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Updated: Apr 4, 2019 65 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Patti Macramé-Trimmed Tote

Coffee Break

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OK — ignore the python shorts, our April Fool's commentary is done for this year — but I wanted to show the “outfit view” of this bag because the proportions of it seem so great. I like that the bag is kind of HUGE (and even bigger at the bottom!), yet somehow seems sleek and cool. I'm guessing the model is super slender because the handle drop is only 15 cm (5″), which for me would not be quite so roomy a fit over my shoulder, but hey. The tote is $2150 at Net a Porter. Patti macramé-trimmed textured-leather tote Looking for something similar but sliiiightly less than $2150? This best-selling tote is $78-$188. 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 9.30.24

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

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Comments

  1. Falstaff

    What would you say the difference is between a dowdy/frumpy floral print and beautiful/sophisticated floral print? Would your analysis change if the wearer of said print is fat?

    • lydia

      no, it’s all about the print (modern or not) and the cut of the garment, not the size of the wearer. Annie wears some great prints on Shrill (including a really cute red ditsy floral dress). I prefer a non-white background for floral prints, especially small florals — a saturated color looks great.

    • Monday

      Great question! I love florals. I think the ones that don’t work are the ones that look cheap, somehow sloppily drawn like the pattern on paper plates or something. Not enough dimension in the colors or lines. Vintage-looking floral prints are beautiful, though, and lots of trendy companies use them. As for size, I don’t think the size of the wearer matters, but the fit of the garment does. If you’re wearing a rather loud or large floral print, I think the garment needs to fit especially well or else it looks like you’re playing dress-up in grandma’s closet.

    • Good luck

      I’m fat (size 18) and am just now coming around to prints after many years of disdaining them or being VERY choosey.
      One thing I’ve heard recently, perhaps it was Lindy West? was – if you’re an overweight woman, the world will always have something to say about how you’re dressed and how you look. So do what you want.

      • Anonymous

        High five internet friend! I would even go one step further, if you a woman (period) then the world is always going to have something to say about your choices. So all ladies should do what they want, eff ’em.

    • Anon

      I think small florals generally look better but I have a dress with large florals that I love so I guess it depends on the item. I agree that a non-white background is less dowdy.

    • Anonymous

      I believe the old line of thinking is that petite women should wear small prints and larger women can carry off large prints. I’m plus size and do either. I avoid most florals though. I know they’re hugely popular right now. But they always feel more Easter appropriate than office for some reason. On the rare times I do a floral at the office, it’s usually something with a dark background (charcoal, dark green, black, etc.) and with flowers that have a clear pattern to them (vs. more free flow placement of large and small flowers) if that makes any sense.

    • JS

      The difference is in the cut and fabric. A cotton, slim cut, stiff floral blouse reads dowdy to me. The same print in a silk utility blouse could be lovely.

    • Anonymous

      I’m really confused with florals rn. I feel like the styles I wore in middle school are in again. The little tiny flowery prints in primary colors with ruffles and/or puffy sleeves. I’m not sure if only teens can wear them but I see them styled on adults. I would feel soooo frumpy wearing something like that at my age (35).

    • Calibrachoa

      For me the difference is “can i picture this pattern as a pair of curtains?” because some florals just scream vintage interior decorating, and that seems to me to bring a frumpy vibe

  2. JTM

    I’m interested in getting a new handbag but I’m realizing that I’m really out of touch with what’s in right now. I browsed Gucci’s website (a brand I loved just a few years ago) and I hated everything. Any suggestions on other brands I should look at? I’m typically a shoulder bag/hobo/tote type.

    Also I saw a bag that caught my eye on Italic – the site claims they work with the same factories that manufacture for designer brands. Has anyone purchased from them before?

    • JS

      Fun! Check out Polene, Mansur Gavriel, some Chloe, Celine, and Cuyana’s new bags

      • Anon

        +1 Cuyana bags are beautifully made for the price (and they’re made in the same factories by the same craftspeople as those Chloe etc bags used to be made in before they moved production to China – that is the point of the brand)

    • Pretty Primadonna

      I have the Italic giant tote bag and it is well-made. I support a purchase from here. Also, Cuyana bags are beautiful.

  3. Anon

    I got the Revlon styler brush thing in the mail today and I’m so excited to use it! Does anyone love theirs and have any tips? I have EXTREMELY thick, dense wavy hair, so I am thinking I will have to dry it most of the way with a regular dryer and then use the Revlon brush to smooth and straighten. I really hope this thing works! I never blow my hair straight usually because it takes too long and hurts my arm.

