Sponsored: Ann Taylor’s Suiting Event Kicks Off Today!

37 Comments

1. Am I the only one who realllllly doesn’t like that “iced latte” color? It looks jaundiced.

   1. I’m with you bacon pancakes, perhaps there is a reason why these suits are on sale. I ordered and returned the navy blazer above and it is cut much shorter than their Fall-Winter jackets. It was not flattering at all on my 5’9 frame.

      1. I also thought the same. Also, the sale suits all seem to be cotton sateen or linen blends–so too wrinkle-inducing and many of the jackets have 3/4 sleeves. Nothing I would wear for an interview or formal meeting (as I had hoped to find). Good for the more casual end of suiting I suppose. But that’s really limiting for me on use then.

         1. I tried the cotton sateen jacket for times when I didn’t need a formal jacket but still wanted to look more put together than if I was wearing a cardigan. It was nice except shoulders were so big I felt like the 80’s or s. Maybe I should try again in petite instead.

            Also am I the only one who can’t wear cotton sateen pants? They look so nice in photos but they just don’t flatter my lower body. Maybe because they are kind of stiff, they just seem to bunch in front in an unattractive way.

   2. It looks jaundiced on that model’s skin tone. It would look FABULOUS on me.

      1. True, green is a completely different ball game!

   3. I would definitely have to see the color in person. It looks horrible on my screen.

   4. I just bought these pants (full price dammit!) and I think the color is lovely. They are currently at the cleaners, but I recall the color being quite a bit lighter than what I see on my screen.

      1. AT has a GENEROUS price adjustment policy. Assuming you still have the receipt, you can take it in for a correction.

         1. I just ordered the linen suit in the iced latte. I tried it on in the store and loved it but couldn’t justify at full price.
            I’m a warm toned fair skinned blonde. The color was gorgeous on. I found the color much warmer than it looks on my screen, it looks washed out and almost greenish on the screen, but it wasn’t in person.
            I also like the cotton sateen, I have the jacket and pants in cobbled path and I just ordered the skirt to match. It’s a great stone gray (again, looks good with the fair skin/light hair). It’s nice enough I wear it to court (state level criminal court) all the time.

2. Sorry to unload this on The Hive but I don’t feel comfortable discussing it with any friends IRL. My dad just had a minor stroke and has been very lucky, from what I can tell, to have very few effects, which may improve with PT. My mother and I aren’t on speaking terms, so he’s kept me up-to-date on his condition. I feel overwhelmed and upset. I can’t visit easily, since he’s across the country, and he didn’t encourage me to come down when I asked him.

   1. I’m so sorry! Please reach out to your real life friends. If I were your friend in real life, I’d really want to be there to support you through this.

      1. I agree with Sidney, but we in the HIVE are your freind’s also! So therefore, Sincere HUGS to you– mabye this is the time for your Mom to start speakeing with you again. Life is way to short to bare grugges or whatever hapened in the past.

         I had a freind in college who had a falling out with her dad b/c her dad did NOT agree with the way Laura dressed or the boyfreind’s she showed her parent’s. Acording to her dad, he thought she was selling herself short by dating these looser’s, and that her clotheing made her look like a sluttey woman who would never amount to anything. Laura decided she had enough with that and stopped talkeing to him. But then her dad got sick, and he took back all of the bad thing’s he said (she did NOT turn into a slut and she eventualy wound up MARRYING a MEDICAL DOCTOR (MD) — so she turned out OK after all) — it also turned out that the Doctor helped out with his diagnoses, and the dad and her and the MD are now very happy. She wound up haveing a SON with the MD and the father is now a grandfather! YAY for them. So let’s hope that your dad get’s better soon and we can all say prayer’s for him and also that YOUR family gets as tight as my freind, Laura. DOUBEL YAY!!!!!

   2. regardless of your issues with your mom, you should reach out to her is she is the one taking care of your father. You never know when things might turn worse and they need you. . .

