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Suit of the Week: Theory

hot pink suit from Theory

For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional. Also: we just updated our big roundup for the best women's suits of 2024!

Ooh: hot pink suits can be really fun to wear, and I love the deep magenta “wildflower” color from Theory here.

I'd pair this with neutrals like navy, black, white, and gray; I also might try it with some of the deep browns we're seeing this year. For contrast you can always go for reds or oranges, and for more of a monotone look you can go for other shades of this color.

The blazer is $475, and the pants are $215; the brand also offers a matching silk button-up shirt and a Pima cotton T-shirt in the same color.

Hunting for similar hot pink suits? Try Tahari, Banana Republic Factory, and Eloquii. For blazers, try J.Crew Factory.

Sales of note for 1/1/25 (HAPPY NEW YEAR!):

126 Comments

  1. Lord beer me strength to deal with my totally tech-inept boomer boss while working on a major software project.

    How people who barely know how to save a PDF get put in charge of stuff like this…while I do all the work behind the scenes…sigh.

    1. You can’t criticize the boss here. Don’t you know he’s actually really important, those skills aren’t important, you’re just young and bitter.

      1. Or maybe her boss is busy, does not need or want to learn to save PDFs and can afford to pay people to do that for him/her.

        I can (and do) convert my own PDFs and save them but editing them is a chore I happily pass along to junior people. I am busy doing work only I can do, and it is not a good use of my time. If those junior people object to that, they can suck it up and do the jobs that they get paid for or find another position.

      2. It honestly never bothered me that my one boss wasn’t super adept at keeping up with (fairly lousy!) technology she seldom used. I guess I agree that those skills aren’t actually that important in a lot of roles? It sounds like OP’s project is one where her boss either needs to understand more or to listen more.

    3. Is the project making PDFs? If not, sounds like this person hired you to handle that.

    4. One thing I really like about government is except at the tippy tippy top, everyone does their own mundane stuff: booking travel, gettin clearances, converting PDFs.

        1. It fosters respect and integrity when your executives dont think they’re more important than everyone else.

          1. Sure. But organizations are about results, and you get the best results on the best timeline when people’s time is used to its highest value.

          2. Maybe this math changes with larger pay disparities. The top people in my org make maybe 6 times what junior people make, but not 20 or 50 times.. My executives are hired to think strategically, and do all the leadershippy stuff that more junior people cannot. But: even the big wigs are not good at doing this more than 4-6 hours/day. They get tired and frazzled just like ordinary people. So they definitely have *some* time in their day to do more mundane tasks.
            Of course we have admin support staff but honestly, the part about using their time to it’s highest value applies to them just as much as to the execs. Either you have someone who can do more, and it’s incredibly valuable for the organization to give them room to grow and keep them motivated. Or, they are not capable to do more than e.g. travel bookings, but then they are not that helpful to begin with because of how much hand holding they need.

          3. That’s fair. I’m a firm lawyer, and I can assure you that it would be an absolute disaster for the business if I were making my own PDFs or booking my own travel and billing out at my rate for that. (No one would pay for it!). I’m there to make the business money; other people are there to handle tasks that don’t make the business money.

          4. I have to agree with the previous poster that there is a fine line between “senior people’s time needs to be freed up to do the things they are so highly paid for”, and “I don’t do my own travel/pdfs because I am too important”. The second one implying that support staff are not important for the business, even though them taking stuff off your plate of course impacts how much moneymaking you can do. Not saying you are on the wrong side of that line, but the line exists.

          5. My billables pay for the support staff to have a job. I am the product.

            This is very different from corporate jobs, where a widget is made and sold and everyone is in service of making and marketing that widget.

            Me being the product doesn’t meant I don’t think everyone who works around me is equally valuable as a human, and I go out of my way to not be a burden or a jerk. But I am the product. If I am working 10 hours a day, the entire business needs as many of those hours to be billable as possible—that’s how we make money.