    • Anonymous

      I have thick hair curly which i flat iron but the Revlon styler gives me a ton more volume. You need your hair to be fairly wet or at least pretty damp for this to work. Part your hair and work in small sections, you might even get away with the lower heat setting. Finish with the cool setting. I do find that i have more flyaways with the Revlon but they calm down as my hair gets a bit more oily. I do think this is easier than a blowdryer + brush combo. Also, be prepared for the boar bristle things to fall out a bit. There are tons of YT videos too.

    • Anonymous

      I have extremely thick hair as well and just bought this based on all the recs from this site. I normally wash my hair at night and then sleep with it wet. When I wake up it’s still a bit damp and I use this to finish drying it. It would take way too long to use it when my hair was completely wet. If I was going to style my hair right after washing, I’d blow dry until it was only slightly damp, then use this to finish. I love it so much!

    • kk

      I dont have thick hair but its pretty curly- the drybar brush crush straightens it really well, and it’s a lot less damaging than the flat iron.

    • AM

      I’ve found it easiest to blow dry my hair about 80% dry and then finish with the Revlon brush. I still have to flat iron a coupe of pieces near my hairline because of my curly hair and postpartum hair loss. Good luck- I love mine, it gives me so much volume and helps my blowout last longer!

    • Anonymous

      Can you please report back in a few days what you think of it? I’m tempted to get it after all the positive comments here. I let my hair air-dry but would love to look more polished.

  4. Vicky Austin

    Hive, I need help. I think about managing up, but possibly about other issues. Here’s the deal:

    I’m the only accountant in a small rural hospital and report directly to our CFO. Due to lots of general unrest in our business office over the last few years (a former CFO turned out to be highly corrupt and possibly dangerous and things just trickled down from there, lots of employees from that time period have turned out to be toxic one way or another and are now gone), she has become used to running the place a) by herself, b) in catchup mode all the time. The department now feels like it’s settled. I’m here for the long haul and so are the other employees. Trouble is that my boss is now stuck in her inefficient ways. (Her boss has also noticed this and addressed it, but he is not very approachable to me so I’m hesitant to go that route.) She doesn’t want to delegate to me, even though she’s way under-utilizing my time to help her get things done (there were issues in my training caused by turnover in the middle of it – it’s a long story but she basically trained me up to a survival point and then had to stop, and despite expressing that she wants to start up again, has never stuck to that). Even though her other direct reports have been thoroughly trained enough, she still indulges them in holding their hands through every question they have. She tried a brief experiment with me in which she scheduled us two hours every day to work together on whatever came up, with no interruptions (which I thought was a great idea). It lasted a week and we definitely had interruptions. Basically I just want her to manage her time better and let me take on some of the tasks that stress her out. How can I “manage up” to do this? How do I politely redirect coworkers who might not realize that their habits of popping into her office every two minutes are starting destructive patterns for all of us? (I do try not to pop into her office when she’s working with others.)

    • Vicky Austin

      Forgot to add, assume I cannot look for another job. I’d be grateful for all other suggestions.

      • Anon

        If you’re in a small, rural hospital, my assumption is that looking for another job is not an option.

        What kind of training do you need? I seem to recall that you’re relatively young. Are there professional seminars (online or in person) that you could take? These can be related to accounting, hospital management, the legal areas, or anything else that your work touches on. These seminars can be outstanding for learning how to do actual work in the field, in a way that you don’t learn in university.

        • Vicky Austin

          I think there are, and I should get on that. It’s a little hard to attend conferences and such (see: rural), but I definitely need to see what else is available to me. Thank you.

          • Anonymous

            Not sure how applicable it is but the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) offers a ton of free webinars (they’re all sponsored). http://www.hfma.org They count for continuing ed credit so there is some oversight that the sponsor doesn’t get too commercial. You also may find your state chapter useful for education. Some regions also are more active than others. If it’s training on coding or the like, AHIMA might have some offerings.

            I agree though in terms of the day to day. I’d try to reserve on on one meetings. Identify what training you need and where else you can get it.

            It’s great you guys sound like the team itself is strong though. That’s saying a lot after all you guys have been through!

