Coffee Break: Luca Boot

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This Luca boot by Franco Sarto looks great, and it's affordable, too — only $169–$179 at Nordstrom. It's got solid reviews so far, and I think it'd look really nice with tights or pants, and especially bootcuts — this is the perfect kind of boot to wear with that style. It comes in a bunch of fun colors, like wine croco leather, saddle leather, white (if you're into that trend), and a rock print that's vaguely animal-inspired, and it's available in a wide size range of 4.5–12. If you prefer the brand Marc Fisher, there's a very similar option, the Jarli bootie, which is also getting pretty good reviews at Nordstrom. Luca Boot 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!

Sales of note for 2/14/25 (Happy Valentine's Day!):

  • Nordstrom – Winter Sale, up to 60% off! 7850 new markdowns for women
  • M.M.LaFleur – Save up to 25% on select suiting, this weekend only
  • Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase — and extra 60% off sale
  • Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + 15% off (readers love their suiting as well as their silky shirts like this one)
  • Boden – 15% off new season styles
  • Eloquii – 300+ styles $25 and up
  • J.Crew – 40% of your purchase – prices as marked
  • J.Crew Factory – 50% off entire site and storewide + extra 50% off clearance
  • Rothy's – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
  • Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
  • Talbots – Flash sale ending soon – markdowns starting from $15, extra 70% off all other markdowns (final sale)

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

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

63 Comments

  1. This boot shape has always looked a little dated to me, but I’m sure some can pull it off.

    1. It’s been around since the 1960’s so it’s either dated or classic, depending on how you roll.

    2. Can you share what about it looks dated?
      Signed, someone who is always frumpy and has no idea about trends and thought this looks great

      1. It’s usually the heel that gives away an older style. However, I happen to like this particular heel style, maybe because it reminds me of shoes I loved in the late 80s and 90s. Also, this kind of heel is comfortable to walk in.

        The boot looks ok but not sure about the color.

  2. Does anyone know of any YouTube (or similar) at-home exercise videos that tell you an estimated calorie burn? I’m finding it more motivating to do a short workout after a long day if I know it’ll burn 50 or 100 calories (I assume that the metric is more motivating than “I really should…” – or maybe it makes it feel like it “counts.”) Does this even exist though? I definitely need it to be for at-home workouts rather than something I can do outside.

    1. Not a response to your specific question, but as an alternative, there are heart rate monitors on amazon for like $40. (I’ve used the Polar brand with the chest strap and watch.) You can strap it on and then workout until you hit your calorie goal and then stop.

  3. Has anyone gotten Peloton and HATED it? (If you are not a regular bike rider/spinner, do your lady parts eventually adjust to the seat, or are there other ways to make bike riding more comfortable?)

    1. Not Peloton, but I never went back to spinning after the first class for this reason.

        1. +2

          I couldn’t deal (and didn’t want to deal) with the discomfort after spin class. I didn’t get enough out of it for the discomfort to be worth it.

    2. Get a gel seat cover, for one. Or padded shorts. But more importantly, make sure that you have adjusted the seat height, depth, etc. appropriately. You should be sitting on your sits bones, and almost no weight whatsoever should be on your lady bits.

      1. Even after several months of Peloton-ing 1-2x/week, my sit bones still hurt every time I ride, despite padded shorts. It’s definitely improved since the first couple of times when I was in pain for days, but I still find it painful in the moment of the ride. Not sure if it is exacerbated by my being very overweight? That’s my best guess…

        1. Try a different saddle. Your local bike shop should be a great resource. Most let you try a saddle and allow returns (or just don’t charge your card) for a month so you can swap it out if it doesn’t work. Bike saddle comfort has very little to do with your size. I have the same saddle on my road bike (me – 5’6″ 145 lb woman) as one of my cycling buddies who’s a 6’2″ 200lb man. Both of us found that particular one most comfortable after trying lots.

