ByKat Hours Updated
Comments 75 Comments

Suit of the Week: The Fold

woman wears olive green suit with animal print heels and white v-neck blouse

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.

Olive suits: yea or nay? I've always thought olive could be surprisingly versatile — I've paired it with neutrals like black, navy, white, gray, and beige — but also with pastels and jewel tones in purple, blue, and pink.

I love the classic cut to this suit from The Fold, as well as the “breathable wool with a chic finish.”

The blazer is $865 and available in US sizes 2-14, and the pants are $550.

Sales of note for 12.5

75 Comments

  1. With the right coloring, I can imagine that this suit would look incredible. Maybe red hair…. a “fall” coloring.

    Me? I would look like death.

    But I really like the suit.

    2. Cool summer checking in. I’d rather go naked.

      But this would look amazing on someone with very dark skin.

    3. I like olive, but in my opinion, this is too yellow of an olive…a bit more blue and it would be lovely.

      I’d look like death in it regardless though :(

    4. I love the colour, but not the cut.

      It’s slightly too warm for me, but only just. (Pale blonde with peach undertones.)

    5. I tried this on in person and I swear it was more muted than it photographs, it looks way more yellow online. It looked beautiful on but since I don’t wear suits often I stuck with the more boring navy Belmont instead.

        1. Brown hair with red highlights (used to be a redhead) and pale, so a winter I guess?

          1. Winter is high-contrast and cool. Fall is high-contrast and warm. If your veins are green your coloring is probably warm; if your veins are blue you are probably cool.

          2. Anne-on – you definitely sound like warm coloring. This color would be great on you. Too bad you didn’t get it!

  2. Speaking of brown suits, I must recommend Fisk on Netflix. Absolutely Australian comedy gold. Please watch and come back so we can talk about it, or have you already seen it?

    1. I just finished watching it yesterday! I was hooked after the first episode. Honestly if I just needed a feel good show to watch, I’d definitely re-watch, which is rare for me.
      I kind of wish Helen had come to a truce with the coffee shop owner so they could keep their sign lite up.

      1. Fantastic, isn’t it. The choir episode is my favourite (it features lots of well known Australian singers, which I loved).
        Nah, it’s hilarious when she has to have meetings in the 7/11 sitting on milk crates!

    2. i just started watching, have seen maybe 4 episodes. even though i’m in the US the “small law” problems are hilariously universal.

      1. I really hope you have a receptionist like George, everything he says cracks me up!

  3. I’m done being polite today. Every asinine email is getting the response ‘ok’.

    1. If it continues to go downhill, try “K” as a complete response.

      One of my friends responded to my text that way just meaning OK and he wasn’t mad at me, but my daughter was like “oh no he didn’t!!!!”

      1. I have a friend that does this and let me tell you, I talk to her much much less than I used to. YMMV and maybe your friend and coworker relationships are great enough that you can just give them that back of the hand, but do that K stuff often enough over innocuous things and you won’t hear from people you want to hear from. It just comes off rude. Why not just not respond?

        1. I mean, OP already told us she was choosing violence today. Been there, done that.

      2. Ha! Yes, one time someone who reported to me texted me “K” and then even before any reply she made a major effort to walk it back and turn it into “Okay!” I think this was before text editing was available.

      3. I use “K” because I have a flip phone, and the typos that I have created have been so illegible that I try to minimize what I type. I CALL the person back if a longer response is warranted.

        2. I have decided to simply ignore absolutely all possible “tone” connotations in work chats after I worked for an older guy who loved ellipses

          So we’d have interactions like
          Me: Here’s the update on Project X
          Him: some detailed question about some part of it
          Him: good job….

          After a couple times, I asked if there was something I should be doing differently in those updates and he looked at me like I had three heads and explained “good job…” means – “It’s a great update, and I want you to know I appreciate your work, and I forgot to mention that before I jumped into my question”

    2. This is interesting. My entire office responds “K” to tons of emails (as basically an acknowledgement of whatever the sender sent) without thinking anything of it. Good to know this isn’t the case elsewhere!

  5. I have seen a lot of stressed out posts about college on the board and wanted to share a resource. The Paying for College group on Facebook is really helpful and is a good place to share all of the anxiety and knowledge and stress and hope around the college stuff. My kids aren’t there yet but I’ve learned so much from just following that group for a bit.

