30% off their normal prices.

    • Anonymous

      I got a pair of Gentle Souls shoes that I had my eye on fairly cheaply.

    • Anonymous

      A couple things, but nothing I hadn’t been considering/meaning to purchase anyway. Some wire shelving and a watch. Adulthood is super glamorous.

    • CherryScary

      Fiance and I grabbed solid state drives for our PCs. I wanted to upgrade mine, and he’s in the process of building his own.

    • anon in sv

      Pampers and wipes and the next size up swimsuit for the baby. Things I’d buy anyway, though the extra discount was nice.

    • Snoozy

      There was a fairly sizeable discount on the Kindle I’d been eyeing, so I got that, plus a few random books from my wish list that were 30% off. Oh, and gifts for a friend’s new baby. So it was worth checking this year.

    • Anon

      I got a FireTV stick and a Digital antenna, so I can break the cord from cable when I move in a few months. WHOOPEE!

      • Elle

        Report back on how that goes! I’m getting closer and closer to wanting to do this.

    • Anonymous

      I really just don’t get why they put it on 7/12 rather than 7/13. #mathnerd

        • lost academic

          I think there’s a reason for using Tuesday (I recall hearing about a vague rationale for it awhile back) but a sale on 7/11 isn’t going to be received positively everywhere… like in India.

          • Wildkitten

            And everyone is busy on 7/11 getting their free slurpees. Unless they order from their phones in line for slurpees?

    • arya

      I got the instant pot which is supposed to be some miracle slow/fast/pressure cooker in the hopes that it will motivate more cooking and lunches brought from home!

      • ant99

        Love my instant pot. The ability to saute and then pressure cook has dramatically improved our dinners. I hope you enjoy it as well.

    • Anonymous

      I got a car seat, stroller, and accessories – best part is that I got the Prime discount on top of my completion discount (items that were on my registry but hadn’t yet been purchased) so it was pretty significant savings overall!

    • Scarlett

      I just got the tote bag insert Calico recommended (thank-you!!) for $20.

    • Jules

      A Skagen watch I’ve been eyeing at 30% off, and ditto on the Karen Kane faux wrap cascade dress. Also a really good deal on a small Basse brand portable Bluetooth speaker

    • Anon

      a bunch of toilet paper (woo hoo!) and then I bought a stroller off my baby registry (15% completion discount) + a $30 off code- if you have a Prime visa and spend over $150 use code VISA30

      • Anonymous

        WK, I’d be so curious to hear what kind of work you are in! Congrats on getting a new role so quickly

        • Wildkitten

          The new job is temp, but it’s temp for everyone so I can still bring some of my favorite office supplies.

    • ChiLaw

      I got a Pendleton all seasons wool dress that I’m pretty pumped about for $26!

    • Marie

      I just got invited to a “business cocktail” reception and need a new dress, so I ordered two (Calvin Klein and Tiana B) and will choose one. Under $45 each. Score!

    • ant99

      A dress for work and a discounted laptop for son number 2. We’d been planning to buy him a new one as a high school graduation gift and the discount was just fortuitous.

  4. Blonde Lawyer

    Anyone playing Pokemon Go? I know nothing about the Pokemon card game but downloaded it because the geo caching bit seemed cool. There are about a million privacy concerns but I used a gmail I don’t use for anything else and google already knows where I go because I use google maps. I’m really having fun with it! It’s motivating me to walk at lunch and after work.

    • Anon

      No but I nearly hit three separate groups of people who wandered out into traffic, staring at their phone screens while they were playing it. Does that count?

      #stupidgame #getoffmylawn

      • Blonde Lawyer

        Ha! Yes, you do have to watch where you are going. I wish the developers had fully disabled the game at high speeds too to prevent people from playing while driving. They put in some safe guards. You have to take a certain number of steps to incubate an egg for example and it doesn’t work driving. But, there are already a lot of reports of dumb people using it driving and dangerously pulling off the road quickly to “catch” the pokemon. It should just not work. The whole point is to be a walking game anyway.

        • Anon

          To be clear, I was driving. The idiots playing the game were walking – and looking at their screens instead of traffic.

          Sometimes I hate technology. You want to go for a walk? GO FOR A F-ING WALK!! Without looking at your phone.