          If you like your saddle, or used to but are having trouble now, take a look and make sure it’s level and on straight. I personally like mine ever so slightly nose-down.

        2. I’m not a small gal and I ride with my husband every weekend, we usually go 10-12 miles. If you generally enjoy cycling but are struggling with the “sore sitbones” issue, definitely look into a different saddle or a different gel pad for your saddle. I tried three different saddles, two different seat pads and three different pairs of shorts before I found the comfort I was looking for. They also make cycling underwear with a chamois in it (I got mine from Amazon) that you can under the padded shorts if you want, for double padding.
          I will also add that on real bikes, bike fit is super-important. There are tons of ways to adjust a bike so that it fits you better and is comfortable. If you get on the bike and something immediately hurts as you start riding, the bike needs adjustment. In addition to adjusting the position of the seatpost, you can get a suspension seatpost that rebounds over bumps, you can adjust the saddle so it is more nose-up or nose-down, your handlebars and stem can be adjusted so that you’re in a better sitting position, etc. Bike frames can be too big or too small and size charts don’t always steer you in the right direction (because of my body proportions, the frames that are supposed to fit me don’t, and I size up to the next size frame so that I’m comfortable). Bike constructions that work for some don’t work for others (I had a mountain bike with 29er wheels and I hated it). A good local bike shop should be able to help. Don’t be intimidated about asking for help if they are little wiry Lycra people. Most of them love riding so much they want to help others love it too.

    3. Discomfort with the bike seat is almost always an issue with bike fit (yes, the seat can be swapped out, you can put on a gel pad, wear padded shorts, etc..) but if you’re not fit properly, it’ll never be comfortable. Pompom is correct that you shouldn’t have much weight (if any) on your “lady bits” – it should all be on your sit bones. You may need to raise or lower the seat, move it forward, raise the bars to get this to all align properly, but bike fit is a HUGE contributor, and TBH most spin studios do a horrible job of setting new riders up.

      But the pressure on the lady bits is one reason why (for me, anyway) a gel saddle and/or thickly padded shorts are a no-go for spin classes – this can make discomfort worse, because the gel/padding pushes on you where you do not want pressure.

      I do not use padded shorts for spin classes (I have a Peloton, for the record.) However, I 100% wear padded shorts for outdoor rides for road vibration absorption as well as protection against chafing.

      1. Wait. They are called SIT bones and not SEAT bones?
        I’m a horseback rider, not a bike rider, and we always say seat bones, but now I’m googling this and the more frequently used term does appear to be sit bones (when not using ischial tuberosity), and I don’t even know what to do with myself.

          1. I had to go look that up!

            The term sitz bath is derived from the German word Sitzbad, meaning a bath (Bad) in which one sits (sitzen).

    4. I don’t know if you can change the saddle on a Peloton bike, but I got a Terry Butterfly saddle for my road bike and it was a game-changer. And yes, you need to be fitted properly and the saddle needs to be properly adjusted.

  4. Does anyone have any favorite “ordering Christmas steak” places other than Omaha Steaks or Costco? Seems like a ton of new options. (Will they have Black Friday sales?)

    1. Snake River Farm 4ever! I don’t even go for their top shelf wagyu-type steaks just regular angus. Their pork is great as well. I’m on their mailing list and will get a 10-20% coupon every once in a while. Shipping is great, compostable insulation and dry ice, meat arrives hard as a rock.

    2. Do you have a local meat shop/butcher? Shop local, probably grown local, and no shipping issues to deal with.

      1. This is a good option. Or, are there any farms around you that supply restaurants and farmer’s markets?
        I will say that Costco carries Prime cuts in many of their stores so it’s not a bad backup option.

