ByKat Hours Updated
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Coffee Break: Wellington Blazer

woman wears black fleece blazer, buttoned, over a chambray blouse and olive green pants

The blazer-as-outerwear look can be a great one, particularly if you're working from home but trying to retain some semblance of your old fashion self. But it can also be a tricky one to pull off — many blazers just don't look right with casual pants or wear well enough to wear as outerwear.

I'm really intrigued by this fleece blazer from Dudley Stephens — particularly since the white is almost entirely sold out, so I suspect they've got a winner here. (They describe Vello fleece like this: “[s]oft, tightly woven and warm, this fabric is most like the “traditional” fabric people associate with fleece (but ours is extra cozy!).”

The black fleece blazer looks like the perfect thing to wear with everything from wide leg crops to ripped jeans as well as your basic work pants. It's available in sizes XS-XXL, in black, navy, and white (lucky sizes only on the white), for $188.

Random tech question: has anyone else noticed that your cursor disappears when typing comments on Corporette, perhaps when new ads load, and you have to click in the commenting box again to finish typing? I'm trying to troubleshoot this with my ad network but they can't recreate the problem.

Sales of note for 12.5

81 Comments

  1. Has anyone seen cute leopard print heels? I’d prefer real calf hair, up to 3.5 inches but definitely okay with something shorter.

  2. Re tech question- no, but sometimes when replying to a comment, I’ve typed a reply and hit post, but the text that is posted is the duplicate of the post I’m replying to. I’ve seen it happen to a few other threads in the past few weeks.

  3. No re: that tech question, but when I navigate to the site from Google on mobile, it navigates to some spam prescription medicine website. Been happening since yesterday.

    3. I had this same issue on desktop yesterday using Chrome as my browser. No issues today.

  4. If anyone is looking for a sweater blazers that isn’t gross poly lands end and Ralph Lauren both make really nice cotton knit options.

      1. I just mean I don’t see it as something I’d wear in my professional or social life!

        1. Yeah, but in your dream cabin life, you would! I think that’s kind of a compliment!

    2. This reminds me more of a single-breasted pea coat-type jacket than a “blazer”

    5. Yeah, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings who might like this, but my late mom would have liked this around age 75-80.

    6. I have tons of Dudley Stephens, and highly recommend the line. The fleece wears like iron and is actually stylish. It’s perfect for a casual office. Your woods, my workplace.

    7. This jacket plus chunky loafers is definitely a look. Not something I think I would do professionally or personally, even though it might be super comfy.

    1. This looks cute for window shopping while staking out your spot on the sidewalk before a small-town fall parade. It is not a blazer and pretending it is does a disservice to anyone trying to navigate whatever office attire norms still exist.

      1. Well in my office this would be great! It would elevate a zoom look and fit in and look really good in an environment where jeans are welcome. We don’t all work stuffy places.

        1. I have an old, Chicos version of this that was a hand me down and that’s exactly what I use it for. It’s comfy, looks okay, is machine washable, and if something happens to it from leaving it at the office, it’s not the end of the world.

  7. for makeup – what do you buy at the drugstore, and what to you buy from luxury brands? do you consider affordable things like Clinique to be elevated drugstore or affordable luxury?

    I’m trying to get into more luxury brands but I cannot stand the way they immediately jump on you if you try to go to a Chanel counter or the like (and with a snooty attitude)!

    I won’t pay more than $15 for mascara, but sometimes that’s luxury, sometimes drugstore. I get a lot of things from both, though.

    1. I buy lipstick from the drugstore (revlon) but that’s about it. I buy a ton of stuff from Beauty Pie, which is basically drugstore priced once you’re a member.

    2. Basically all of my makeup is from Dior. And I’m not a particularly fancy person! I got a gift set as a teenager and I have just kind of stuck with it. Any attempt to try cheaper brands has left me deeply dissatisfied. I have never had any issues with snooty people- I get most of it at Sephora or the airport duty free counter.