   3. That sounds really overwhelming, I am sorry too. Can you plan a visit? The fact that he didn’t encourage you to visit may not mean anything and maybe you don’t need to ask? You can make the decision to go and once you’re there, he’ll be so happy to see you? In the meantime, call often, flowers, cards, Skype, FaceTime etc? I think the most important thing for you (and him) is to be in communication, even if it is brief and you have nothing new to discuss.

      1. I would also try to plan a visit or scheduled calls if I were you. My parents are the type to not want to “bother” me ever, so you need to take that into consideration for your parents response – if it would make you feel better to be there, then go.
         Also, even if you and your mom don’t get along well you should still support her and hear her side. It is possible that your father will need more help from her than he is willing to admit (at a minimum, probably driving him to PT, but possibly help with basic life needs like using the bathroom or showering) and that kind of round the clock care is really draining on the caretaker, if they are even physically capable of it. It is possible that your dad will need to go to a facility to do his rehab (often a nursing home), so be prepared for that mentally – often there is some kind of step down between a hospital where the patient needs round the clock medical care to a place where they need round the clock help with life tasks but not full time medical care.

         And I’m so sorry to hear this – its very difficult to face a parent’s mortality. Let yourself cry, and then be grateful for your father and tell him you love him.

   4. This exactly. I would be hurt if a good friend of mine tried to deal with something so major on her own when we’re all around to support her. Reach out to your friends and any family you feel comfortable discussing this with – that’s why you have a support network.

      I am so sorry.

   5. Just wanted to say that my dad had the same thing about 10 years ago, in his seventies, and he made a full recovery. So keep good thoughts.

   6. I am sorry to hear this. It is upsetting. I was in your shoes last year. My dad had a minor stroke and had some other health issues that came up. It was really hard, and we live in the same city. I’ve had a strained relationship with both of them in the past. I hope that your dad will make a full recovery. Don’t be too alarmed if it’s hard to talk to him on the phone (he sounds worse than he is), and it may be better to face time or skype for you and him. You can see him, and it may be easier for him to communicate.

      hang in there and take care of yourself.

   7. Don’t reach out to your mom if you’re not comfortable doing so – keep yourself safe (even if it’s “just” emotionally safe – that’s important). No need to give yourself more problems than you already have by trying to reach out to your mom if you don’t want to.

      1. I completely agree with Wildkitten. Do what you are comfortable with and definitely don’t feel bad if that means you don’t reach out to her. Your own emotional well-being is important here.

   8. I am sorry to hear that. But he just had a stroke, you should fly to meet him if possible and not wait to be invited or whatever. Why should he encourage you to visit? If you want to visit, then do so. If not, don’t. But to expect a man recovering from a stroke to encourage his daughter to visit sounds rather ” precious” to me.

3. I have that Iced Latte Cotton-Linen Blend suit (jacket and pant). I bought it at regular price since I needed one pronto for interviews. It gets creased really quickly but it the pants are unlined so they are truly breathable in warm weather. I paired it with a J.Crew hammered silk camisole in yellow that looks great with it.

   1. I love the iced latte color but don’t buy linen. Ever. Still think it’s pretty.

4. I am so angry at Ann Taylor. When I went back to work 7 years ago after taking time off with my kids, I bought almost all of my work wardrobe from them. They carried a wide variety of lined wool slacks, suiting, and both structured and soft jackets. Many styles were lightweight enough for summer wear, even in DC. And yes, you read right – wool, lined. Very nice quality. Now there is hardly a speck of wool to be found, the slacks are mostly unlined, and the fits hves been changed to things that bear no resemblance to their old fits or to my body. Every once in a while I try each of their fits and none are even close. If the clothing was higher quality with better materials I might buy some and have it altered, but with the viscose and poly and who know what else, it’s not worth it to me.

   So to answer the question, my favorite Ann Taylor styles are the Margot and Audrey wool slacks from 5-7 years ago!

   1. I sooo hear you. I started wearing AT in the early 90s and the materials, cuts, and clothes back then were simply lovely. I just bought these pants (see supra) because I really need to update my work wardrobe, but they are the first item I’ve purchased from AT since 2005 (ok, there was one other shirt, but it was a heavily discounted basic. Doesn’t count!) ;).

