Thursday’s Workwear Report: Long Giselle Sweater Blazer
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Back in my law firm days, I never minded working a few days between Christmas and New Year’s because it was quiet and I was able to bill for a whole day without many interruptions. I also got to wear whatever I wanted because no one was going to see me.
My ideal comfy office outfit involves a long sweater like this sweater blazer from J.Crew. Pair it with your favorite T-shirt and some pull-on pants and it’s just about as close to athleisure as you can get for the office.
The sweater blazer is $139.99, marked down from $168 — and another 60% off with code — at J.Crew. It comes in sizes XXS-3X.
Sales of note for 1/16/25:
- M.M.LaFleur – Tag sale for a limited time — jardigans and dresses $200, pants $150, tops $95, T-shirts $50
- Nordstrom – Cashmere on sale; AllSaints, Free People, Nike, Tory Burch, and Vince up to 60%; beauty deals up to 25% off
- AllSaints – Clearance event, now up to 70% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Final reductions now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; extra 50% off all clearance, plus ELOQUII X kate spade new york collab just dropped
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off; new markdowns just added
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 50% off cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- L.K. Bennett – Archive sale, almost everything 70% off
- Rothy's – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
- Sephora – 50% off top skincare through 1/17
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Summersalt – BOGO sweaters, including this reader-favorite sweater blazer; 50% off winter sale; extra 15% off clearance
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale – 50% off + extra 20% off, sale on sale, plus free shipping on $150+
A light post to start the morning: Best gift given? Best gift received?
*I’m adopting a moniker for 2025, used to post under an array of names plus lots of Anon
Best given: Tattoo gift certificate
Best received: Gracula garlic crusher shaped like a mini Dracula
Best given: tiki mugs (to DH)
Best received: decorative serving pieces and a vase from a store in Lebanon (from DH).
Given (and received): a whole stack of new board & card games for our home-from-college kids to open, one per day, which we all play together that evening.
Best Given: A rotisserie chicken in a white elephant exchange. It’s been all over the internet and got great laughs and was appreciated
Best Received: A Mario Badescu gift set and a few of my favorites, like the seaweed night cream
Best given: a Hatch sunrise alarm clock for my college-aged son. He is mystified as to how I knew he wanted one (I didn’t!) and keeps comparing it to a gift I got him last year that was similarly well-received. He is hard to buy for, so this was a big win.
Best received: tickets to a basketball game at my alma mater. I follow the team like my life depends on it but have not been to a game there since I was in college many, many moons ago.
We celebrate Hanukkah and don’t really gift to adults, and my dad (who we are visiting) insists the gifts be opened in the evening after dinner and I knew my kids would be frustrated if there wasn’t something they could play with right away…well of course the item they received that could be used right away (a battery operated toothbrush that they were very excited to receive) requires the tiniest of screwdrivers that my dad does not have…
I just needed the tiniest of screwdrivers and was able to use the eyeglass repair kit screwdriver, that probably doesn’t help now. Often they are keychains
Gift given: I stuck to expected items. I’m not very good at giving.
Gift received: one of those tiny fridges (holds a few soda cans) to keep in the basement where we feed the cats. No more carrying partially used cans of cat food up and down to put in our regular fridge. It was such an out-of-the-blue item and one I never knew I wanted but was excited to put to use.
(New handle for me. I’ve outgrown my old one)
Received: the Trader Joe’s 5 items or less cookbook. I’m a lazy cook so this is great. I’ve really gotten away from cooking (and thus have gained weight…) so this will be a manageable way to get back into the kitchen.
Given: mostly practical yet boring things that I think were really appreciated
Best given: To my 8-y-o soon-to-be stepgrandaughter, a small quilted art piece, elaborately constructed with tiny quilting squares featuring a carousel and other whimsical elements accented with beads, sequins and pearls. I have a very large wall quilt by the same artist that the kiddo loves, and she will (I hope) like and keep this one hanging for years.
Best received: I very large scarf/shawl in shades of red and purple from my SO – flattering colors and super-warm and soft
Welcome, Mildred! That was my late mom’s name! She would have been 101 years old this week!
Best gift given: a bunch of stocking stuffer-type things for my sister-in-law, who was having her first Christmas without her brother (my first husband, father of my daughter), who was usually the one who bought her a bunch of gifts. They were mostly good choices but the important thing was she had plenty of packages to open when she wasn’t expecting it. Also got my husband the Sandwiches of History cookbook and that was a big hit.
