Tuesday’s Workwear Report: Fei Tie-Front Organic Cotton Dress
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
The moment the temperature gets above 60 degrees, I’m ready to break out all of the jersey dresses in my closet. They’re comfortable, washable, and easy to throw on and go about your business. This tie-front option from Modern Citizen would be fantastic to add to my collection. I love the shape and polish that the tie provides, and the midi length looks a bit more contemporary than some of the knee-length versions I have now.
This brown color is lovely, but it also comes in black, olive, “dusty blue,” and “dark maritime.”
The dress is $168 at Modern Citizen and comes in XS-1X and XSP-1XP.
Sales of note for 5/1:
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event, 40% off your purchase PLUS $50 off $200! Readers love this popover blouse, and their suiting is also in the sale.
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code
- Brooklinen – 25% off sitewide (ends 5/1) — we have and love these sateen sheets
- Evereve – All tops on sale
- Express – $39+ Summer Styles
- Hatch – $15 off one of our favorite alarm clocks with code LETMOMSLEEP15
- J.Crew – Up to 30% off wear-now styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything, and extra 60% off clearance
- Lands' End – 40% off sitewide – lots of ponte dresses come down under $25, and this packable raincoat in gingham is too cute
- Loft – 60% off florals and 50% off your purchase
- M.M.LaFleur – End of season sale. Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Nordstrom – 1500+ new women's markdowns
- Sephora – Hair deals daily – today 5/1 up to 50% off dae, Verb, PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross, and BaBylissPro products
- Talbots – 40% off one item and 30% off your entire purchase
- TOCCIN – Use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off!
- Vivrelle – Looking to own less stuff but still try trends? Use code CORPORETTE for a free month, and borrow high-end designer clothes and bags!
For those here without kids, what do you do for your parents for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day?
I don’t want to come off as an ungrateful child but I’m in my 30s – my dad’s expectations for what we do for Mother’s Day for my mom seem outsized given the fact that I am fully grown.
That’s probably because he loves his wife–that’s not a bad thing. I’m in my 40s, no kids, and I have brunch/lunch with her every mother’s day. My sister has kids and sometimes she hosts to avoid the drive, or we go to mom’s house.
Why would you being fully grown have anything to do with how you celebrate your mother?
Not OP, but to me, I think that children who live in the same house as their mother have a greater obligation to do something than an adult who lives thousands of miles away!
I agree with this, but if it’s within an hour’s drive, take the time to celebrate.
My dad BBQs for the family. I bring dessert and my sister brings a salad.
I give her flowers and chocolate and take her for brunch and a pedicure on a separate day.
DH’s mom isn’t local so we snail mail drawings and card from the kids and video chat in the afternoon and send her flowers and a brunch basket.
DH and the kids make me breakfast in bed and I sleep in or read/take a long bath why he chauffeurs to various activities or takes them for a hike.
I usually send a card. If I lived closer, I’d probably try to go see her.
I’m going home for brunch and staying the night before. It’s a huge deal and both my parents would be mad if I didn’t come back or tried to just call/send a card.
For my father? Nothing – if he wanted me to celebrate him as a father, he should have been a better father.
For my mother? I acknowledge it and usually happen to be in town that weekend anyway, but that’s because I’m home to support one of her big hobbies, which feels more important that weekend. I always check in if she wants to do something for it, but we’ve talked about how she’d rather receive flowers or acknowledgement at random times, which I do.
For most of my adult life, I sent a card and called. Now I live closer and we usually get together for a meal, either at my house or a sibling’s. I don’t think I’ve ever in my life given my mom a gift on mother’s day, we’re not a family that’s big on physical presents.
Card, small gift, and lunch or dinner out. Basically the same thing as when I was a kid, except the small gift is now purchased instead of handmade.
My favorite thing to do is walk through a greenhouse with her and then plant everything we bought right after. Some years it works out and some years I just call home. FWIW, I have kids and don’t give a crap about mother’s day for me. My Mom’e very favorite thing is to have the whole family at church so she can show off the grandkids to her friends.
I’ve been long distance from my parents since college but I send a card, call, and send a Clinique gift card, which she uses for Black Honey when it’s time for a gift with purchase. She doesn’t need more stuff, but little treats are OK. Dad does flowers so I may send flowers at the end of April because she likes them.
We used to do more but now the moms get annual NYT subscriptions and flowers sent to their houses. For Father’s Day, my dad normally picks out something specific under $200 that my mom has vetoed (for good reason as it is normally ugly or impractical to store) and he launders his tacky item through his children under the guise of father’s day.
