Frugal Friday’s Workwear Report: Diamond Pointelle Cardigan
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
My first BigLaw job was across the street from a brick-and-mortar Loft location, so I spent many lunch breaks wandering around the racks. This pointelle cardigan looks so much like something I would have purchased in 2010 that I’m very tempted to grab it up again. I would wear this with a midi skirt for a summer-y casual Friday look.
The sweater is on sale for $47.97 (marked down from $79.95) and comes in sizes XXS-XXL and XXSP-XXLP. It's also available in “smokey opal” and “whisper white.”
Sales of note for 5/8:
- Nordstrom – Savings event – up to 25% off! Good deals on Veronica Beard, Vince, Reiss (esp. coats), and Boss, as well as Wit & Wisdom and NYDJ
- Ann Taylor – Mother's Day Event: 40% off your purchase. Readers love this popover blouse, and their suiting is also in the sale.
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code
- Express – $39+ summer styles + 25% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off swim, dresses, and more
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything, and extra 50% off clearance
- Lands' End – 50% off sitewide — lots of ponte dresses come down under $25, and this packable raincoat in gingham is too cute
- Lo & Sons – Mother's Day Sale: Up to 40% off — reader favorites include this laptop tote, this backpack, and this crossbody
- Loft – 50% off your purchase + free shipping, plus 2 for $28 tanks and tees
- MAC – Enjoy 30% off lip products and receive a 4-piece Mother's Day gift with $90
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Ruti – Take $55 off your purchase with code 55ONUS
- Sephora – Free same-day delivery for Mother's Day with code
- Talbots – 50% off wear-now styles (5/8 only)
- The Outnet – Extra 30% off select styles, including Veronica Beard, Victoria Beckham, and Marni.
- 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!
Idle observation-I was at a 7th grade band concert last night, and I was surprised at how many of the girls were wearing real high heels with their “concert black” outfits. I’m not saying anything negative, just surprising since it seems like folks here are always saying that the young and hip set are wearing comfortable shoes and heels are out – many of the boys were in sneaks, but I only saw one or two girls rocking the sneakers with a dress look. I don’t think anyone was wearing true high heels when I was in middle school (don’t think it was on my radar, and I’m sure I would have wanted them if it were), but I guess that’s the look of the really young set.
1. I don’t think a middle school band concert is likely full of the young and hip set. And I say that kindly. I was one of them.
2. They’re at an age where heels are exciting and ‘grown up’ rather than something that used to feel glamorous and now feels pretty but limiting.
I still love a pretty shoe . . . for sitting.
I have an orchestra kid. My observations:
1 they have young feet
2 they are sitting down
3 it is the one area in performances where they can be creative
4 especially if these kids also do marching band, those shoes are so fugly they may want something cute now
I think they don’t want percussion clacking around, so my guess it’s the in-chair people only.
Wearing sneakers with your concert blacks would NOT be okay, fashionable or not.
I think they usually have to be black if sneakers (which I see often) and black if not sneakers. Public school though, so they are not going to DQ a kid who tries over this.
Yeah, I’m just saying that even in my kid’s public school, the director (who is a caring human) made a point of letting parents know that black shoes with white soles are not appropriate for music contests or concerts. And if someone needed help procuring appropriate attire, to please let him know.
But, to the OP — I wouldn’t assume that kids’ concert attire represents what they dress like on a daily basis or even for other special occasions.
It wasn’t very formal -the school’s directive was basically just “all black, please no ripped clothes or sweatpants” (and I saw one boy in gray sweatpants, so …). Most of the kids wore black dresses (of all sorts of styles) or slacks, but it seemed pretty clear that sneakers (or other casual shoes) were fine.
I would not assume their concert attire choices are representative of their normal daily wear.
At that age, I didn’t have much in the way of dressy options in my own closet, and what I did have was mostly hand-me-downs from my mom. In today’s environment, I could very well see her handing me all of the heels she had stopped wearing during Covid since we wore the same shoe size. I would have felt so sophisticated rocking a pair of her old office pumps with my black floor-length dress.
Same. My violin kid takes my black cardigans and lady jackets for concerts, along with shoes.
What are your favorite headphones? Have old AirPods I’m considering upgrading, maybe with something else. Don’t love Shokz. I think I want in ear but open to over the head (but then can you take calls on them or is it just for listening?)
I really love my JLab Sports. Comfortable and not too expensive when I inevitably lose one.
I have a ton of old cloth woven placemats. Nothing is wrong with them. I just have a big southern family that thought I’d be entertaining (yes) and like autumn palette colors (no) and need that and cloth napkins in sets of 8 or 12. I’m assuming that if I donate them, no one will want that stuff now. Crafty people: what else can I do with these?
Donate them or recycle them
Put them on Freecycle, I bet someone will take them off your hands. We use exclusively cloth napkins and aren’t easy on them, so a free upgrade would be really welcome.
Put the placemats under houseplants to protect the furniture? Make totes with them, sew a few together for decorative rugs or table runners?
For the napkins, use them to wrap gifts (look up furoshiki for ideas). Sew them into pouches, stuffies, scrunchies, key fobs, anything small enough.
What would you even do with a craft project if you don’t like the colors to begin with? Donate or recycle – search for ‘textile recycling’ to find dropoffs near you.
We’re closing on our new house today! We’re moving over gradually in the next few weeks as some final work is being done. Two questions:
What should I bring over for our use while we’re making trips there – toilet paper, paper towels, and hand soap are on the list already.
The drawers and cabinets are older and need contact paper or similar. I found the job of cutting paper to fit HIGHLY annoying last time I did it. Are there any better options on the market now? All I ask is PVC-free but otherwise flexible.
Trash bags, disposable cups, basic tools (couple of screwdrivers, 5-in-1 scraper tool, pair of pliers, a hammer, tape measure, masking tape), a stepstool, and something to sit on. A notepad and writing instruments. Shower curtain, and something to cover the bathroom window if there are no blinds yet. Phone charger. Basic cleaning products, dish soap, some older towels.
Paper plates/plastic utensils/glasses were some of the first things I brought over. I didn’t end up using all of them, but it was super helpful when I was there over dinner time to have something.
If you have a spare shower curtain, I’d bring it over, just in case. Rags and a basic cleaning product as well would be super handy to have in case anything spills while you’re working and would require more than paper towels to clean up.
We’ve used the same house cleaning business for at least five years. It’s an owner and usually 1-2 other people, not a mega company. They used to do a fantastic job, but their work has been very mid for about a year now. Fine, but not doing some of the things they used to. DH has noticed that there used to be 2 cleaners working for about 2 hours, and now it’s 1 cleaner working for an hour, max. A decent number of cleanings have had to be rescheduled because of conflicts on their end. And yesterday the cleaner came, and I honestly can’t even tell if she vacuumed. My husband is over it and wants to find someone new. I agree, but I feel super guilty. The owner seems stretched really thin and recently had a baby. So even though the job is pretty subpar, it feels bad to fire someone who is having a rough time.
The other part of me is like … should we just do this ourselves? We are more than capable of cleaning our own house. The cleaners come every 2 weeks. We have 2 adults, 2 tweens/teens, 2 pets. House is about 2,500 square feet. With that many people and critters, daily upkeep is already necessary so what’s a few more chores? Except that I am the person most bothered by mess and grime, so there’s that. We’ve been paying for help to save us time and effort.
I know I’m overthinking this. Thoughts?