  6. I usually make $80k/year before taxes. Single and no kids. I’m 35. My retirement has, maybe $50k. I rent, I used to own a car but it died and I bought a new one this year. I still owe $45k on grad student loans (all federal- they’ve been frozen due to the pandemic), and $20k on the car. I have about $15k in savings. My car and student loan interest rates are about 6%.

    I just found out I will get a ~$80k bonus/commission, one time, at the end of this year. I’ll also get a raise to $87k for 2024. I do expect this will come true, I don’t expect it to happen again or at least not for many years.

    I’m seriously considering paying off my student loans. I know the taxes will take a big chunk of this bonus and need to talk to an accountant but thoughts on this? I’d love to have the loans gone.

    1. Do you already have a Roth IRA? How many loans do you have individually, and how much is the interest rate on each? I might split the baby and do something like:
      – pay off the car
      – pay off all student loans with an interest rate higher than 3%, then put what you had been paying monthly in student loans towards the remaining loans

      Set aside $6500 for a Roth IRA this year and $6500 for next year (and a third year too if you can). With anything that remains, invest in before-tax investment accounts at Vanguard.

      1. The Roth advice is good, but the rest seems like the poster did not even read the OP.

        1. All good! I appreciated the thoughts – I need to check if I have a Roth. My student loans are about to unfreeze, so I am not sure about the 6% … ugh.

      2. After taxes it’s very unlikely there will be enough money to do all this. Back of the napkin, allocate about 40% to taxes.

      1. She included it – 6%. In theory you could possibly beat that in the market, but in practice there is something to be said about the absolute joy and freedom of knowing you are free of loans!

        1. Oh, for sure! I missed that, but I was thinking if they were wildly different, it might change which one you wanted to focus on.

    3. You can run a tax estimation on the IRS website, so you don’t technically need an accountant. But, an accountant can also do this for you (mine does). Sorry if I’m being too elementary here, but remember that bonuses are not taxed more heavily than any other kind of income. They generally withhold at a different rate than your typical paycheck but the end of the day tax true up that comes when you file your taxes will tax the bonus just like any other kind of income (looking at what’s owed vs what’s already been withheld). This is also true for commissions.

      That said, I would make sure your emergency fund is funded sufficiently, pay off any other high interest rate debt (credit cards?). And, then yep – with the limited information you’ve provided, I’m team Pay Off Student Loans.

      Congrats to you! Double congrats for not wanting to run out and blow through it, too! But this internet stranger gives you permission to splurge on something, whether it be a spa day or small get away or something, too!

      1. Depending on your tax situation, you might end up with a surprise tax bill since you’re basically doubling your income. I agree with the posters that suggest maxing out your 401k right away. Then hold the money in a high yield savings account, file your taxes and with the remainder of the cash, you could max out two years of Roth IRA (this year and next) and then make a dent in the car. If you can pay it off, shift that payment over to your student loans.

        Congrats on earning the bonus and using this awesome windfall to significantly change your financial situation.

    5. What industry do you work in? Will you potentially be eligible for PSLF? Are you currently enrolled in the REPAYE plan? Idk, I’m prioritizing laying off other debt first vs. student loans bc I do think some type of forgiveness will arise even if it fairly modest (like $10k.) Maybe if you do decide to put a chunk towards your student loans don’t pay it off on its entirety?

      Do you have any goals Re: purchasing a home if you currently rent? That down payment amount in cash could make you more competitive in a bidding war situation.

    6. I would def pay off the loans, especially bc they’re currently frozen and we don’t know how long that will last.

      1. Yes, we do. They’re starting again next month. If you have federal student loans, you’ve probably received about 100 emails about it from your loan servicer.

    7. I would use it to max out your 401k for the year, then use the rest toward your student loans. I submitted my final payment on my student loans today, and it felt so liberating! Congratulations!

      1. This. Max out whatever retirement account you have to decrease your taxes and then I’d pay off the car loan and then see what happens with student loans but have enough in a high yield saving account to put a major dent in it.

        1. THIS. push comes to shove you can put student loans in forbearance or get on one of the many income based repayment plans. you can’t take out loans for retirement. if you don’t already have a 401k open one and deposit the max ($22500 for 3023?) in there before you put one red cent towards loans. then make sure you have a solid emergency fund and THEN throw some money st loans. i’d prioritize car over student loans.

          1. And put your 401K/IRA monies in the market, for the long term.

            I recommend Vanguard total stock market index funds (VTSAX) or the VTI ETF.

            What a great year!