    3. I like Sephora or Ulta, at off hours, for browsing. Blue Mercury is good too – they will leave you alone if you just want to look but they have good suggestions. What is it that you’re looking for? I find the Lipstick Lesbians account really good for explaining the technicalities of makeup (she worked in product formulation) and what different items are good in specific categories (best full coverage foundation, best thin skin tint, best item from each line, etc).
      I

    4. I’ve surprised myself by really liking Rare Beauty and Rhode. My skin tint and highlight are from Rare Beauty, my blush is Rhode. I wear Bobbi Brown (eyeshadow), Viseart (eye shadow) or Laura Mercier (stick eye shadow) for eye makeup. Elf makes great dupes – I use their ‘halo’ glow (Charlotte Tilbury dupe) and their eyebrow pencil and gel. I just buy the travel size mascara samples that Sephora does around the holidays and toss them when they get dry – one 3 pack usually lasts me the whole year. Ilia, Rare, and O/S by Patrick Starr are all good.

    5. I only buy ‘clean’ makeup, since the amount of toxins in a lot of drugstore products and higher-end makeup are scary. As long as they are clean brands, I don’t discriminate between drugstore and Sephora. So: Ilia, Saie, Honest Beauty, Burt’s Bees, Pacifica, RMS beauty are all products I use.

      1. +1. It’s a pet peeve of mine when “luxury” brands don’t even attempt to be clean despite the higher price points. I don’t consider it luxury if there’s no effort to protect the consumer from known carcinogens, heavy metals, irritants, or endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

        1. I feel the exact same way!! Gucci, Armani, etc are so expensive yet have the same toxins and carcinogens of a cheap drugstore brand. There is no luxury there to me.

      2. “Clean” brands that don’t contain preservatives have a shorter shelf life. Something to keep in mind if you don’t go through makeup quickly.

        2. The article you linked isn’t convincing. There are plenty of ingredients found in many common makeup brands that are known to be carcinogenic or linked to endocrine issues. Talc is highly highly linked to cancer and is the first ingredient in most powdered eyeshadows, foundations, bronzers, and blush. Formaldehyde in nail polish is another example. Makeup is going into your mouth, eyes, and absorbed by the skin, so the idea that the risk of exposure to these toxic ingredients is contained because you aren’t eating it by the spoonful isn’t a fair assessment.

          Michelle Wong is saying ‘it’s more complicated and nuanced than some people may think,’ but she does not say that there are no toxins in most widely available makeup, and that clean makeup doesn’t reduce exposure to said toxins.

          1. +1. Phthalates, for one, have a dose-response relationship with preterm birth. Greater exposure equals greater risk of poor outcomes and you can avoid a lot of exposure through purchasing choices.

    6. I like Ulta for nicer-than-drugstore makeup. They have testers available so you can swipe products on the back of your hand without going through a sales person. I wear L’Oreal mascara and Maybelline age rewind concealer. ELF has fun products (highlighter, liquid blush) if you want to try something trendy without spending too much. Eyeliner, eyeshadow, and primer are mid range but not ultra high end- usually Tarte and Urban Decay. I splurge on Dior for lip products.

      1. Sephora is noisy and junky now. I never ever get assistance at Ulta. I go back and forth between splurging on expensive clinique or Lancome and Estee Lauder and drug store brands.

        1. My biggest complaint with Sephora is they pounce on you when you come in the door “What can we help you findddddd?” and if I have a specific concern or request they act like I’m describing an alien object and are absolutely baffled and no help at all. It’s almost amusing in a way. Last time I asked for a biome-protecting face wash without a pump bottle (basically so I can see how much I have left–and I was looking to replace the “Best Cleanse Forever” face wash that went to an airless pump formulation that I feel was a sneaky/underhanded to give us less product vs. a flip top or screw-top ) and they were absolutely stumped and were repeating each word slowly like it was the first time they’d ever heard the word. I mean, come on people. I get this is a retail job and a first job but don’t ask if you can’t meet the request (or even remotely steer me in the direction!)

    7. At this point I buy only drugstore. I bought expensive makeup in my 20s and suffered heartbreak a few times when delicate packaging broke and the product was lost. I fell in love with a Chanel lipstick and bought a full face from Chanel in my 30s, which left me with extremely irritated skin after spending hundreds. That was it for me.

    8. I’ve tried to switch to drugstore make up to save money and it’s just not worth it for me. Higher quality makeup looks better and lasts longer.