          • Anonymous

            Don’t use a cell phone: You want to talk to your friend! Go to their house to have a conversation!

            Don’t use a car: You want to go to your friend’s house! WALK!

            See…. you use technology in superfluous ways too.

            Let people have their fun. It’ll be short-lived and in the meantime an entire community of people who are otherwise typically relegated to basements and dark living rooms are coming out, enjoying each other’s company and the beautiful summer weather.

    • mascot

      I also downloaded it bc my kid likes geocaching (which can be too difficult at times for him). These seems like something he could get into.

    • Anonymous

      I am and I love it. Never played Pokemon as a kid, but I’m loving the exploration and augmented reality aspect of it. Also, meeting new people! I’m not super concerned about the privacy issues because I firmly believe our phones and internet presences expose us to innumerable security risks already (what’s one more?)

    • Baconpancakes

      Yes, but I’m feeling very hipster huffy about all the press and exclamations about how innovative and great this game is, when I was playing Ingress in 2014, which is basically exactly the same game without the Pokemon aspect of it. (Made by the same developers, Niantic, as well.)

      • Aurora

        Nerd tip: if you still have Ingress, the little blue dots you hoover up in Ingress represent all the potential spawn points for Pokemon in Pokemon Go, since the games are run on exact same engine. If you start seeing grass indicating that a pokemon might be somewhere nearby, you can pop open Ingress as a cheat and see the most likely places for it to actually spawn. ^.^

      • Parfait

        I feel the same huffiness. Pokemon is sucking up all my Ingress friends. I fully expect that they’ll come back once the hype dies down. Ingress is a better game because it has strategy and teamwork. Pokemon doesn’t seem to have a lot to do.

    • SC

      I’ve played some. I enjoyed it walking around the park over the weekend. I tried walking around downtown during my lunch break yesterday, but I couldn’t play and pay enough attention to my surroundings to feel safe (mostly from robbers, but also cars). I did bond with some college-age file interns in the elevator at lunch today, so there’s that.

    • Anonymous

      Yep! Going for a walk around downtown this afternoon after work with some coworkers to see what we can catch.

      For a lot of people in their 20s/30s who grew up with these games, this is really close to being the ultimate fantasy from these games. If you told 12 year old me that 29 year old me would be able to walk around in the real world and catch pokemon – using a device that bears a not insignificant resemblance to a pokedex, even! – little me would have been ecstatic. The only thing that would make it better is to have the critters be, y’know, physical (eevee looks SO FLUFFY AND SOFT).

    • Emmer

      It is not worthwhile if you are a lawyer at a firm. It may be worthwhile if you are a lawyer looking at in-house compliance positions or consulting positions. Don’t know if you’re not a lawyer.

      • Anonymous

        +1, with the addition that even if you are in a firm, it may be worthwhile if your long term goal is to go in-house. (I’m a CIPP in a law firm, but became one while in-house).

    • Emmer

      Also, I’m assuming you just mean is it worthwhile to be certified for career advancement/marketability purposes. If you mean is it worthwhile from the perspective of gaining any useful knowledge, absolutely 100% not.

    • tazdevil

      Piggybacking on what has been said above, it is most beneficial to attorneys who want to go in-house, and additionally have prior experience with compliance or technology transactions law.

  6. anon

    Kindle Voyage or Paperwhite? About to go on maternity leave and I think ability to read at night with lit screen could be nice… Main plus to voyage seems to be the button situation?

    • ALX emily

      I’m not sure what the sales are today, but at normal prices I don’t think the voyage is worth the extra cost. I have a voyage and my husband has a paperwhite and either is TOTALLY worth it for the lit screen, but I don’t really see any advantages to the voyage otherwise. I never use the buttons because it is way more natural for me to just touch the screen but I guess others may have a different hand shape/size/way of holding the kindle that makes the buttons more of a feature.

    • Anon

      I have a Paperwhite and I love it. I’ve never used the Voyage, so I can’t compare, but I’m on my 2nd Kindle Paperwhite (due to leaving the first one in a hotel!) in 4+ years and am still totally enamored with it.

