Frugal Friday’s Workwear Report: Double-Pleat Wide-Leg Pants
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
There was a time when I fervently resisted pleated pants, but now it seems like I can’t get enough of them. These wide-leg pants from Gemma + Jane come in seven great colors, but the emerald green really jumped out at me. I have quite a collection of olive green pants, but nothing quite like this.
I think these pants would look great with some of the short-sleeve cashmere sweaters I grabbed in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for a relaxed, business casual look.
The pants are $29.97 at Nordstrom Rack and come in sizes S-XL.
Sales of note for 7/15:
- Nordstrom – The Anniversary Sale has started! Here's our big roundup of what to get first, as well as everything we've selected thus far.
- Ann Taylor – Semi-annual sale, 60% off sale and 40% off everything — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it's a great separate)
- Banana Republic – Summer sale up to 60% off sale styles + extra 20% off
- The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns
- J.Crew – 50% off select cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 60% off clearance
- Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
- Lululemon – Summer sale!
- Me & Em – Sale! Up to 60% off (new lines just added)
- M.M.LaFleur – 25% off jardigans (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom Rack – Clear the rack, extra 25% off clearance! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work dresses from Calvin Klein, Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
- Talbots – Red Door Sale! Prices start at $15
Long shot but has anyone stayed at the Sun Valley Lodge recently (with a toddler)? We’re considering splurging for a ski trip next year for the convenience and the history but more than a couple recent reviews mentioned maintenance issues or poor service. Nothing bothers me more than a splurge being really disappointing so I thought I would ask here where it’s generally free of paid and AI bot reviews! Happy Friday.
Snack ideas- my daughter is headed to a week long overnight sports camp. They will be in dorms and eating in the cafeteria but have been told to bring snacks. What are some ideas for between meal snacks for athletes that don’t require refrigeration over a week?
So far I have nuts, bananas, protein bars, apples (hard with braces) for the first few days anyway. She normally does a lot of berries and yogurt which won’t work. Maybe PB + crackers? Her roommate is a teammate and doesn’t have allergies so nuts are fine.
If you have a Trader Joes, I’d just take your daughter with you and go down each aisle for inspiration. Could do the same with any grocery store. Dried fruit, crackers, cereal bars, gummy snacks, and maybe some more fun, junky options like candy or cookies.
TJ has great dried fruit and freeze dried berries. My kids like the freeze dried strawberry ones but pack gently bc they get crushed easily.
Jerky sticks are great if she will eat that.
Sunflower seeds, pistachios, granola.
I don’t know if I can say “as an athlete,” but as a person who camps and hikes a lot, I stay away from too many bad carbs and too much salt, which is easy to get in shelf-stable foods.
Get some quart ziplocks in case she’s not hungry enough to eat a whole package.
For energy first, I love peanut M&Ms.
I also really like a mix of nuts and dried fruit, but it’s not for everyone. There are some good Emerald nut snack packs like this that I keep at work.
I will make my own granola with lots of nuts, dried fruit, honey-nut cheerios (the best cereal solo IMO) etc. in it vs just junk.
A lot of dried fruit isn’t hard, but more like a more leathery fruit roll-up (and I like those, even though they are really processed).
Animal crackers — the Nabisco ones are delicious and not complete garbage.
I also like a plain potato chip (like Lay’s) or Pringles (don’t get smushed).
And if they have a microwave, Chef Boyardee beef mini-rav is a great dorm food. You just need some paper bowls and disposable forks.
Chips crackers candy. Why you being granola mom
What kinds of snacks does she like to eat at home other than yogurt? My kids favorites are pretzels and Z bars. I would probably throw in some gummy candies and peanut m&ms too. Oranges are also easy and keep for a while.
A bit TMI – my apologies. I just started vaginal estradiol last night. Followed instructions – put a gram in the tube, inserted as far as possible and plunged. Went straight to bed, and noticed this morning that I had quite a bit drip out when I urinated. For some reason, I expected it to be absorbed way more than it was. Normal? Should I plan to wear a thin pad the next day to protect undies? Appreciate your wisdom.
Normal. I switched from this to a capsule insert called Imvexxy that’s less of a pain to insert and a little less drippy.
Seconding that this is completely normal. Would recommend a thin liner for the next day.
Normal. Wear a pn-ty liner.
Adding that you can also rub it in to help it absorb better. I think discharge is inevitable, though.
Anyone renewed their passport online lately? I need to renew, have 2.5 months between trips, and trying to decide if regular processing “allow 6 weeks” per the renewal s-te is a fair buffer to have it renewed.
Not recently, but a year or two ago (so, much closer to any Doge-related interruptions), it took about 3 weeks.
Mine took about 2 months when I did it this fall (online)
My husband renewed his online December before our trip in February. He received it in ~3 weeks.
Same, or even quicker. I think I received mine within 11 days after renewing online in January, even though I didn’t select express processing.
That being said, if I had had a trip that I couldn’t miss, I would pay the extra fee in a heartbeat. I was traumatized (lol) back in 2007 when my daughter’s passport took 20 weeks to arrive, and we finally got it three days before her trip. My elderly parents, who were taking her abroad, were freaking out and blamed it on me.
I did expedited processing with overnight shipping. Turn around time was 10 days from the day I dropped it off. Honestly, for the extra $100, it’s worth it for piece of mind.
from the conversation yesterday about soap operas…
Can you try non-american shows? I think a lot of other countries have similiar programming or still maintain this style of programs. You’ll have subtitles probably but I think its fun to see what tropes seem to resonate in other cultures media vs american media.
I missed scheduled tv programs that we grew up with. TV that came on at certain times and ypu spent all week waiting for the next new episode of smallville or whatever. Between prime time weeknight dramas, saturday morning cartoons, sunday afternoon cooking shows and This Old House, afterschool teen shows ….
