Splurge Monday’s TPS Report: Wool-blend pencil dress
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
For reasons unbeknownst to us, we are suddenly seeing a lot of dresses with sleeves for sale. After an entire winter of everyone (including us) saying, why are there no dresses with sleeves, the fashion powers that be think we want to wear long-sleeved dresses for spring. Ah well. Today's TPS is this lovely DKNY dress, which we've actually seen in person as well — the fabric is a great suiting material, and the cut is simple and work-appropriate. It's $325 at Net-a-Porter, still available in sizes 0, 4, 6, 12, 14. Wool-blend pencil dress
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Sales of note for 3/15/25:
- Nordstrom – Spring sale, up to 50% off
- Ann Taylor – 40% off everything + free shipping
- Banana Republic Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles + extra 50% off sale
- J.Crew – Extra 30% off women's styles + spring break styles on sale
- J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off 3 styles + 50% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Friends and family sale, 20% off with code; use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off 1 item + 30% off everything else (includes markdowns, already 25% off)
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
- I'm fairly senior in BigLaw – where should I be shopping?
- how best to ask my husband to help me buy a new car?
- should we move away from DC?
- quick weeknight recipes that don’t require meal prep
- how to become a morning person
- whether to attend a distant destination wedding
- sending a care package to a friend who was laid off
You’re right – long sleeve dresses at the end of March?? I’m not a sweater dress person (they tend to cling to the wrong places), so this isn’t for me… But I would have a hard time spending that much on an outfit that is most likely to sit in my closet for four months before getting any use
I don’t think this is a sweater dress — it seems made of “suiting” material. Just FYI.
Ah I saw the ‘wool-blend’ mention… I’m not sure that a suit-material dress would be any better though – I have a hunch that I would look matronly in it -but its probably best tried on ;-)
I agree about the “best to try on” but I have to say I have a suit material dress from j crew that is very similar (wool, i think) & it is one of my favorite things to wear. The wool + lining = very flattering fit. It is definitely not matronly. Though I do feel a bit like Joan from Mad Men in it sometimes, which is something else to be careful about :)
I don’t think I would mind feeling a little ‘Joan’ ;-) I love her confidence!
LOVE this. Now I just have to figure out if it’s time for a splurge…
It looks shapeless to me. Maybe a skinny belt would help?
Or a bigger belt, even. I agree some belt is likely needed for this to look polished. I think it might look good under a cropped or even a boyfriend blazer. I like the dress and will have to watch until it goes on sale a bit.
I really like this. The neckline still seems a little low for the truly petite, but this is a piece that could work with some alterations. I don’t have it in the budget to buy this now, but I’d definitely jump at this if I could! Thanks “Kat!”
I actually wear dresses with sleeves year round, thank you arctic air conditioning, so I’d be fine with this.
I am a huge fan of professional dresses, and I think that this one is lovely (elegant scoop neck, appropriate length and fabric)! I do not mind sleaves for spring (or summer for that matter) in light of our frigid office temperature.
I love it too. Very hard to find long sleeve dresses.
I don’t think this is a sweater dress, @ Shayna.
Looks gorgeous, but too expensive for my budget!
Even if its a stiffer material, with so little going on, I think it would make me look matronly… honestly, I love the color, but I think it’s a difficult dress to pull off if your body is less than perfect – but I would definitely try it on before buying in any case ;-)
Thread hijack:
I just drycleaned a Brooks Brothers suit for the first time, and when I got it back, I noticed that all 3 buttons had cracked/almost broken off!
Has anyone ever had this happen with drycleaning and buttons before? I definitely have to replace all 3 buttons now. Grr…
You need a new drycleaner. My drycleaner is also my tailor – she is a dream. Bonus: she checks the buttons and tightens them up without me even asking (and doesn’t charge me for it)!
I would take it back to the drycleaner and insist that they replace the buttons. And then I would find a new drycleaner.
Definitely find a new drycleaner. It’s the cleaner, not the clothes, for sure!
This happened to me once with a button front shirt that had unique buttons…I was very annoyed, but the dry cleaners did fix it for me.
Wow. This happens to me all the time and it honestly never occurred to me that it was the fault of the drycleaner, not the garment manufacturer! Guess I’m looking for a new drycleaner too.
Also, if you ever get bespoke shirts made, you’ll notice this, but thicker buttons (if plastic or mother of pearl or whatnot) crack less often. So if you are re-doing the buttons, get ones that are slightly thicker.
And yes, this is your dry cleaner. Some drycleaners are notoriously bad about buttons, and sadly, you have to find out the hard way. Ask any man who gets his shirts done…it’s a fact of drycleaning life.
Also, take the suit back to Brooks Brothers. They are great about returning/fixing items. I’ve taken back a couple shirts that ripped, and they replaced them, no questions asked.
Love this! Wish I could afford it.
I love this dress. A nice basic dress that will last you for years regardless of the current “fashion.”