      1. Agree. I’ll never buy a cheap eyeshadow or eyeliner again. And color selection is often not as great, too.

        I think half the people who hate foundation just haven’t had a good one. My skin actually improves when I wear it versus going bare faced.

    9. If you want to try slightly elevated brands without the attitude, the makeup artist brands tend to have trained makeup artists who are more open to all faces. Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, and Trish McEvoy come to mind. And don’t forget good old MAC.

    10. The people at Sephora are generally helpful and laidback!

      I’ve transitioned to more luxury makeup brands: Kosas concealer and brow gel, Ilia foundation, Ilia or Saie blush, Caliray mascara, Dior lip products, Rare Beauty setting spray. They work really well and last a year + for me, so it doesn’t feel like a significant outlay of money.

      I’ve found more benefit in transitioning my skincare to drugstore or at least the lower end of the price range, as I’m only interested in effective ingredients and they run out sooner. I like CeraVe face wash and lotion, Maelove for vitamin C and retinol. I’ll never give up my Supergoop sunscreen, though!

    11. You might want to check out YouTuber EmilyNoel83. She has 1M+ subscribers and she compares drugstore to high end. Sometimes the high end wins, but more often than not, it’s drugstore. (Why spend money if you don’t have to?) She’ll do wear tests, etc. Every December she does the Emily Awards where she names the best product in her mind in every category – she’ll break those out into high end and drugstore.

    12. Drugstore skincare because I’m an Olay fan.
      Makeup from luxury brands because I’m a lipstick girl and use very little of anything else. No foundation either.

  8. Just throwing this out there for anyone in similar circumstances. My neck/upper spine have been in spasm “stiff neck” for about a week and a half and today I got into physical therapy. She asked if she could try cup therapy on me – which is not “cupping” she was clear to say, which is an eastern medicine thing, but she practices western medicine and cup therapy is part of that. The idea is that the cups lift up the top layer of tissue while you stretch the affected muscle to let it glide freely.

    So she put the cups on in two places & vacuumed them tight, then had me do a series of stretches in the opposite direction of the stiff side of my neck. I still had some stiffness so she repositioned the cups slightly off where they were the first time, then we re-did the stretches.

    I am amazed. I do have a bunch of cup bruises, but my neck has close to full range of motion after this one session.

    1. Cup therapy is amazing. I go to a local spot that only does cupping, and while the sessions are Very Intense at times, I literally gained a few inches range of motion in my shoulders/upper back that had been stiffened through years of desk work. That reminds me, I need to schedule another session.

      1. Yeah, It was so tight at first, the way the cups were pulling, I really felt like I couldn’t stretch away from it. But it loosened up after a few tries & then I could. Intense is a good word for it!

    2. Yeah…. a fad of sorts. At least it isn’t a painful as some of the other approaches, but if I were you I’d spend more times on stretch/massage/strengthening then leave with a ton of bruises that convinces you something real is going on.

        1. The point is your PT could have done that without causing you bruising, with manual work.

    3. Getting outside, even if just a walk around the block. I like to take iphone pictures of pretty flowers or interesting garden/green space art.

  10. Cape May NJ vs Newport Rhode Island for 2 night getaway in September? Visitors: couple in mid40s no kids, like the beach and walking/hiking. Seems like hotel prices are high in both places. Else, other ideas for day trip getaway from NYC? Have done the Hudson River Valley, Berkshires, Philly, DC, finger lakes, North Fork… so open to hearing your recommendations!

      1. Old Saybrook or Kent in CT might be good options. Otherwise between the two I’d vote for Newport over Cape May. Cape May is cute but Newport has much better food/culture.

        1. +1

          Newport in Sept sounds really nice. Walk the cliff walk, stay in a mansion, eat clam cakes.

    2. Cape May if you care mostly about beaches. Newport otherwise. Newport food is better, but it doesn’t have particularly good beaches as far as I recall. I prefer going to Newport for walks around the downtown / Cliff Walk and visiting the mansions. But I would happily go to either!

    3. Haven’t been to Cape May but I loved Newport. So charming and touring all the Gilded Age “cottages” was so much fun and I’d say is a lot more to do on a weekend away than most places where you shop, stroll and eat.

    1. I tried it. I worked amazingly well but gave me a really bad rash around my wrist.

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