      • NOLA

        I have a Touch and have been seriously considering buying a Paperwhite so I can read without an extra light (on a plane or whatever)

    • Anonymous

      I have a Voyage and it’s ok, a little uncomfortable to hold. I would go for the Oasis, that looks like a nicer shape.

      • Snoozy

        Have just ordered a Voyage after trying a friend’s Paperwhite and finding the lack of buttons very annoying (am upgrading an elderly Kindle keyboard) – will report back. Discount was €40 where I am, but the Paperwhite’s also on sale, if price is a factor.

    • Goatsgoatsgoats

      I was considering this today and ended up getting a Fire because it was only $33, and it had great reviews for use as an e-reader. Though it made more sense for me because I don’t have a tablet.

  7. Homeowner's Insurance

    Any recommendations for good, cheap(er) homeowner’s insurance? I have no idea what’s typical. We’re in Brooklyn with State Farm and have been mindlessly paying about $850 a year for a one bedroom for awhile, and that maybe seems a bit high to me? It’s renewal time and I’ve decided to finally shop around a bit – when we initially signed up we were pretty fatigued from buying our apartment and I don’t recall putting a lot of thought or effort into it.

    • anonymous

      Homeowner’s insurance is one of those things where you can’t really make a general statement about who will be good/cheap. Different companies give better rates depending on lots of variables. Your best bet is to make a list of the top 5 or so companies that come to mind (State Farm/Geico/USAA/Progressive/Nationwide/Farmers/whatever) and call to get quotes.

      • Homeowner's Insurance

        You’re right, it’s such a project that I was hoping to narrow it down a bit – and also get a sense of what is a typical amount to pay (as much as I can).

    • Tetra

      I really like the customer service at First American Property and Casualty Group.

    • SC

      I contacted an agent, and he found a Lloyd’s insurance policy that is really inexpensive for my area, which most of the large companies don’t want to insure. I went from paying $4500/year to $2800. Most of the big companies, though, do everything they can to avoid insuring in my area, so before this policy, I had a very expensive policy through the state.

      • Anonymous

        Between this comment about insurers not wanting to insure you and your comment above re: Pokémon Go and robbers, I’m SO curious where you live, it sounds umm, safe?

        • Anonymous

          The Pokémon/robbers connection is a notorious thing – it’s been in the national news a lot and I wouldn’t assume that the fact someone mentioned it means they live in an unsafe area.

        • anon

          If the SC’s area has been hit by floods,hurricanes, or other natural disasters recently or is otherwise a risk of those, a lot of companies may have capped the number of policies that they will write.

    • MNF

      We use an independent agent for all of our insurance. They do the shopping around for you and if you have to make a claim, they help you do so. I recommend finding an agent you can trust, rather than a company.

      • Ally McBeal

        Anyone have a good recommendation for an independent agent to handle life insurance?

    • anon in brooklyn

      also in brooklyn and we pay just under 400 for a two bedroom with Allstate which is “condo insurance”. Not sure if you are in a condo or not but just passing it on. 850 seems high to me.

      • anon in brooklyn

        also we had a claim one year after moving in and the rate did not go up and they paid the claim within a day. it was a leak situation from an appliance. promise I don’t work for allstate but they were great in my experience.

        • Homeowner's Insurance

          Thanks – I’ll definitely check out Allstate. I think we have pretty comprehensive insurance with a low deductible, which I don’t think is necessary.

    • In House Lobbyist

      You should also look at bundling anything you can to save money. Car insurance, life insurance or banking can all save you money. Also make sure you know the difference between replacement and actual cash value (ACV) policies so you know what you are comparing. Raising your deductible will usually save you money as well.

    • Libby

      Any specific parts of Oregon? It’s a big state!

      Here are my favorite places to visit in Oregon:
      – Bend, OR. Lots of outdoorsy stuff and tasty craft breweries. Take a day trip to Crater Lake, drive around the lake, and get an appetizer at the porch at the lodge overlooking the lake.
      – Astoria, OR. Go up the Astoria Column, get an awesome view of the mouth of the Columbia. There’s a cute little downtown with little shops.
      – Willamette Valley for wineries.
      – Portland. Go to Blue Star Donuts for ridiculously tasty donuts.