I like the idea, but the cut looks off here. It doesn’t even seem to fit the model right – I’m looking at the abdomen region in particular. I wonder if suiting material, which isn’t usually very stretchy, is perhaps not the right choice for a long sleeved dress, which needs to be able to stretch a bit when we move our arms. Maybe the designer had to compensate for this extra mobility issue–which I don’t think would be problem when designing a shift or sleeveless dress–by adding more fabric in the torso or something.
I actually tried this dress on in the store, and there was a lot of fabric left over in the back area. On the other hand, I am small, and I don’t think that DKNY makes a true zero. It was a really lovely dress though!
This is out of my price range, but I wish it was longer so I could wait for it to go on sale (based on the listed length it would hit me 5 inches above my knee, before shoes). But thank you for the sleeved recommendation C!
OMG beautiful. Not for the pear-shaped though, I’m afraid.
I like the idea of this, but the fit on the model is concerning. Also, I prefer a darker charcoal grey for suits and suit-like pieces. Light greys, like this one, wash me out and I find that they tend to look cheap. I love the idea of this dress, but my overall feelings about it are ho-hum…..
This is *not* for my shape, no question. But for those who love long-sleeved dresses, there is a ton of structure in this dress which means that you could very easily have it tailored to fit beautifully. I do share cj’s concerns about the fit regarding movement in the arms and across the back, so I would work at my own desk at home prior to having it tailored specifically for that. But I do think Kat did a great job of finding a dress with sleeves!!
KLo: I think you’re right, this is a dress that might benefit from some tailoring to fit you right, and not bind when you move. I thought it looked better in the photo with a wide black belt, which got the extra fabric under control. Love the sleeve length, a beautiful watch on one arm, two or three not-too-huge bracelets on the other, nice. Still not sure about the neckline, though.
This dress doesn’t come in my size, but I’m wondering about the sleeves in case something similar does exist in my size. Do you think it is possible to have a tailor change the sleeves to a short sleeve length? 3/4 sleeves don’t look right on me, but I think this would be really cute with short sleeves.
I’m sure a tailor could take in the sleeves – in fact, I purchased this dress at the end of January, and my concern was the sleeve length and taper. I’m planning on getting it altered. As for the rest, it fits very well and is a perfect length. Usually I am concerned about scoop necks being too low in front, but this one is ok. Once I get the sleeves sorted out, I can see myself wearing this very, very often…
I love love love work-appropriate dresses. This one included.
Pretty dress! Nothing funny about this cut – I think it would fit just fine, provided the torso length conformed to yours. It looks wonky because the model has one hip forward, one shoulder back, and has curved her torso to the right. I stand like that all day, NOT!
Also – I think it would stretch just fine – 3% spandex. Agree that long sleeves aren’t an issue in A/C, but doubt I’d wear it in the summer as I couldn’t do a wool/mohair/spandex combo for 10 seconds here in the Texas heat.
Does anyone have an opinion on whether it looks overly stuffy / monochromatic to wear a suit dress with a matching jacket?
It depends on the jacket. With the dress being pretty conservative, I would go with a more shaped jacket, one with modern detailing (like a band collar or one that is
“envelope” style without a closure). Or, if your workplace is not terribly conservative, you could pick a jacket in a complimentary color – like a mustard yellow or dark purple, with this dress – and that could work. Personally, I wear my dress that looks like this with a black modern-shape blazer all the time and I don’t think it looks stuffy at all. :)
Why not wear a scarf or larger necklace to break it up?
I think that’s fine… If the neckline works, it might be a good opportunity to add a longer necklace — The only thing about a sui dress and jacket is if you’re on the petite side (like me) a longer jacket can weigh down your whole body which can make you look heavier and somewhat dowdy.
Just an FYI — There was some talk about ordering multiple swimsuits to try on at home on the weekend thread, so I thought I’d mention that JCrew is having free shipping on all swimwear right now.
I am a big fan of their bra-size bikini tops. Very flattering, in my opinion, with great support & structure.
Yikes … I would never order something online that bunched that badly on the model.
I have a dress from Lands’ End, of all places, that is similar to this – “Commuter” wool, long-sleeve, same look through the torso. It is incredible versatile and looks great under a jacket or cardigan. I wear mine all the time in the winter, and I would buy another couple of them if Lands’ End would bring them back. That being said – this does not say “spring dress” to me, at all.
@A: do you like the LE “Commuter” fabric? I know that LE still has some Commuter pieces on sale…
Yes, I do. I have some pieces I bought 3-4 years ago and they seem to be holding up fine – the dress is one of them. FYI, I just bought a Lands’ End “cool wool” jacket and I am not impressed with the quality, at all. It looked fine on the hanger but wrinkled like linen the first time I wore it. I am actually trying to return it, I am so unhappy. But the “commuter” stuff I have is great.
OMG – I HEART this dress!!! Is there a version of this that’s under $100????
Just bought it, love love love. Thanks Kat!
Love the dress but worried about length. I’m 5″4 and it would hit me above my knee (which means even higher if you’re sitting down). For work, I prefer dresses that hit at or just below the knee when I’m standing.