With the prevelance of streaming and the ability to binge a season of something in a weekend is great, I think there’s something to extending that dopamine hit into smaller chunks over longer periods of time.
I’ve set up a personal tv show schedule for myself (obv if i have actual plans or work those are priority):
My schedule
Tuesday 8-10 pm is dramas, adventure or thrillers. Right now 1 hour long ep of show A, and 1 30min episode of each of shows B and C.
Friday: Movie night. Something I havent seen before.
Saturday AM: anime, 1 or 2 episodes in the background in the morning
Sunday: late afternoon or early evening, documentary or non fiction type episode. 50% chance this turns into a dad style nap on the couch.
I’ve not gotten this self restraint down fully yet. 2 sundays ago I did get 3 episodes deep into Trust Me on Netflix before realizing what I had done.
I love this, might copy it.
Lighting help needed! We have a laundry room off the mudroom that needs a new flush mount ceiling light. I had something utilitarian before but it only looks good with Edison-type lights and I want the room a lot brighter. Any ideas where to shop for something not boring with some personality? Cabinets are painted a teal with black matte handles, sink is stainless steel. Thank you!!
Laundry rooms are utilitarian rooms. I agree that Edison/exposed lightbulbs are annoying, but simple, bright and utilitarian is the play here. I would get something that fit my functional requirements at Lowes, Home Depot or your local ACE, and save the decorative fixtures for more public spaces in your house.
I just bought a pair of wide-legged pleated pants like this and my husband greeted me when I got home with “MC Hammer!” I had to break it to him that this is what the professionals are wearing these days.
I am a researcher considering applying for a government relations position. As a researcher I have a substantial amount of experience dealing with policymakers on the level that this position would interact with, although not the specific people and not in an advocacy role; I currently present information and facilitate discussions with policymakers. The position is not directly related to my current field. I have a few questions for anyone with experience in government relations.
-Is this even worth pursuing, or would my resume immediately get tossed out?
-I am not a heavy user of LinkedIn. I only have about 100 connections, partly because I don’t connect with everyone I meet and partly because a fair number of people in my current field don’t even have LinkedIn accounts, and don’t post terribly frequently. Is this a red flag that would get my resume tossed out?
-I have two headshot choices for LinkedIn: a professional one that looks very stiff and a more casual one, in which I am wearing a jean jacket but look genuine and approachable. Which should I use?
-Should I add my volunteer work to my resume to show that I am sociable and connected in the community? If so, I assume I should leave off anything with the slightest religious connotation? Does that change if I am in a purple state with large deep red areas but the employer would be on the blue-ish side?
-Anything else I should know about positioning myself?
Most GR positions are going to strongly prefer someone who has directly worked FOR the government (I.e., prior work experience as a congressional staffer). I would talk up your connections with that audience as much as possible, but I think it’d be a tough road.
I did a brief spell as a T&E lawyer, where people would make gifts to pay for relatives school costs. The catch was that the gift has to go directly to the school to pay the tuition. How does this work in the year of our lord 2026 where there are portal after portal, FERPA waivers (for relatives who are >18), and most people don’t have a POA to let them act for competent adults. The only easy way I can think of is to give the student relative an additional credit card on older relative’s existing account and then charge tuition on that and then older relative pays the bill when it comes in. IDK if university bursar’s offices have people for this (maybe at places like Vandy, etc.)? An in-law wants to do this and yet has arthritis, zero patience to investigate all this, and about 5 younger relatives who go to a variety of schools.
Can’t you just create a portal account for the elderly relative and have them read off the account numbers for you to enter?
Be aware that you will be charged a hefty fee for paying by card. I pay my kid’s tuition by ACH to avoid that.
Girl what? Colleges are happy to take the money this is not hard
Did you decide to let your autistic daughter go to college?
I cannot speak for all universities but my daughter’s had a separate payment portal and getting access was not difficult. She just had to log on and make me an authorized payor. It did not give me access to her grades or other information but allowed me to pay the tuition and dorm fees.
Can I just say how happy I am NOT to have access to anything but billing? As long as she keeps her scholarship I do not want to know anything about my child’s grades.
I wish — a lot of programs have rules to stay in, like you can’t have anything below a B- or you have to repeat a class (which adds on a year). I’m more watching grades because my budget was for four years, but at the end of the day, I just want a kid who graduates. Crossing my fingers for on time.
I don’t care if it’s a 3.0 or a 3.5, as long as you will graduate and complete your (relatively employable) major.
Can the in-law just give you their banking info for this purpose? Presumably, if they are close enough to you to pay the tuition for your kid, they are close enough to have you enter their baking info on their behalf.
At our school there is a processing fee (~3%) when paying by credit card.
Love emerald green and love pleats too. I hope it has big pockets. The advantage of those pleats would be so you could have huge pockets.
Justices Kagan and Barrett testified before congress recently. Since this is a fashion blog of lawyers, did anyone see what they wore? I just saw a picture of them sitting at a table. I know they probably are in business attire under their robes but this was very serious meeting and their outfits probably spoke to that a bit based on what they chose.
For the curious: the topic was the budget for their security. I think someone in the room said later that maybe if we didn’t use SCT cases to rile up the base, they wouldn’t need so much security in the first place.
ACB wore a navy pantsuit with a white/cream shell, low pumps, and a double string of pearls. Kagan wore black pants and a black shell with a red blazer and flats and a simple gold necklace.
Perfect. This sort of confirms for me that we have gone from judges not letting female attorneys wear pantsuits to female judges wearing them when on very official business.
Are skirt suits even a thing that you can buy now?
For those who have refinanced a mortgage, did you shop around as aggressively for a good deal, or did you just go with your existing mortgage broker?