Can someone catch me up on how grad schools and loans work in 2026? I had planned to work and go back at some point but now I am thinking that outside of 20K of loans, I’d have to either plan to self-fund with savings or pivot to the closest field where you could borrow more than that. Is there a good place to learn that still thinks that a graduate degree can be worthwhile and also isn’t trying to lend you money for school? And am I also right that loan forgiveness really won’t be a thing in the future? Happy to stay working or consider part-time (which is an awful lifestyle but a way to do it that doesn’t involve so much debt).
I worked full time and studied part time, getting the degree done in 3 years. It was stressful at times, but not unmanageable.
You don’t mention anything about the “why” you’re going to grad school. I’d only be OK assuming debt for it if I knew that coming out of grad school, I’d be earning a higher salary.
If you’re merely going to acquire the learning, but there’s no attendant salary increase, I’d definitely save up for it first, or cash flow as you go.
Yes, working full time + part time grad school waa certainly not my favorite time in my life but it was doable
There’s no option to be fully funded?
I think it depends on the field now, but really limited to things like law school and medical school. Not getting a masters in nursing for being a nurse practitioner, but you can also do that part-time (but not nurse anesthetist, which has to be FT, for 3 years).
It’s often limited to PhD vs. masters, but I promise that funding is not limited to law school and med school.
Sometimes it’s limited to the best applicants.
I think generally OP should specify what broadly she’s hoping to go to grad school for!
I have a new job. Should I get the non-medical review life insurance through said new job? Late 30s, single, decent health if overweight, non-smoker. I have no dependents but very much want dependents.
You don’t mention anything with cost or coverage so not sure what you’re asking.
Yes. It’s usually very cheap.
is anything included at no cost? The couple of places I’ve worked, somewhere like 1-2x your base salary was a ‘free’ employee benefit. Given my spouse is healthy and working at a high enough salary to support himself if I passed, we have enough savings to pay off the house if we had to, no dependents, and no other debt, have never felt the need to purchase more.
I’ve never bought life insurance. I have no dependents and don’t plan for any. I’m now married but DH can support himself financially without my income. I never considered paying into a policy worth it because my untimely death would not have an economic impact on anyone.
I don’t worry about my death but do care about lingering disability. I get what is free and supplement with 30-year fixed cost term life at 10x salary and the biggest disability policy. At some point, you can easily become uninsurable, which will limit your ability to have your own business or consult, etc.
I thought it was partly about becoming a dependent, not just having one? You get a devastating diagnosis, your partner needs to provide a ton of caretaking, you both spend a fortune on healthcare and accommodations, and then you die with a pile of hospital bills. Dying can have an economic impact of its own basically!
Out of curiosity if you have a newer iPhone do you have a screen protector you like? I got tempered glass ones because I read those were best but the glass protectors themselves always shatter and break so it feels like I’m using a busted iPhone.
better the protector shatters than your actual screen!
yeah, I think this is the protector serving its intended purpose!
I’ve never used a screen protector (I really don’t like them) and I’ve never cracked a screen despite dropping my phone constantly. A good case should protect from normal dropping.
If you wore contacts as a kid/teen, what age did you start? My 10 year old wants them but I’m not sure she’s ready for the responsibility. However, she refuses to wear her glasses, which she needs, so I’m close to caving on this. I didn’t start until I was about 12, so I guess that’s not that far off?
11, but at that time, dailies and monthlies weren’t a thing – you got contacts that were expected to last you a full year. While you want your kid to be careful with their things, the downside of an ‘oops’ is a lot smaller now!
Yes, that’s a good point! But it also makes them more expensive, right? Dailies are a lot more expensive than just glasses.
I started at 14, but that’s when my vision got bad enough to really need them. I certainly could have handled wearing them earlier, and with daily disposable lenses, there’s way less care to worry about than back then. I don’t know that all 10 year olds could handle it, but I could have. Is your daughter a responsible type or one who doesn’t pay attention to details? And how much responsibility are you willing to take for her if she doesn’t? You can always try it and only let her wear them a limited number of hours or days at first, though that might just set up fights.
I had great eyes as a kid, but the presbyopia has been wicked since age 45. I don’t have any other eye problems needing correction. Is there anything surgical that can fix this or will life being an increasing series of progressive readers? I have an Tx version now after getting past 1.75 on drugstore progressives.
I think there is a surgery for this!
My mom swears her eye vitamins made a big difference for her. Personally I just take a 45+ multivitamin and hope that’s covering me.