  9. Anonymous

    Has anyone seen any fun, funky round toe shoes? Color, pattern, all is fair game. It seems like everyone is making pointy toe exclusively, but my bunions won’t allow me to go there. (I like the featured pair, but I already have black shoes.)

    • anon8

      The brand Miz Mooz comes to mind for fun and funky and I think they have some round toe styles too.

      • Homeowner's Insurance

        Second that rec, I hate uncomfortable shoes and I love that brand.

    • waffles

      John Fluevog shoes are very comfortable, and they have tonnes of rounded toe styles. The funky level is off the charts…

  10. Anonymous

    For those of you who don’t wash your hair every day, do you notice that it begins to smell not so fresh after a while? Mine will look totally fine, and it doesn’t stink, but it doesn’t smell quite fresh. I assume the only person who smells it is my husband when he is hugging me. What do you do about it?

    • anon8

      I use dry shampoo on the days I don’t wash my hair and most of them have a fragrance.

    • Anonymous

      You mean, it stops smelling like your shampoo and just smells like…hair? Is it soaking up odors from your surroundings (like smoke when people used to smoke in the bar)?

      I don’t do anything except wash my hair every 2-3 days.

    • Anonymous

      I wash mine every 2-3 days and it starts to look visibly greasy long before it starts to stink, so as long as it looks fine I don’t worry.

    • Anonymous

      If I’m not washing on day 2, I spray my hair with hairspray (elnett is my favorite) in the evening. The alcohol is a better oil sponge in my hair than dry shampoo.

    • Anonymous

      Hair doesn’t really make an odor the way bodies do. It stops smelling like shampoo pretty quickly, but then it just smells like nothing, it doesn’t smell BAD.

    • Simplify

      I can’t stand not washing my hair for this reason. Plus my hair is short and gets very messed up after a night’s sleep. Rather than shampoo, I just use conditioner in my hair.

    • Anon

      I’m sure it’s fine. I beg you NOT to try to cover up any slightly-less-than-fresh smell with those super artificial smelling hairsprays. Nothing is worse than masking a lack of shower with “orange hibiscus breeze” or whatever the new scent of the moment is.

    • Anonymous

      Do you smoke? Or are your otherwise around strong odors (Do you work at a BBQ restaurant??) Hair should only be picking up odors from your surroundings (unless of course you’re going to the gym and sweating).

    • lawsuited

      Despite what people are saying above that hair doesn’t create odour, my experience is that your head sweats and can make your hair smell less-than-awesome the same way your body sweats and can make your skin smell less-than-awesome. It’s not always a problem, but sometimes during the summer months I notice it and have found that some dry shampoos – Living Proof and Colab (not sure if available in the States) – are better at combatting odour than others.

  11. Shorter Podcasts

    I’ve never really been into podcasts but recently I have discovered some that are actually interesting. But I have also noticed that most podcasts are one hour long. I prefer stuff that I can listen to in short sessions e.g. 15-30 minutes. So far the ones I like are:

    Philosophy Bites
    The Mortified Podcast

    Looking for new recommendations. Looking for stuff that can make me think i.e. smart content. Wouldn’t mind some science related ones and anything with a good storytelling aspect.

    • CherryScary

      I believe No Such Thing as A Fish is about 30 minutes. It’s a trivia podcast done by the researchers for the TV show QI. I find it really funny and you learn some quirky things!

    • Anonymous

      Planet Money
      Radiolab
      This American Life
      Radiolab Presents: More Perfect (this is new and EXCELLENT)
      Revisionist History
      Serial (well, season 1 if you haven’t heard it, I didn’t love season 2)

      • Meg Murry

        In addition to the ones above:
        -99% Invisible – usually 20 minutes or so
        -Stuff You Missed in History Class is usually under 40 minutes, plus you can skip the first few and last few minutes
        -Stories from NPR is just whatever was on NPR in the past few days – so the clips are typically under 5 minutes, but with an occasional 10 or 20 minute bit
        -Science Underground is only 2 minutes long and has ~40 episodes so far, so you could go through them in a few sessions or as an add on whenever you have only a couple of minutes

    • Anonymous

      Planet Money
      Radiolab
      This American Life
      Radiolab Presents: More Perfect (this is new and EXCELLENT)
      Revisionist History
      Serial (well, season 1 if you haven’t heard it, I didn’t love season 2)

    • Goatsgoatsgoats

      Death, Sex, and Money
      Stuff Mom Never Told You
      2 Dope Queens
      And I second the recommendations for Radiolab and TAL

    • Parfait

      I’ve been enjoying More Perfect, RadioLab’s spinoff series about the Supreme Court.