  5. Do any other attorneys get migraines? I am under the care of a neurologist and take all the meds, but sometimes they just knock me out (and have been really frequent lately). I’m working from home and between prodrome, the actual attack, and now postdrome I have been responding to issues that come up at work but haven’t done any actual work. Being down 16-20 hours in my billing makes me feel like crap

    1. I do. It’s very frustrating. I’ve seen improvement by working out my stacking triggers and being careful when I know one trigger is present to not add more. For example, my two main stacking triggers are weather and hormones. So if a storm is coming at the wrong time of the month, I am extra careful to make sure I don’t overdo it on caffeine or alcohol. I also get regular massages because stiff shoulder and neck muscles are another trigger for me.

    2. I used to–they quit nearly entirely when I stopped using hormonal birth control. I have told this story before but I had been to at least four different neurologists, three ob/gyns, two (or three?) oncologists, and a handful of PCPs and NO ONE suggested the correlation. When I mentioned it to my ob/gyn when I finally found the correlation by chance, he was like, “oh, yeah, that’s the fake estrogen.” AGGGH. Thanks for years of pain medical community (many of those docs were female, for the record). Not saying it will fix your migraines but it might be worth a try. Also, sympathy. Migraines suck.

      1. I had the same experience with a somewhat different set of symptoms (headaches, teeth clenching, insomnia, high cortisol) and a different fake hormone (progestin). My symptoms, which had been constant and which had resisted psych meds, yoga, therapy, you name it, went away within days of quitting. So frustrating in retrospect, but at least I feel better now!

    3. Yes. If it’s a slower time period I go home. But I have worked and even been in court while having a migraine attack. I take meds and do my best. Talk to your doctor about ways to reduce your migraine load. I’m testing different preventative medications now. I don’t have billable hours but I do have a busy litigation practice.

    4. I do, although they’re not as bad as many people’s – pre-pregnancy they were usually limited to one migraine for one to two days per month shortly before my period, and Tylenol does a lot to manage them, especially if I take the maximum dose at the first hint of a migraine. Because I could predict almost to the day when they’d occur, I did all the preventative stuff I could: eating as well as I could, staying super hydrated, getting lots of sleep, doing yoga, etc. (Post-pregnancy I get them whenever the barometric pressure drops due to impending rain, and I live in the PNW so I get them all the damn time and not on a set schedule. But at least I’m not in a law firm anymore and weather migraines are a lot shorter than hormonal migraines, at least for me). If Tylenol hadn’t been enough I definitely would have seen a neurologist for stronger meds. When work was slow, especially on a weekend, I did do a lot of lying in a dark room and resting, but I also worked through them plenty of times. Don’t worry about a temporary hit to your billables, I’m sure if you work diligently when you’re healthy you’ll be fine.

    5. Yes, and it’s cascading in this way. The migraine itself causes stress because I get behind, and then I can’t relax on the weekend, go to bed early, take time to exercise because I need that time to work, which increases the stress, which causes more migraines.

      What worked for me was getting a new job that had less hours pressure and taking a month off in between. During the month I was not stressed and was able to get all my habits/ triggers under control, and get used to meds, and then start over with less stress. I realize that is not realistic for a lot of people, but maybe you could procure a few weeks of disability leave to?

  6. Someone was asking about the Uniqlo EZY trousers last week. I’m in a city with a Uniqlo and tried them on and thought I’d report back – they’ve got some super cute patterns at the moment and they’d be a great staple for a casual workplace. The fit wasn’t quite right for me – I don’t typically wear trousers, it’s dresses or Gap high rise true skinnys in black for me. The L was quite baggy in the thighs (I wear a 30″ in gap jeans) and the medium wouldn’t quite shimmy over my hips.
    I did buy a gorgeous coat and a lovely popover blouse so I wasn’t too disappointed.

    1. You’re making me regret not going into Uniqlo when I had an hour in Central London on Sunday… instead, I went into Waterstones Piccadilly. My priorities are clear!

    2. i also tried them last week and thought the fit was off. i needed the M in the waist, but the thighs were too baggy and i think they made me look matronly. i was very disappointed. i’m still searching for a good pair of pull on pants for work!