Best received: I asked for a Hadley & Bennet apron and my sweet husband got me that plus matching oven mitts and dish towels and a cool kitchen notebook that fits in the apron pocket. Well done!
Given: either the Klask game I gifted the whole family on Christmas Eve, or the Bey Blades I gave a 24 year old guy in my family. I got both of these ideas from threads here, so thank you!
Received: socks. Seriously, I put them on my wishlist every year and never get them because no one thinks socks are exciting to give for Christmas, but I like nice socks. Not the kind that come in a 6 pack. This year I received Smartwool, Sockwell, and UGG socks from three different givers! Wearing the very comfy UGG socks right now!
Best Given this year: Magnatiles for my 40yr old DH, but the gift tag said they were from our friends’ 4yo (they like to play magnatiles together, it’s cute).
Best Received this year: oodles of fancy pasta making equipment! Several beautifully made, sturdy cutting wheels, rollers, 2 spring loaded ravioli stamps, and more.
In the spirit of the gifts question I’m going to leave my mental list of Christmas eve hosting fails from and successes here in case it’s helpful to anyone else:
1. Catering worked really well. The food was delicious, the burden was lighter and everyone raved except:
2. The vegans were apparently upset that their meals had mushrooms, which are, I’m told, intelligent beings. Duly noted going forward I’ll double check with them.
3. Settings the table for everyone involved moving all the furniture but it was huge hit and super festive to have everyone gathered and not eating on couches and counters.
4. The kids should all just get the same gift that the parents agree on and buy together: this year it was Snuggie like fleece hoodies and they were so happy and cute running around in them. We need to get the great aunts to agree to the one gift thing. The kids have too many gifts and cleaning the paper and setting up new toys is a lot in that setting.
5. I need to invest in my own flatware and dishes. I felt like the grinch stealing it all from my mom the day before.
6. We need less desserts and appetizers than I think! We have some amazing bakers and i don’t think we need to supplement with store bought cakes.
7. We need a better non alcoholic option for drinks. I should look into that. Something more festive than Diet Coke.
8. The weirdest, biggest hit was two dozen supermarket roses that I put in the powder room. The rest of the house was so festive so I put them in there and everyone commented and asked about them.
9. I should find a better way to communicate that I’ll be dressed up. Mil said she felt underdressed because her husband wanted to wear everyday clothes and told her she should too. Lots of cute clothes and sparkly stuff from most people.
10. We need to take pictures! We’re cute and yet terrible at this.
I’m interested in anyone else’s experiences!
#7 hot spiced cider
For No. 7 – Whole Foods has Italian sodas in flavors like grapefruit etc. that are fun for these sorts of occasions.
Italian soda bars can be fun! Seltzer, heavy cream, several different syrups.
I mixed seltzer, ginger beer and a bit of orange, lemon a mango juice for a non alcoholic sparkling alternative to mimosas.
We made a cranberry simple syrup with cranberries, cloves, and cinnamon sticks. The cocktail was to mix vodka, cranberry simple syrup, ginger ale, and add lime. The mocktail was without vodka – both were great.
The spicy version was ginger beer instead of ginger ale. The less sweet version was club soda. That plus assorted sodas and some root beers was a big hit with everyone.
This sounds great, easy to make and customize. Kids love mocktails
Christmas Day, in our case:
1. Surf and turf (ribeye and shrimp) was 100% delicious and easy thanks to decent weather for grilling! We are carnivores obv. Sides barely mattered lol
1a. i am fundamentally unable to plan for a group smaller than an army battalion so we are eating leftovers til easter:-)
2. Start early. We do Christmas dinner like 2pm, which allows my elderly parents time to get home before it’s dark and “all the drunks are out” – their words. And left us time to have some neighbors over for drinks and desserts, round 2!
3. Do not under any circumstances allow DH to help clean up after gift giving. I have a pair of earrings somewhere on the planet now, lol. I hope I get them back before next year!
4. Preloaded DS’ kindle fire with a bunch of books, after locking down everything else. He had to be reminded to finish opening the rest of his gifts!
5. Once again I am reminded of the fundamental balance in our marriage. I have spent the last few weeks planning and replanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals. I love to cook and plan, so this isn’t as terrible as it seems. Today I slept in, went for a run, ahhhhh… while DH has done all the cleaning up. We both think we got the best side of the deal lol.
#3: are we married to the same man? Also, do not let husband clear food, as he puts everything into the disposal. No leftovers here, meaning so many delicious things were trashed when he had this part of cleanup. Now, he handles all the handwashing, dishwasher unloading, etc. Incompetence failure!
my husband will plop things in the fridge but without covering anything, then is mystified and things drying out.