  12. For AIMS

    I was catching up on the posts last night. I wanted to jump in on the other side! I think there’s no reason to give away stuff you like (even if you don’t have an occasion to wear it) as long as you have the storage space. It’s trendy to declutter the closet, but if you actually like the clothes you have, will it really make you happier? I really appreciate the comments you make around here (and as a lurker have even bought a shirt you recommended years ago) and so I wanted to validate your totally legitimate feelings!

  13. (not that) Ellen

    Curious to know why this pump reads casual. Is it the wooden heel?

    • Wildkitten

      Yeah. I wouldn’t wear it to the movies on the weekend, but I wouldn’t wear it for a trial in federal court.

  14. Brit

    This is truly a hail Mary question to the hive. I cannot find anything helpful online.

    I bought some expensive glasses frames in London ($700). Flew home, now regret purchase and want to return. The selling boutique gave me blessing over the phone to do this. Fed Ex and UPS will charge me around 200 USD just for return postage. USPS will charge less ($75) but they are telling me that the seller will owe customs fees in the UK. That doesn’t seem right – I paid VAT and did not get a refund at the airport.

    Any advice on the best way to return these glasses frames to the London boutique? I’m so afraid of sending them off and never seeing them again.

    • Anon

      Customs and VAT are two different things. Customs has to do with things going in and out. VAT is essentially sales tax, which, if you are a non-EU resident, you can get refunded if you have spent over a certain dollar amount and prove that at exit or shortly thereafter. So yes, it is conceivable you could be charged both. That’s why people don’t order clothes from catalogs abroad that don’t pay for customs for their customer. No advice. I lived over there, and several times if my mom sent me US goods, I was charged customs, even when things were declared as gifts.

      Hope that helps.

  15. Anonymous

    How do you distract yourself from calling someone that you know is bad for you?

    • Anon

      “I won’t do it tonight. If I still want to in the morning, I can.”
      Not once have I still wanted to in the morning.
      When things were /REALLY/ bad I left my phone at home for an entire afternoon, took a book to a coffee shop and camped out there until I was over the desire to call the dude.
      Also: I wrote on a notecard all the reasons the dude was a jerk on one side and reminders to myself on the other (“You are enough. There is beauty in walking away. You deserve better. You owe him nothing. Don’t back down”). Carried it around for /months/ in my wallet. Wrote the local crisis line on it with “Call. Them. FIRST.” Any time I wanted to call the person, I read the card. If that didn’t help, I called the crisis line and just chatted with them about why I wanted to call the guy who abused me.
      Delete the number in your phone. Make it take some actual work to contact the person.
      Find someone who will tell you that it is not a good idea. Make a promise to yourself or them that you’ll text or call them first. Give them permission to be bossy af or whatever you need (for me, it was someone reminding me he once told me I was dead to him….).
      Hand write a letter saying the things you want to say. For the love of g-d, however, don’t type it or write it in email. Ask me how I know this is a bad idea.
      Take a walk without your phone.
      For me, the situation was such that searching for “emotional abuse indicators” helped. It reminded me that what I was feeling was normal and expected and that still didn’t mean it was a good idea.
      Also, recently read a quote “Don’t go back to a person who harms you under the guise of ‘getting closure.'” Paraphrasing, but it was a good reminder.
      I have a stupid amount of experience with this. Good luck. Sending love.

  16. cc

    I’ll try again tomorrow, but any recommendations for a girls dinner in Portland, ME? It’ll be the beginning of a bachelorette, so suggestions for someplace downtown and “hip” would be much appreciated!

  17. MJ

    Ladies,

    PSA – Giant sale going on a J Crew, especially on shoes. And siren call out to the Size 12 ladies…there were a lot of steals for the large-of-foot.

Back to Top

About

Work with Corporette®

Serious Stuff

work fashion blog press mentions