    5. So many workplace complaints recently! I’m an employment lawyer, so it feels like my job is creeping into this site and part of me loves it and the other part wants you (is it the same person? The tone is really similar) to stop so I can enjoy this site as an escape from workplace drama.

      The OP of this post may want to consider not just the comments below, but also perhaps spend some time listening to a podcast or reading about the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is a cognitive bias where people with limited knowledge overestimate their own competence, often leading them to believe they are more knowledgeable than those in positions of authority, like their boss.

      OP, all of us in a position of authority now had to make our own PDFs (or whatever the technological equivalent is) at some point, including your boss. Making your own PDFs is how you learn to do other stuff that’s more important than making PDFs, and once you can do the other stuff, it makes sense for someone else to make your PDFs, and sometimes technology moves along and you’ve been having someone make your PDFs for a long time and you’re not great at it anymore. It doesn’t mean you’re not good at the other important stuff you’ve been actually hired to do. And yes I realize you were using making your own PDFs as an example of what you perceive to be your boss’s incompetence, and so am I.

  2. You all always have such great suggestions- I’ve just turned 40 and I’m looking for ideas for a bucket list for this new decade. I’m spending more of my life at home and at work, and want to get out and do things I’ve never done before… but coming up blank.

    1. What about making a list of topics and then filling in the blanks? Something like:
      Location you want to visit?
      Experience you want to participate in?
      Learning you want to do?

      For me, this would be:
      Boundary Waters canoeing
      Northern lights tour
      Learn to ski

      1. I like this. If it helps prompt ideas, my bucket list things for 40s are visit New Zealand (which I’m doing for my 40th birthday) and learn to surf (which is going to require a trip somewhere with good waves).

    2. If you live in the city, one show at each of the arts organizations (ballet, orchestra, symphony, etc) in a year. Same for each professional sports team… not just the NHL NBA NFL but the minors and lesser known sports (eg is there a polo team in your city?).

    3. This is the kind of brainstorming that ChatGPT is amazing at.

      Give it a little bit of information on the kinds of things you like and what you’ve already done and ask it to give you 10 ideas.

    4. Two (possibly relevant) books that are on my list to be read — Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. These are probably focused on creative endeavors but at least stuff that’s outside of work (for most of us).

  3. Could someone please tell me to chill? I need to tell someone this for my own sanity. Bless you if you make it to the end.

    I’ve been interviewing for a position I very badly want since September. It’s a level below C-suite, kind of a succession planning play as the c-suite/partner above me has < 10 years left… it's relatively high profile. Phenomenal firm. Amazing people, who I've known several of for years and years. Of my 6 interviews, I knew 5 people already from the business/industry and the senior partner's direct quote was "we need to find a way to hire you." Only one conversation felt like an actual interview. One actually turned in to drinks and dinner with someone just talking about everything but the actual job ha. So, logically I know this is all good but it's a process unlike ANY that I've experienced. But also the last time I interviewed I was early career, mid/late 20s and now I'm 40, so my points of reference are not necessarily comparable.

    I've heard zero in two weeks after a promise of an update by the Monday of tgiving week. The recruiter who has the retained search is also a quasi-industry friend and it's all been good and relatively frequent communication, even if only "sit tight. just trying to track people down", but since I've heard nothing now in just shy of two weeks I'm like…blerg. I did reach out once yesterday AM to the recruiter but know enough to not harass or anything. She hasn't responded. The recruiter was talking about another candidate for a while earlier in the process but stopped mentioning him (and she also said that I'm a really good fit, better than him at one point), but obviously I'm now spiraling that he's leapfrogged me in some way. I mean, 2.5 weeks ago we were talking about timing for start dates, loosely talking about comp expectations (they confirmed we're aligned on that) and other things like the upcoming major industry event I don't want to go to with my current firm if I'm going to be making this move (per recruiter, they understood/agreed).

    I'm making myself crazy. That is all.

    1. Don’t worry it’s normal. With Thanksgiving, the upcoming holidays, everyone being out sick, etc, things are just slow right now.

