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Thursday’s Workwear Report: High-Waisted Paperbag Ankle Pant

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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.  After many years of thinking that I was too old for Express, I recently purchased a few items from there and was pleasantly surprised at the quality. I’m definitely going back for more! (PSA: If you’re relatively new to the workforce and looking to add a suit or two to your wardrobe, Express is a good bet!) These paperbag ankle pants are a relatively inexpensive way to try out the high-waisted look if you’re on the fence. They come in nine (!) different colors and a wide range of lengths. These pants are $69.90 full price and available in regular, short, petite, and long lengths in sizes 00–18. Express is currently offering 40% off your purchase, so these pants are now $41.94. High-Waisted Paperbag Ankle Pant Standards & Practices has a similar style in sizes 14W–22W for $98 at Nordstrom. 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! Seen a great piece you’d like to recommend? Please e-mail tps@corporette.com.

Sales of note for 8/1/25 (Happy August!):

  • Nordstrom – The Anniversary Sale is open for everyone — here's our roundup! (ends 8/3)
  • Ann Taylor – 50% off wear-now styles + $50 off dresses and shoes + extra 60% off sale
  • Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
  • Boden – Up to 60% off plus extra 10% off sale — final reductions
  • Eloquii – $19+ select styles + extra 45% off all sale
  • Evereve – Sale on sale (thru Sunday)
  • J.Crew – Up to 50% off summer styles + extra 50% off sale
  • J.Crew Factory – 60% off everything and extra 60% off clearance
  • M.M.LaFleur – 25% off all previous flash sale items! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
  • Rothy's – Final Few: up to 50% off
  • Spanx – Free shipping on everything
  • Talbots – 40% off one item + 25% off your entire purchase + extra 50% markdowns on top of that

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

334 Comments

  1. I may repost this in the afternoon thread if it doesn’t get many comments as I feel it’s late.

    I am finally back in the gym after a full year’s hiatus (and SO proud of myself!). The hiatus happened because of a depressive episode that had me basically doing nothing but sitting on the couch and eating carbs for a year. I’m now on medicine for depression/anxiety and feeling close to being back to myself. Unfortunately, I have gained some weight from the year off, and am really motivated to get back to my former body. The issue is that I am having is that eating is SO crucial to losing weight and I am addicted to eating in the evenings. I say addicted because I do this when I’m not even hungry – it literally feels like a compulsion and it happens every night. I think the cause of this is that, because the combination of meds I am on gives me horrible insomnia and restless leg syndrome as side effects, I usually smoke some cannabis (indica) after dinner so that I can sleep (I’m Canadian and live in Canada where this is legal). I think that the “munchies” I get from the cannabis are preventing me from stopping this evening eating habit, because I am great at eating clean until I have smoked, and after it’s just brownies, ice cream, cheesy bread, you name it! So, my dilemma is how to stop this evening eating habit but still be able to sleep at night. FWIW, I have tried numerous times to go to sleep without smoking and it never works. I don’t want to take sleeping pills because I am already on a stimulant for ADHD and an SSRI for depression/anxiety, and it makes me nervous to add anything else to that cocktail. Sometimes melatonin works, but you’re only supposed to take that 3 days in a row max. Any ideas?

    1. Up your exercise routine in the daytime. Take Magnesium at bedtime. Garden (or self garden) when you get in bed.

    2. It sounds like you are addicted to cannabis, but are framing this as an eating addiction. Ironically, you observe the recommendation not to take melatonin more than 3 days in a row, while using a different drug nightly with unwelcome side effects.

      1. Ah, sorry, I misread this. You are smoking b/c of side effects of the anti anxiety meds. This makes me agree with anon below. The meds are the root cause of this chain of side effects. Are there different ones you can try?

    3. A couple of thoughts:
      -Is there a different strain of cannabis that you could try that might be less munchies-inducing but still help with sleep?
      -If there are foods you are especially prone to eating after you smoke, don’t have them in the house. There are foods that I can’t have in the house because once I start, I’ll eat the entire bag – so I don’t buy them.
      -Mindfulness techniques might help but I feel like that’s likely less successful if your eating compulsion is chemically induced.
      -Are there options for your ADHD that might be less insomnia-inducing?

    4. One thing that has helped me combat compulsive habits around eating is to call out what is happening. Sounds silly, but it helps me.

      i.e. If I’m starting to go down the route of eating too much, I literally say out loud, “I want to eat this third cookie. I’m in the kitchen standing in front of the cabinet. I’m feeling stressed out about an event at work…” This does not always stop me from overeating, but it does help me gain more control over the situation.

      Another thing I would do is check in with a nutritionist about your current eating and/or diet habits. You could be binge-eating because you’re being too strict on yourself.

    5. Pot gives you the munchies. That’s the full story. Don’t keep unhealthy food in your house. I never have brownies or cookies or ice cream in the house.

    6. I could have written this! Except I consume my cannabis in edible forms. Basically, I’ve had to stop using marijuana because it does definitely give me the munchies. I’m also finding that now that I’m on an anti-depressant, I just don’t need it as much to calm down.

  2. Microwaves – does anyone have recommendations for over the range ones you particularly like / things to look out for? I’d like to replace one and there seem to be so many options out there! Is there a big difference between a $100ish or $200ish one?

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