    • mascot

      Two hours a day seems way too long. Can you schedule a weekly check-in meeting at a convenient time where you talk about what projects are ongoing and you can take discreet tasks from her and run with them? Can you identify what exactly you need training on and run down some resources to get it done (continuing ed, seminars, online training, etc)? Do you need to shadow or meet with other departments? Reporting structure aside, is there someone else who can provide some of whatever training you need.

      • Vicky Austin

        Well, factoring in the interruptions, it usually ended up being about 45 minutes of actually working together. But I like the weekly meeting suggestion – other managers in our hospital do this with their direct reports. Unfortunately there isn’t anybody else who has this training at our facility, but I can definitely look into online/external resources. Thank you.

        • Anonymous

          Apologies if you know this, but check out HFMA as an industry group for training.

        • Anonymous

          Oh, also, speaking as someone who sells stuff to hospital finance people, I bet you could get a vendor to sponsor your flight etc to some training.

          • Anonymous

            Depending on your role (and probably your employers size) many of the companies that sell software will do things like fly happy clients out to conferences.

            I would also throw out that depending on your role, you might be able to go work for a vendor that sells into hospitals.

            I know you said you’re an accountant but the day to day function of that job title is very different across the many hospitals I’ve worked with.

    • givemyregards

      Do you have a regular meeting scheduled with her? For my direct reports whose work actually overlaps with mine a lot (I’m also in hospital admin), I have a weekly/bi-weekly one-on-ones with them and having that meeting in place has made it easier to delegate tasks because we’re still checking in regularly about them. Are you able to identify specific tasks you think would make the most sense to take off your plate? I think if you pitch something specific and frame it as wanting to take it on so you can learn how to do it/advance your knowledge rather than taking it off her plate because she’s overwhelmed, that would be pretty reasonable. Doesn’t mean she’ll necessarily take you up on it, but would at least set the stage for future discussions.

      Also, how chummy are you with her other direct reports? Could you ask them if there’s anything you could help them with? Might reduce how frequently they’re going to her, which might free her up to train you to take more off her plate.

      • Vicky Austin

        I don’t have a regular meeting – none of us do. I think that would be good though, so I will bring that up.

        I have been able to identify specific tasks, but I think using the angle of me learning how to do it vs. her being overwhelmed is a good one. Maybe when I say, “let me do that, you’re overwhelmed,” she’s thinking, “You can’t do that, you’re just going to make more work for me in the long run,” and pushing back for that reason.

        We’re all very chummy, actually, but I can’t help the other direct reports with their functions very much as they’re very different from mine, including sometimes using different software that I haven’t been trained in. They’re both fairly well-trained, but one is also newly trained and therefore insecure, and the other is one of those people who needs to update you every time she calls somebody even if all she did was leave the same message with them for the third time. However, your comment helped me see that when we do work together, boss is often the one who is asking us “did you guys do that? No? Sally, can you get those invoices for Vicky please?” and I definitely can pick up that slack and ask Sally for the invoices myself.

    • Walnut

      Are there discrete tasks you’re trying to take on? Are there previous examples of those tasks? If so, stop spending time on training and start doing the work. Also in accounting and my strategy is to ask to “take the first cut” on a project.

      Usually there was a box of paper files, they’d direct me to the digital files and I’d vanish for a couple of days. I’d use previous examples, general accounting skills and then schedule a meeting to review my work.

      • Vicky Austin

        Hm. I was about to say “no this is different” and then realized it really sort of wasn’t. What she’s struggling under the weight of right now is providing all the evidence to our auditors (we got picked for some random Medicare audits too – joy). I found that very daunting, wanted to help but did not know how other than having her hand-hold me through it. I think if I get a sense of where she is on the project and then ask for last year’s files/submissions, I can do that. Thank you, that’s really helpful.

        • Anon

          Make a list of what all she does… Start learning how to do those starting from the easier ones in that list. Online learning, seminars, the associations, youtube , google, books … wherever you find help. And then, you offer help where you see fit.

          Also map out the entire process in your department how the work flows.. See if you find gaps or bottle necks and try to eliminate them .. Then identify all repeated manual processes and see if you can automate them or simplify them …

        • Law Mama

          Sounds like you two could benefit from a “retreat” or just some time out of the office to identify routine tasks and then break them down into pieces – then you just start taking chunks on and ask for feedback.

  5. Anonymous

    Just started using a daily retinol moisturizer on my (40-year-old) face. I’m acne prone on my jawline and neck. Should I be using the same lotion on my neck?