    3. Exciting!
      If you’re just super wound up and need to chill out, I find exercise really helpful. Something that gets you sweaty and your heart rate up for 30-40 min. Then a shower and food. Do this everyday. The physical exhaustion is calming.

    5. the browser keeps forgetting poster name and email, even though I faithfully check the box. This is on Firefox on a desktop.

      1. and this was not meant to be a comment in this thread, I posted it from the box at the very top.

  4. Help me plan a trip to Barcelona in late January! My husband and I will be there for 5 days (no kids!). We definitely want to see the Sagrada Família but otherwise don’t have any firm plans. We love art and food, but are also very outdoorsy and would enjoy activities like hiking or long walks. We don’t have a hotel yet! Thank you!

    1. Rick Steves is my go-to for shaping European city visits. We do like half of what he claims will fit in the itinerary in favor of more time to relax with food or drinks, but great for prioritizing and designing intentional walking routes.

    2. Was just there! My favorite places were Montserrat, Parc Guell, all the gaudi architecture, ciutadella parc, paco melagro for tapas and save room for the gelato place right in front of it and get the sea salt caramel gelato there, bouqueria market, Barcelonetta, compa Barcelona for the best sandwiches of your life, montjuic cable cart

    3. I am planning a trip to Spain next fall. If you’ll post a burner email or hit me up at seniorattorney1 at Gmail I’ll send you my draft itinerary.

    6. I know I’m late to the chat, but in case you’re still checking – my go-to Barcelona rec (in addition to all the usual stuff) is to have lunch at the cafe on the top floor of the Corte Ingles at Placa Catalunya. If you want to sit down for a meal around Las Ramblas it’s as good as or better than all the touristy places right there, and has a fantastic view of the city. (Corte Ingles is a Spanish department store chain, if you’re not familiar.)

  5. Ugh. Parents never discussed that one of them had been funneling significant money to a kid for years. Then that parent died. Cue the chaos. Apparently this is all my fault since I’m a lawyer (and per se I guess not needy even though I had negative net worth from loans until very recently and repaid it all on my own).

    1. ‘Never discussed’ is parent code for deliberately hidden. I’m sorry, it sucks you’ve been put in this situation and presumably have to deal with the mess.

    2. If misery loves company I’ll share this gem – over the Thanksgiving holidays we found out my parents are doing the same with a sibling and have also planned to make a special bequest to this sibling’s children for their college fund. No, no similar bequest will be made to my children because ‘you don’t need it, you’re doing so well’.
      My husband nearly hit the roof and had to excuse himself to ‘clean up’ and my sibling (of course) doesn’t see the issue. My kids are tweens/teens and only slightly older than their cousins and this is absolutely something they’ll find out about in a few years. I truly don’t know how to explain this to my kids in a way that preserves their relationship with the grandparents but I suppose that’s not really my issue.

      1. I have never been through this, but have multiple siblings and wouldn’t be shocked if there’s a reveal of different treatment when our parent(s) pass. If you don’t mind, would you share more about how you feel? Are you angry with your parents? Your sibling? Does it feel unfair? Is the perception they have of your life wrong, or due to how much you share/omit? Is this something you think makes your kids seem better or worth less than the niblings? Genuinely curious how this feels, not trying to be a jerk.

        1. Sibling was married to someone making a lot of $ but now is divorced, so they feel bad for her. Or mom did. Sibling never adjusted her spending and isn’t good at budgets. Mom routinely gave her 50k/ year. I guess she never ever discussed it with dad. Mom knew she was dying a year before she died. So did I, my dad, and my sister. No updates to the will. No discussions. Nothing. That I can see, in retrospect, the Titanic approaching the iceberg, still didn’t give me an ability to fix retroactively. Maybe mom thought all that $ fixed the problem? But it because what sibling sees as an evergreen entitlement.

      2. My parents are the same. Finding a sibling and that sibling’s 4 kids (but not me or my two kids). And then funded sibling is demanding that I take 50K from my dad’s accounts under my POA authority “because kim wanted it”). Um, not going to jail for you.