    8. It depends how much you are saving for both retirement and accessibly savings each month and based in your other expenses what the raise will mean for your budget. But without that info and just in general I would pay off a chunk of the car debt, add a bit to pay down loan principal, and then beef up your savings considerably.

    9. Absolutely pay off your car, and use the rest to pay off/down your student loans. You likely can get a deduction for interest on your student loans, there is none for your car loan, so that should go first. Congrats on your bonus and raise!

      1. +1 Great point about the student loan interest deduction!

        Personally I would start by making sure I had a full 12 month emergency fund – as a single woman I think it pays to have a bigger cushion. I would also take advantage of the opportunity to put some extra in retirement savings this year. Then pay off the car, and prioritize paying off federal student loans last.

      2. She’s going to make too much money to qualify for the student loan interest deduction.

    10. Congrats!!! Agree with others that I would max out your retirement accounts for the year and then use the remainder to pay off as much of the loans as you can. It should be a huge chunk of them! At your age retirement gains over the next 30 years should outpace 6%.

    11. How amazing!

      I would go in this order for longer-term impact:
      1. Max out your retirement contributions for the year (both 2023 and 2024 if possible depending on the timing).
      2. Pay off (or down) the car loan.
      3. If still any bonus left, pay down the student loans and throw car payments on this to pay them off quicker.

  7. I know we have some Sezane fans here. How is the sizing? I’m a very reliable 4 in Boden, J.Crew, Banana Republic, etc.

    3. I think it is fairly true to size. I always read their sizing recommendations though – sometimes it will say if you are between two size, you should size down (or vice versa), and I generally follow those recommendations.

  8. If you bring your own lunch, can you share ideas or recipes with me? Gearing up for my high schooler and I’m out of healthy ideas.

    2. My go-to box lunch pre-COVID was a chicken salad sandwich, sliced carrots or bell peppers with hummus for dipping, two clementines, and a “sweet treat” (usually two cookies or a few mini candy bars).

    3. If they’d eat it, I find chickpea salad sandwiches very satisfying. I stuff mine in pitas with veg I like. This is pretty customizable. You’ll find many iterations on the Internets.
      I also like curried chicken salad.
      I also often eat a bagged salad with pulled rotisserie chicken. You could break up the salad into portions for several people or several days.

    4. If they like soup, my cold weather go to is a big batch of soup, packed in a thermos (you can add croutons/sandwich/whatever).

      I’m also a big fan of cut up veggies/pita and hummus. Bonus points for a splash of tahini, olive oil and whole chickpeas to the hummus before hand.

  9. Any suggestions for a food gift for family member expecting a new baby in the Chicago area? Is GrubHub still a thing or do people use UberEats more? Or would InstaCart be better? Family is primarily vegetarian, so not sure if that affects the decision.

    1. If you’re not 100% set on giving a food gift card, I would consider giving a Target or Amazon gift card. I definitely preferred those gifts vs. food gifts. Just a thought!

    2. I think Doordash is probably the biggest food delivery service in the Chicago area. I would not do InstaCart since that’s mainly for groceries and many grocery stores have their own free shopping services.

      But I also think Target or Amazon is the best bet, since that offers more flexibility and they can use it for either practical items or fun stuff (or some of each).

    3. I think those are all fine options – will also throw in a Door dash as a potential. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them.

    4. Or Foxtrot! It’s a local delivery service slash bougie market with some cute gift packages and gourmet foods.

      1. Yes to Foxtrot if they’re in the city. DoorDash or Grubhub will also work!

  11. Is anyone familiar with Ally buckets? When transferring money to another account, can you transfer money out of a specific bucket or set up a way to draw a certain percentage from each of the buckets?

  12. Packing lunch was definitely my own responsibility in high school; so maybe ask your kid to put some stuff on the grocery list and go from there. My high school go-to was peanut butter + Nutella (way tastier than jam) sandwich; or cheese-and-crackers. At that age, I definitely prioritized “don’t have to think too hard in the morning” over complex/super tasty

    1. In my house, we had to do all that prep (clothes we would wear, bag packed, lunch made) the night before. I remember thinking my Mom was weird for doing that, and now I understand.

    2. Agree – I can’t imagine packing lunch for a high school age kid. My second grader packs her own lunch with some help.

      1. Completely unnecessary comment. Maybe the one making lunches would prefer not to have other people in the kitchen?

    3. She was asking for recipe ideas. She never said the kid would have no role in preparing the food.

Comments are closed.