Splurge Monday’s Workwear Report: Hilary Ruched-Detail Boat-Neck Midi Dress
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
When I moved into a more casual office a few years ago, my work wardrobe slowly moved away from dresses and blazers to trousers and sweaters. That being said, the draping on this ruched dress from Reiss is just stunning, and I might need it in my closet immediately. As a person who is not a 5’10” model, I appreciate that the skirt doesn’t have the ruching or draping details, so it will make it easy for my tailor to bring it up a few inches for me.
I would probably keep this one in my closet for the days when I’m heading right from work to some kind of networking or fundraising event.
The dress is $398 at Reiss and comes in sizes 0-14 and 0P-14P.
Oooh this dress is beautiful!
How does their sizing run?
They accommodate my hips surprisingly well.
Small!
+1 for small. Imagine you’re in the 80s…that’s their sizing. Fits beautifully for a sporty/athletic physique in my experience.
Anyone have a foolproof curling iron that would be appropriate for a tween who’s just learning to style her long hair? Are those self-twirling ones any good or am I just inviting the smell of singed hair?
The ‘CHI Spin N Curl’ is truly foolproof, you just use smallish sections and it does all the work for you and then releases when the curl is done. If you have the budget though, I’d look at one of the Shark devices, those are supposed to be great dupes of the Dyson and will likely stand up to more abuse/use.
I love my Shark multi-styler curler attachments, but I wouldn’t call them foolproof. It can sometimes be tricky to get the hair to “grab” around the attachment, especially if you have layers. If your tween is not used to sectioning hair for styling, I would start with an auto-curler or auto-beach waver.
AirWrap has been the only one I can use which kinda runs itself. It’s been a game changer.
Scar advice – slipped and fell this weekend; cut my face and got stitches right in the browline. Have been using vaseline as recommended by ER doc, but are there other tips and tricks to help it heal with as little scarring as possible? Appreciate any tips!
Hydrocollodial bandages (pimple patch material). You can get larger sheets at medical supply store and cut them down to size.
Mederma
Bio oil. My kid had prominent facial stitches after a playground accident. We used bio oil on it day and night for several months. The scar is nearly invisible, only faintly apparent when summer tan kicks in. That was about 8 years ago, FWIW.
I had a mole removed from my face a few years ago and the doc recommended silicon gel. It’s expensive, I think $35 for a little tube -you can get it on Amazon), but it worked amazingly -you couldn’t see it without really looking after just a few months. A few years later had cosmetic surgery and the plastic surgeon also recommended it, and it worked well.
On a recommendation from here, I used Biocorneum on a biopsy scar last year and this year’s mammogram person was confused that there was no scar. I can see it, it is very faint, but I think that’s a great result. It is $$$ but was in an area I cared about (vs a knee, which is a hot mess of scars).
Scar sheets at night and scar cream. If it puffs, see a derm. They can inject a steroid that will keep it from keloid development.
Regardless of what oil/ointment you use, once the scar has started to form, rub it gently multiple times a day. That helps break up the scar tissue and will minimize the appearance. Do it even after it feels all healed – it can take months for the final appearance to settle.
Do it for up to a year after.
The common denominator to these product recommendations is keeping the wound moist during healing. That’s the key to minimizing scar formation: clean, moist, covered. A silicone product will be less shiny than petroleum jelly or oil products but may not matter if you’re keeping a bandage over the wound. Scar massage only after the skin has fully healed.
And this is rarely mentioned, but good diet is important for wound healing. Hydrate, lots of protein, and a multivitamin with with A, C and E vitamins with a bit of Zinc can really help.
My law firm has nominated me to serve on the managing partner committee. (Three lawyers, rotating 5-8 year terms depending on if you are elected chair your last year.) The pay is abysmal, it’s seen as part-time firm service more than making up for billable hours lost. I am looking for outside perspectives on what this role can be like. I know every firm is very different, but I think I’m getting the pitch (roses) version and I’d like to know the downsides/reality – only thorn I’m hearing about is time, and I don’t think that can be true.
aside from the literal time involved, the interpersonal stress of dealing with partners fighting over billing credit etc.
What kind of book do you have? This often takes you away from the active practice and makes you less portable. I have a number of friends who’ve turned this down because of the probable loss of their book.
FWIW we have a 4-person committee out of 20-25 partners, and one of those is the managing partner. The MP is the only person who loses substantial billable time to the MC, IME. The rest of the committee is a 2-4 hour a month commitment.
I also don’t find it to be stressful – for me I like to shape firm policy if I can (increasing our parental leave, etc.) and learn about the intra-firm stuff that’s going on.
Does this committee have a major role in determining compensation?
This looks almost identical to a machine washable ponte knit dress from Target that I wore the heck out of in the aughts. Would have expected natural fiber at this price point.
if a synthetic fabric means easy care (as in, wash on delicate and hang dry) I don’t mind, given the beautiful structure here. Here, it’s still dry clean only. No thanks!
Garden question. If your yard is a combo of red clay dirt, a few plants, and copious weeds, like a jungle of low weeds and vines that are a tripping hazard, where do you even start to clean it up? I can’t just throw grass seed out (especially in a drought) and I think that the weeds will overtake any new plantings. Start with a weed walker? Or weed pulling? Or Agent Orange (kidding, sort of)? I want this to be better by late spring next year and feel that I hear that fall is when you can make progress. Back yard gets a lot of shade from two giant older trees that I’ve verified are in good shape.