      3. “Grandpa and Grandma have decided to give college money to Joe and Jill because Aunt Susan isn’t in good shape financially.” I’m not saying it’s right from a family perspective, but I am saying at a very simple level, the idea that you guys have $X saved for your kids and ostensibly sister Susan has nothing saved for Joe and Jill, can appear simple and fair if you don’t taint it with bitterness when/if the news comes out. Again, not saying it’s fair, just saying it satisfies a very elementary definition of fairness.

        1. “if you don’t taint it with bitterness”
          LOL I think that would be impossible for most people commenting here.

          1. Unless the kids are all local, I’m not sure they’d know. Or know without adults aiding that, which I wouldn’t.

        2. My sister would feel that even this shaded her. “I’m not poor and it’s all my ex’s fault that he cheated and left me for his affair partner.”

          1. But you don’t have to tell your sister what you say to your own kids by way of explanation.

      4. If my husband “hit the roof” because of a choice *my* parents made about their own money, I’d be so mad at him. How entitled.

        I tend to feel really differently than most people about inheritances. Maybe because my parents hardly have any money and there isn’t going to be one to speak of, other than the responsibility of cleaning up their hoarding. I find it kinda gross to plan on or expect a cash payout when your parents die.

          1. The husband is allowed to be upset that his children are not being treated equal to their cousins.

          2. Sure, he can have his feelings, but it’s not okay to “hit the roof” with regard to someone else’s money.

        2. I think it’s normal that parents would plan to leave a legacy for their kids if they can. Mine won’t, because they can’t, but I know they would dearly love to be in that position.

          Most families operate under this understanding that there should be something for the next generation. It isn’t gross.

          2. I feel that most middle class families leave something. It may be small, it may just be sentimental items. And they split evenly.

        3. I am with you. My parents’ money is their money. It is not my money, and I am not entitled to know what they are doing with it during their lifetime (with the understanding they will not need my financial support) or to receive it when they die.

          My sister has received substantially more financial support from our mutual parent than I have. She has already been gifted his single largest asset, and the rest of his estate will be divided between her and my brother, leaving me only a few sentimental bequests. That is not because he does not love me. And it is not because they are bad people or irresponsible with money. It is because I am in much better financial shape (lawyer rather than teacher) and have one child instead of several. I love my siblings and have absolutely no issues with this because in a fair world my teacher sister would be paid as much as I am, but life is not fair.

          1. See if my brother was a contributing member to society (like a teacher!) I would be totally okay with disparate treatment.

        4. When my mother told me that she was disinheriting me and leaving it to my kid, I ended our relationship.

          Every. Single. Penny. she has was given to her by her parents. Well, I guess I’ve loaned or outright given her a decent chunk of money, so there is that. (She spent most of what she inherited; what’s left is a house.) She is treating me differently than she was treated, has done so all my life, and that was the final straw.

          It’s about the decency to not disinherit your own kid, not the (paltry) sum.

      5. This isn’t the situation with my husband, but it should be. His sister has 3 kids, is twice divorced with a middle class job and no money. We have 3 kids and have a lot of money and two big jobs. DH’s parents plan to split things 50/50 and it’s silly.

        1. Talk to an attorney when your in-laws pass away. It might be possible to disclaim the bequest and have it go to his sister.

          By splitting everything 50/50, they give you that choice.

        3. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, “I have three kids and no money! Why can’t I have no kids and three money?”

        4. My MIL plans to leave all of their money to her own kids from a prior marriage instead of splitting it between all of the kids (FIL also has kids from a prior marriage). From an actuarial perspective, she’s likely to outlive FIL. It should be interesting.

          1. Ouch and why on earth would she do this? This seems like it would merit a discussion.

          2. FIL’s kids never visit and live in a different country. MIL never really liked them when they lived in the US (as children in a bitter custody battle that ended in their return to their home country).