    • Anonymous

      I would guess not, but let’s not guess. Talk to your derm, particularly if the retinol was recommended or prescribed by them.

      As a probably not terribly useful point of reference, I have been using a derm rx’ed retinol for years. At my derm’s his directions, I do not use it on my neck. That doesn’t mean the same necessarily goes for you, but rather, different areas of skin on different people have different needs, so get a professional opinion as to what is best for you as an indivicual.

    • Anonymous

      I thought mine told me I could use it on my neck and décolletage once a week or something like that, but I never remember to do it. My goal this summer is to remember to put sunscreen in those places!

    • Anonymous

      Try once a week and then step up from there if it doesn’t get irritated.

  6. Cat

    Going Out Blazer PSA — currently marked 21% off and an extra 15-25% off depending on whether you use JCrew card.

  7. anon for this

    Tomorrow I will be resigning from my current company, after many years. There is no bad blood, I have loved working there and am just looking for more opportunities that aren’t available to me. I have only ever worked there so I’ve never had to resign before! I have a meeting with manager tomorrow so advice please on:
    1) the in person conversation
    2) the follow up email/letter
    3) negotiating a notice period (contract is 3 months – would hope for less)

    • Anonymous

      Have your letter prepared and present it at the in-person meeting. Follow up via email with an electronic copy/thank you for the meeting.

      Your letter should request a shorter notice period and make a suggest re appropriate length of time you propose.

    • Anonymous

      I have only done this once and I tend to keep it brief — “just wanted to let you know that I’ve had a great experience here for x years, but I’m resigning with my last day being x. I’ll be headed to y next.” I know in some industries people don’t tell where they’re going so you can leave that part out if you want to. And I don’t see why you’d negotiate a notice period — tell them what you want and IDK but in my industry you keep it short 2-3 weeks; because after that time they transition all the work over to others (actually they do it in 2-3 days) and then you’ve cleaned out your office and are awkwardly just sitting around. As for email/letter — ask if they need one/what they’d like from you to get the out processing rolling. It’s industry specific and in lots of places they don’t need anything — they email HR and get it going.

    • Anonymous

      Make your letter just a very brief statement for HR, ideally with your official end date in writing. I would be sure to tell your manager what you said above about having loved working there (you appreciate that you’ve had the opportunity to x, y, z) but want to grow in a new direction. It’s not strictly necessary, but I think goes a long way to maintaining good will.

  8. Wedding band suggestions?

    DH and I agree that it would be nice to get me a new wedding ring for our 20th anniversary. We married young and I never wear my engagement/wedding ring set because it isn’t my style and I’ve lost one of the stones in the wedding band. I though about getting my solitaire reset but it’s fairly small and not really worth the effort. So, any suggestions for lovely wedding bands? I’m thinking that $10k is my target budget. I don’t think I want a big solitaire, maybe channel set diamonds? Or something else I’m not even thinking of? I never buy jewelry.

    • Anonymous

      I’ve been perusing Brilliant Earth options for a wedding ring refresh. You might want to look for vintage or estate if you actually want diamonds, or else maybe one of the other ladies here can talk about moisanate? (Is that an online option?)

    • Anon

      Go to a few different stores and try things on! You may like something more than you thought you would.

      • Wedding band suggestions?

        I guess I don’t even know which stores to try. The jewelry mart in downtown LA seems a little overwhelming, though maybe my best option. Mall stores seem to be either twee or Fancy and I’m not sure I’m either. I am not qualified for this choice ;0

        • Senior Attorney

          Ask your friends who are jewelry lovers if they can recommend a local jeweler. I had my wedding rings custom made by a local jeweler and I adore them.

        • Celia

          Try an independent jeweler. They often have estate as well as new styles. I have a favourite jeweler in Pasadena I highly recommend, Valia’s across from Vroman’s Bookstore.

    • Anon

      I would recommend looking at an estate jeweler for vintage or antique rings that are really unique and beautiful. My engagement ring and band are both from different estate jewelers (they do not match and I actually wear them on different hands) but I adore them and that they are different from anything else I’ve seen. I get compliments on them all the time.

    • Ellen

      I just wish I could find a guy to give me any ring at all; at this point anyone willing to marry me with money has a great shot, b/c I want a child b/f my egg’s go stale. FOOEY!

    • The original Scarlett

      I love Bario Neal’s rings – they’ve got a classic but modern vibe. I’m also partial to vintage rings – check out Lang Antiques in SF if that’s your thing

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