Lowest bang for buck imo is chop is all down and then weed whacker or mow the area regularly. Weeds cut to a consistent 3″ look a lot better and at least you can walk through it.
No chemicals – you want your soil to be ready for new plants, not toxic! This is time for a family project with long sleeves, pants, socks, gloves, etc. Some pairs of pruning shears can help you avoid having to unsnarl things – just chop them back until they are a manageable size for pulling. Then handheld weeder tools can spare you a lot of pain with the root systems.
You will likely want to add topsoil of some kind before planting – would suggest your local garden center (like, a real one, not Home Depot) for advice in your climate and soil.
+1 to all of this but also you may want to ask your neighbors if there are gardeners they’d recommend. I physically can’t pull a yard full of weeds so I’d need to hire this out.
I’ve also heard that putting down cardboard in the fall, wetting it, and then putting mulch over top acts as a greener weed barrier:
https://gardenandgun.com/why-my-new-favorite-weapon-against-weeds-is-a-cardboard-box
Haha, this is my yard. Every spring I tackle the invasives like the Japanese stilt grass and rose multiflora (however that’s spelled$ and hope that the pollinators take over the space. It looks like heck, but we get a lot of humming birds and bees, so doing something right. We also don’t use weed killer for this reason. Just do it by hand and let the pollinators run rampant.
We had a rubble and clay filled garden and found green manures for a year or two – and just cutting back and digging it in – really helped revive the soil.
Rent goats to clean it up, then mulch with cardboard/newspaper (this will kill the weed seeds that are left in the soil layer) and a layer of compost on top, throw out grass seed, another thin layer of compost on top of the grass seed.
This is the path I would take. Although I would opt to seed with a native groundcover rather than grass so it is lower maintenance in the long term.
Figure out where you want landscaped beds vs. lawn. In the beds, mow it down as short as possible, lay down sheets of cardboard, soak the cardboard and cover it with mulch. You are going to need a truckload of mulch; look into bulk delivery. Then just let them sit like that all winter. In the spring, make little holes in whatever is left of your mulch, plant and re-mulch. Commit to hand-weeding throughout the first year. You’ll make a dent, but keep the mulch on. I don’t really know about lawns, but a good broadleaf weed killer and a pre-emerge in the spring, followed by seed, is where I would start. If the seed is going to take, you have to give it a head start by killing broadleaf weeds first. Also, don’t try to grow grass under your giant trees.
I have a shed in my backyard (Midwest town, huge yards). I’ve lived here two years and learned I absolutely hate yard work. The neighbor’s high school kid mows my yard. I basically ignore everything else. I was in the backyard this weekend after I noticed and went to pull a tall thistle near the fence, and much to my shock, the area behind/around the shed is overgrown…several tree-like plantings/bushes have sprouted, huge weeds, etc. I had a lawn company come two years ago to help with two flower beds, they quoted me $250 and charged me $700. I don’t need it to look nice, I just want this stuff gone. A friend suggested TaskRabbits. Any experience with that company?
Taskrabbit is like Uber – it’s not a garden company, but a generic platform where you can hire an independent contractor for a one off job. If you had anyone personally recommended, like by a neighbor, I’d go with that. But task rabbit is a reasonable option as long as you pay fairly and don’t expect miracles.
I use them for things like furniture assembly, bartending, and occasionally I used them in the yard. But they aren’t cheaper than what you were quoted and paid, it’s individuals doing gig work who set their rates and you get what you pay for.
I’ve had mixed experience with TaskRabbit! They are all independent and can hold themselves out as experts in just about anything. I hired a woman to put together some Ikea furniture and she was amazing. I hired someone else to install a microwave and had to call him back 15 minutes after he left because it was falling off the wall.
If you’re not looking for anything too technical and are willing to keep an eye on them, this might be a good job for a TaskRabbit, but I would just be cautious. Definitely make sure they have lots of reviews for yard work, not just general reviews.
Buy a good pair of loppers and chop it all down, then ask the HS kid to keep that section mowed, too. Pay more since it will take longer to mow more area.
NYC Divorce Court process question – I’ll start by saying this is for a friend who is both ‘a lot’ and feels like her attorney is not doing a good job… I am the friend at a distance who is being supportive but also the voice of reason. Adding to this, friend’s ex is making some irrational demands and has a wealthy benefactor paying legal fees.
In NYC specifically, it’s a ‘mediation first’ process, correct? So both parties file/respond and then are sent to mediation unless there’s a concern for underlying abuse or other rationale it’s not acceptable. If mediation fails, then it goes back to the court, correct?
Simply put – how involved are attorneys generally from the beginning in this mediation first environment? Is the first round of paperwork fairly basic but actual details are only if Mediation fails? Or is it expected that the full documentation/claims are all included in the first round filings?
I’m dealing with burnout and finally told my close girlfriends this weekend how bad I’m feeling about my career. I love them, I really do, but they all either work part time or are SAHMs. There is no easy way to say, actually I make 40% of my family’s household income and hold our benefits, so it’s not as easy as “just” changing jobs, and also I would LOVE to work part time but my husband would never be okay with that. It is hard to explain the stuck feeling to people who aren’t going through it, too.