            Back when MIL did visit them, they weren’t super-excited about her Lady Bountiful performance (they lived in a well-developed European country but she acts like it’s still 1955 in terms of the comparable standard of living). Also FIL’s kids talk to his ex-wife (their own mother!) and were probably sympathetic to FIL’s sister, who had to liquidate Grandmother’s modest holdings in order to get Grandmother end-of-life-nursing care.

            This is not my circus (thankfully my parents are far more reasonable) and I figure anything my spouse gets out of this nonsense is bonus money. Could we use the money? Sure. But we’re fine, and she’s the sort who would disinherit her own children on her deathbed if she didn’t like the night nurse.

      7. You’re right, it’s not your issue. I would explain it to your kids factually, using the same explanation your parents gave. It’s also fine to share how you feel about it, and the fact that people can do whatever they want with their own money.

        It may make your kids feel differently about their grandparents, and that is okay. Actions have reactions! I’ve been the kid in a similar situation, and it was much better to understand the dynamics than thinking it was somehow my fault.

    3. Same. When my sibling passed away I learned that not only had they bought him a partnership in a lucrative business and allowed him to live rent free for decades in a apartment owed by a family partnership that I was a part of, they didn’t think anything needed to be passed down now that he was gone. My dad literally sold real estate his great grandfather bought in the 1800s rather than see it passed to me. In their heads this is fine because they paid for law school. I had the same money that my brother spent on no degree, failing out of four colleges, and still make significantly less than he did when he died. I love them and I’m thankful for all they’ve done for me but I’ll never understand the monetary disparity.

    4. My sister doesn’t want my dad in assisted living because it may take all the money he has if he lives long enough, leaving nothing for her. If she lived closer, I’d consider hiring a food tester for him because that is how little I trust her.

    5. I once read this in a Michelle Singletary column about situations like these: Be thankful you don’t need the help.
      Signed, I diligently saved for two years for a downpayment to buy a house by myself and parent offered no strings attached downpayment to my sibling.

      1. I recently learned that my parents have loaned my sister $70K over the past decade. Now, there were good reasons for doing so, and I don’t begrudge her the help, especially because she has three kids, but I will admit that I’ve had some weird feelings about it that have been hard to sort out. I am close to my sister and my parents, and I knew none of this until she got divorced this year. I’m glad I haven’t needed the help, but it also wouldn’t have occurred to me to ask. (I don’t think, at least.)

        1. All this to say, sometimes it’s a human reaction and not because you’re ready to throw a fit about how your parents spend their money.

        2. You might feel better if you stop calling it a loan. It’s extremely unlikely she’s going to pay them back $70,000. The truth isn’t always fun, but it’s less frustrating than lying to yourself.

    6. Are you the executor? If so, consider just resigning and letting the court appoint one paid for by the estate. There’s no reason to put yourself through this ordeal, especially if you aren’t benefitting from the estate.

    7. Sympathy here. I am the executor for a relative (not a parent). Relative is making a generous cash gift to a nephew that is a convicted *ex offender. Relative has two other nephews (not me, I am a woman) with major medical debt and no convictions. They are getting nothing of course.

      I am thinking of telling my relative to pick someone else, because I will feel icky about giving money to the felon but none to others that are objectively way more deserving of a parting gift.

  6. If you are looking to give back this holiday season, you can adopt a family through Volunteers for America or adopt a child’s letter to Santa through USPS.

    2. Thank you! I didn’t know about the Santa letter adoption and will be doing that this year :)

  7. What are your favorite Etsy shops for fun statement jewelry for an Iris Apfel-like older lady?

  8. Sitting over here with a wonky face at the “boomer” inclusion in the description. Must you? Many of us are tech savvy. Hell, my Silent Generation 92 year old father can deal with pdf’s and more. But then he is in fact a retired rocket scientist, who was in the game when we sent men to the moon with less tech than you and I carry around in our pockets now. Anyone with some age on them can be tech savvy or not, it depends on the person and the situation, and perhaps their work and personal needs. So let me suggest that if your boss should be doing his own stuff with pdf’s and isn’t, it’s not because he is a boomer, it’s because he or she is lazy, stupid, or both.