   2. +2. HATE that even the stuff they sell as “tropical wool” today is 51% polyester. AT, if you are listening, bring back quality materials and I’ll come back to you. Also, some silk instead of the nasty polyester you are selling in some otherwise awesome tops.

   3. I just posted about this below! Yes this is crazy. Suddenly all their fits changed and none of them fit me right anymore. They used to be my go to, but UGH nothing works!!

5. Shopping arbitrage!!!

   I bought white jeans (toothpick, too short) and a shirt from j crew. Had 50 off 150 coupon so got 50 off. Just went back to return those jeans and exchange them for others (matchstick, looked much better, nice substantial fabric for those of you who were looking for white jeans), and also got another shirt AND got the 50 off again! So I ended up getting 65 off 150 instead of just the 50. Woohoo!

   1. I love it when this happens. Occasionally I’ll buy something with student discount, return it without the receipt and get a credit note for the full value… Which I go on to use my student discount when spending.

6. Totally agree on the sad drop in quality in Ann Taylor suits. I would be very cautious in buying these online (make sure you can return them if they don’t look good in person). The fabrics recently have been very cheap and shiny looking. For a similar price point I think Banana looks much nicer.

   1. +1. When I was a poor student, I used to dream about going to work in a proper business environment and wearing AT like my older friends did. My first interview and work suits all came from there. For years AT was my go-to but now I can hardly stand to go there with all the poly blends, exposed zippers and the like.

7. I have had the worst luck with Ann Taylor suits and suiting pieces lately. I have ordered 8 different suits or jackets in the last 2 months and they all fit so tight across the shoulders I could barely lift my arms comfortably to type or drive. What gives? It’s not like my shoulders suddenly got more broad or “fat.” Anyone else have this issue?

   1. Have not experienced the shoulder issue but in a related topic, a moment of silence please as we remember the old Ann Taylor cardigans and twinsets. A couple of years ago the cardi arms started getting so skinny you couldn’t wear them – not just you couldn’t wear them over a button-down, I mean you literally couldn’t wear them – and I have some skinny arms! Then the wool got really thin. I emailed customer service after one I bought got a big hole in the shoulder seam the 2nd time I washed it in delicate. I expected some coupons or something even if I couldn’t get a refund after having worn it. But no attempt to compensate me for the low quality, just the standard stock answer about how they would pass on my feedback …

   2. I think they’ve recently changed their sizing. 90% of my work pants are Ann Taylor 10P. All of a sudden, within the last 3 months, a 10P is too tight (yet all of my existing pants fit just fine, so it’s not weight gain). I think they’ve changed their sizing to be slimmer in the hips and shoulders recently, which is the only thing that makes sense (and which I hate, as an hourglass-shaped person).

8. I don’t disagree about the quality decline – I have some lovely things from 7 or so years ago that are lined, wool, well made, etc. Not so with the newer stuff. But I have found that the case everywhere in that price point. I.e., I have the same opinion of Jcrew, Banana, etc. I have much nicer stuff from 7-10 years ago from ALL these retailers. I don’t anticipate anything I buy now will be wearable in 10 years, unlike the things I bought in the past.

   I don’t see any difference in any retailer at that price point. So, I’ve just decided to assume the clothes have a lifespan and buy accordingly. I don’t see much difference in quality without a SIGNIFICANT jump in price, and that’s a jump I just can’t make. *shrug*

   I wish things were better made, but that’s the price of cost-cutting, I suppose.

9. I love linen for hot sweltering days but find I can only tolerate one piece in an outift so that my entire outfit isn’t too wrinkled – e.g. linen pants with a knit top on a more causal day, a linen blazer over pants and a tank that don’t wrinkle. And entire suit of linen just leaves me looking too much like I just crawled out of bed. But in the summer, it’s a great addition with that in mind.
   A word of caution when buying linen for hot humid climates …. make certain the lining is cotton and not poly. Too many manufacturers use a poly lining negating any of the cooling value of linen and the poly lining absorbed odors that your dry cleaner can only do so much with. If you live in Minneapolis you should be fine, but not in DC or Atlanta.

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