  7. 2 questions- I may ask again tomorrow since it’s late.
    1-I want to get my husband a new briefcase- any reccs? Preferably leather. He is a gov lawyer so doesn’t need to be particularly stuffy- but also should
    He nice.
    2-I need new bras after 4 years of having kids and wearing sports bras. I just got an order from thirlove
    And eh- not the best… but also not the worst. I feel like there must be something better out there. I currently mostly wear torrid bralettes and am about a 40b, which is hard to find. Also very sensitive to things that are right and uncomfortable.
    Please help a lady out! Thanks!

      1. I ordered these on the rec here recently (maybe it was you!) and I love love love them! I ordered 2 more after my first one, and now ordered them for my teenage daughters! So comfortable!

    1. If you’re near a Nordstrom, find a slower time–like a weeknight. With a fresh measure, it’s shocking how well they know their inventory. I’ve gone up and down 80 lbs and at one time had to accommodate no wires following a bunch of biopsies and had different sales people throughout. Have had really, really great experiences all around. They seem to really train them well there. I feel like this is one of the few times where brick and mortar first can really make a difference.It’s not just a matter of “does it fit,” but does it lift how you want it to, separate or not how you want it to, have fabric that feels right, etc. Hard to do that online.

    2. As a 42C, I hear you about hard-to-find sizes. I like Bali t-shirt bras. I have a bunch in black and beige–some with mesh at the top of the cup and some with lace details.

    3. I please go to reddit abrathatfits and check out their measuring guide. When I see large band small cup I’m usually pretty sure it’s a measurement issue.

  8. How warm is Uniqlo Heattech?

    I work in an office that tends to get pretty warm in the winter. I used to buy Uniqlo cotton scoopneck tops to wear as undershirts under sweaters for winter and they were perfect. They don’t make them anymore and I worry that heattech will make me overheat. ALternatively, anyone have suggestions for a thin scoopneck T that makes for a good underlayer? Needs to have real (short) sleeves to protect the underarm part from sweaters.

    1. What about the Uniqlo airism line? I have used and abused my airism tank and it is holding up super well. I’m not a huge uniqlo fan (doesn’t fit me well, insufficiently durable) but this has bee a notable exception.

      1. I have one and find that it does its job too well and I am somehow cold, despite the warm sweater on top. It’s actually really great when I need to wear a full suit and blouse in the heat of summer, but doesn’t help with my current issue. Thanks though!

    2. I like JCrew factory for that type of shirt. Not sure they’ll have exactly what you’re looking for though. Mine are long sleeve crew neck.

    3. You will definitely get hot with heattech, even the thinner ones. I have the same issue.

  9. Need tips for dating for over 40. I turn 40 in 2 months, single with no kids. I have used dating apps and I’m honest about my age. I have encountered some men who don’t put their real age. In one case a guy had 38 or something, but stated his real age in his summary. When we met I asked him why and he said it was because most people filter out anyone over 40. This was on Ok Cupid, and I realized it was true, I had been doing the same thing. So my biggest anxiety about this age is how much more challenging dating will become. I do try to meet people IRL but of course will still use apps.

    1. Don’t worry. I am about your age, and the key is to remember that you have attributes that men crave. They cannot do anything fun w/o a woman, and you fulfill that role for them. As for what YOU want, make sure they know what that is up front, and if they don’t want to do it, JSFAMO. In my case I am very specific about what I want. A man with a good job and personality, who wants to marry me and move me to Chapaqua where I would bear him children. I do not know if that is what you want, but whatever it is, be SPECIFIC. Be willing to do what he wants if he does what you want. This runs from food to freinds to $ex. Be open to men who might be a little weird, as long as they otherwise meet your criteria. I have started looking at dorky looking men, as long as they have good jobs and are willing to marry me and mate ASAP, even though their $exueal habits might seem unconventional. In your case, know your limits, and tell him right away if he is trying to go beyond what you are comfortable doing. Good luck hunting for Mr. Right! YAY!!!

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