    1. I’m also a technical person, and have found that it’s always the cocky 20 something new hire that wants to complain about my own boss/ head of the department not knowing the tech as well as he (and newbie is often a he) does. But that’s not why that person is head of the department. That person isn’t expected to sit down and produce technical reports. That would be a waste of their expensive time. That’s why you’re here, new hire. But you’ve got a ton to learn about all the aspects of the job you haven’t even touched at this point in your career.

      1. Yes the heads of departments just exist to schmooze, we know, doesn’t make it right.

        1. Wow, what is your problem? Managers manage, they don’t do. That’s the way of the world. Are you always this mad at the world?

        2. The head of my department exists to argue cases before the COA or Supreme Court. I exist to be sure he has every case that might possibly come up, knows every argument the other side has or might make and is prepared for any question he might be asked at oral argument. He has neither the time nor the inclination to learn the latest technology. And frankly if doing it myself takes longer than sending it to someone junior, I do not have time or inclination either. I spent my time in the trenches doing the grunt work and am so very tired of juniors who think they are too good to do the same. (Fortunately, that is pretty rare. Most of our associates are amazing.)

        4. What’s up with all the edgelordy hot takes now? Is this place just reddit now and not corporette anymore?

          Anyway, Anonymous, if your pdf making skills are so spectacular, you ought to be able to run some other pdf-making company by now. Go do that. Good luck!

    2. Indeed. I’m a boomer, and I developed one of the first desktop software systems for stocking retail grocery stores. Also created the first online reverse auction marketplace to combine raw ingredient purchasing for different suppliers. Let’s see — introduced mobile phones to an FTSE 10 company, revamped a product development lifecycle system, and as a boomer, was part of a team that developed the system and processes to identify and remove bottlenecks in telecommunication systems during the pandemic. And so on.

      I don’t save PDFs either, because it’s not my job. They hire people to do stuff like that for boomers like me.

    3. Omg “Boomer” is not pejorative. It’s literally the name of the generation. If that offends you, that’s on you.

  9. I will preface this by saying that I realize this is a ridiculous non-problem and I am not trying to get sympathy, but feeling sad/anxious. I have two high school age daughters who are huge swifties. They tried to get tickets to go to the final show in Vancouver as we live nearby, but despite using all of our family members’ emails for early access, we were out of luck. I also made an attempt to see if an acquaintance who was lucky enough to get 4 tickets would be willing to sell me two of them at ~$1k each, but she decided to invite some other friends instead. So, we don’t have tix and the cheap ones are now ~$3k per ticket. I want to buy them tickets from stubhub as my daughters are huge fans and this is going to be their last opportunity to watch the tour (we watched the movie twice), but my husband grew up poor and thinks it’s ridiculous for anyone to be paying the highly marked-up prices for a few hours of entertainment. I just found out my coworker, whose HHI is way less than ours, bought tickets (at $3k each) to take her preteen daughters to the show. I know that realistically, it makes more sense for us to put the money towards a trip or their 529 funds, but I’m feeling sort of sad that my girls won’t be able to attend even though we can technically afford the tickets and they would give up a lot to attend the concert. Please, someone, tell me I am being ridiculous and need to get perspective!!

    1. You sound like a good parent to even be considering giving your daughter’s such a huge gift.

    2. Listen, if I could afford $3k for a ticket I would in a heartbeat, but I also think that the prices are completely ridiculous. Your girls will have far more long-term gain from investing that money.

    3. If it helps, I took my daughters, but I did manage to get tickets through the lottery and paid about $400 each. The day of the show, I saw tickets selling for $1000 and I almost sold them. If I saw them for $3000, I absolutely would have. It was amazing, but not a semester of public college or a down payment on a car amazing. You’re sweet to consider it. But it’s ok to pass this opportunity up.