Op here! Your get togethers sound lovely- fingers crossed you find those earrings!
Thank you very much for sharing!
Festive non alcoholic options in our house:
“Kid wine” aka sparkling apple-pom from the grocery. In wineglasses. Found my 13YO googling “correct way to hold a wine glass”😂😂
Cranberry ginger ale. So good.
Just prefilling ice water in matching goblets at each place felt extra festive… or, my standards are very low.
On the little kids’ gift: this year I gave all the littles fuzzy lined Crocs. I thought that the parents would like them but the kids would think I was an old meanie. Wrong! The kids loved them and rushed to put them on and wore them for the rest of the party. I know these will get lots of wear and the parents won’t resent having a noisemaking toy in the house.
#7: Spindrift seltzers, served in something clear so the pretty colors can add to the sparkly feeling of the holiday.
For #7, I make NAB mimosas with cranberry or orange juice and ginger ale. It has color and sparkle so it feels festive without being heavy or to sweet.
#7: Trader Joe’s has good non-alcoholic holiday seltzers.
Oh dear. Of course everyone is free to eat what they like. But harvesting mushrooms doesn’t kill the intelligent being that produces them as a sort of fruiting structure. If they care so much about other species, maybe they should bother to learn something about them?
For a festive drink that’s non-alcoholic, I really like homemade punch. Also, Green Cola’s diet offerings are a lot more expensive than Diet Coke, but they are festive. The cherry flavor is the standout, but the orange is also good.
I wonder if they were being facetious about it and simply dislike mushrooms?
Yeah… I am a pretty militant vegan and I’ve never heard that. I think they might have been yanking your chain…
I wish. According to my mil it’s a thing in her yoga circles, where they also kiss the feet of the founder and are expected to host her in their homes for free. It’d not mainstream and it certainly seems silly to me. You can’t question these things or your moral values are questioned usually with an angry rant. I’m just noting no mushrooms and not engaging further.
I have been vegan on and off for years and was married to a militant vegan and animal rights scholar. I have never heard this about mushrooms. Please don’t hold this against all vegans, it’s nuts.
You’re wise not to engage further, but you realize next year your MIL will invent some other “non-vegan” food she can lecture about your putting in the food? She doesn’t really want to have a cruelty-free meal, she wants to harangue you. Consider instead disinviting MIL or making it your spouse’s job to cook for her.
Meanwhile in my hometown….
>The conversations around eucalyptus trees have become a heated battle over safety, environmentalism, and accusations of “plant racism.”
https://oaklandside.org/2024/10/29/oakland-eucalyptus-trees-wildfires-history/
SMH at the vegans. That be a not invited next year for me.
We like Martinellis or Trader Joe’s non alcoholic sparkling apple cider as the no alcohol alternative, and have found that folks have had so many sweets during the season that a welcome dessert alternative to have in the mix is hot spiced cider.
I don’t have anything to report, but it was really fun to end this list.
Boggling at the mushroom thing. I guess they don’t like to eat a mushroom because he’s such a fungi?
Fun to READ this list.
I hosted nine people for Cookie Day and Christmas dinner in a very poorly-equipped Airbnb (near my daughter’s studio apartment) and have decided that going forward, I am delighted to host you for Christmas in my own lovely, well-equipped home, but I am done taking my show on the road. I think maybe next year we will all go to a nice third place and stay in a nice hotel and have somebody else do the hosting.
My daughter is learning what a lot of us eventually learn, that once you’re in a committed relationship, you have to juggle two families who would love to have you all to themselves at the holidays! Fortunately, her fiance’s family live locally, so it’s not like either side missed out entirely, just could have used better communication and planning about who was eating which meals where and when! All done with love, patience, and understanding. Having too many people who love you is a nice problem to have. :)
I am vegan and your vegans complaining about mushrooms is obnoxious. I’m sorry!
Given: my 2 year old wanted a Spiderman umbrella. The absolute sheer joy when he opened that umbrella was one of those moments of magic..
Received: Husband got me the *perfect* pair of Blundstone boots to meet my needs and included a note that it included full maintenance with him waterproofing/oiling/maintaining them as part of the gift package.
I just gifted myself a New York Times cooking subscription. For those who have tried the pastry dough recipes, there are several of them. Can anyone tell me which they like the best? Looking for a go- to pastry dough recipe that isn’t too complicated.