    4. Personally, I would go, but you’re talking to someone who went and absolutely loved it. I also highly value concerts and experiences. It’s all about what you value. Will a $3k investment turn into something that your daughters will value more than this experience? Or will they have this experience and these memories forever, being able to look back on it in 50 years – “I saw Taylor Swift back in 2024 at the Eras Tour!” I’ve seen all of my favorites, including icons like Mariah Carey and Madonna, and I’ve never regretted it.

      1. I want to add that for all the people saying “one night of entertainment” have obviously never gone to a huge show, because the memories live with you forever. Or maybe I just love music more than the average person. I’m in my thirties now, struggled to pay for college, and I still would have rather seen the show than taken the $3k for my college fund.

        1. This exactly. I would 100% do it. You can always make up 3k, it’s not that much money in the grand scheme of things and the memories last a lifetime as does the relationship with your kids.

    5. I think you are sweet for wanting this for your girls, and I also think your girls will ultimately survive this disappointment (and that it’s okay for them to have the “we tried but it didn’t work out and my parents didn’t swoop in and fix it with money” experience). But I really want to emphasize that I think you are a very sweet, kind-hearted mom for sharing in their sadness!

    6. You’re not at all ridiculous to care about your daughters and want to give them something special.

      But I personally can’t stomach the thought that people are paying $3k for one evening’s worth of entertainment.

      In situations like yours, I find it most helpful to “compare down” rather than up. Meaning, rather than compare your family to the people who have the thing you want and don’t have (tickets), compare it to the situation of the person you know who would give ANYTHING to have something you have (an intact family, two girls you love, healthy family members, enough money that this kind of purchase is even an option, etc.).

    7. Put it in their 529s. Someday they will appreciate that more, or at least understand that given the context, it was the right choice.

    8. I am a huge Swiftie (have a tattoo, top 0.01% of listeners on Spotify, etc.) who makes a mid-six-figures salary and bought really good tickets to my Eras Tour show in the initial sale and still feel like I overpaid for the experience I ultimately had and mine were $600/ticket for really good seats. Honestly, seeing the movie in a cinema was actually a way better experience for me! No faux fan influencers filming themselves instead of enjoying the concert, better sound, less screaming, tight editing that showed all the dancing but cut out the cringe-y crowd chat, etc. Unless you’re 100% sure that your kids actually enjoy large stadium shows, you might find yourself spending $6k only for them to just have an ok time. And as much as it may feel like “everyone else” has gone by now, it’s really not true – and it’s ok to miss out on what is – in the end – just a concert!

    9. I am old and have led a very good life despite never getting New Kids on the Block tickets when I was their age.
      Your sentiments are very nice, but that money will be worth so much more towards their education.

    11. Oh ffs, there will be more concerts for your daughters to go to. Even Taylor Swift concerts! Maybe the whole family should spend some time volunteering this holiday season and get a much-needed perspective shift.

      2. Ah yes, the tone of this comment screams “I am living proof that volunteering makes you a better person!”

    12. That is insane unless you are so rich that you already have enough money for college and a car and car insurance for each of them saved up. The cost of those two tickets is enough to pay for braces for one of them, a vacation for the whole family, refurnishing a room in your house, replacing your fence that is falling down …

    13. I think the best thing to do is not buy the tickets. It’s okay for your daughters to learn that you would have paid $1,000 per ticket but not $3,000 per ticket. In fact, that’s probably a better lesson than “Mommy will pay whatever it takes because ‘everyone else’ gets to go.”

      Do you want to see your daughters stupidly happy? Of course. That doesn’t mean you can afford this particular way of doing so.

      1. Another thought: why aren’t your daughters chipping in for this? If they don’t have the money now, they can get jobs and repay you.

        Maybe the best thing is to tell them that the first $1,500 per ticket is in you and they have to make up the rest. If they have $1,500 in savings, they need to get a job to replenish some of that. Otherwise, they can walk dogs, babysit, tutor middle school kids, shovel driveways, or whatever.

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