This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.
Reader E brought this dress and matching jacket to our attention, noting with excitement that “J Crew came out with some cute twists on normal suit pieces.” We agree — we love that the dress is only slightly embellished with some subtle black on black “petals” at the placket. We also love the fact that the pieces are made of four-season merino wool, and that there are multiple pieces (jackets, dresses, pants) in matching fabric. The dress (Super 120s papillion dress) is $195; the jacket (Super 120s Lizza jacket) is $230. |  |
Workwear sales of note for 12.7.23
Our favorites are in bold!
- Nordstrom – Holiday sale up to 50% off; up to 40% off selected designer styles
- Ann Taylor – 40% off your purchase & extra 15% off sweaters
- Banana Republic – 40% off your purchase; up to 40% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything & extra 20% off purchase; Gap Inc. cardmembers take extra 25% off
- ba&sh – Winter sale up to 50% off
- Bergdorf Goodman – Designer sale up to 40% off; extra 15% off sale; complimentary same-day delivery
- Brooklinen – 25% off best sellers, up to 40% off bundles!
- Club Monaco – 25% off almost everything
- J.Crew – 40% off your purchase with code; up to 50% off coats; up to 60% off present picks
- Loft – 40% off your purchase plus extra 15% off
- Lo & Sons – Up to 50% off plus extended return policy — reader favorites include this laptop tote, this backpack, and this crossbody
- Sephora – 20% off purchase with code; 30% off all Sephora Collection
- Summersalt – Up to 60% off select styles (this reader-favorite sweater blazer is 40% off)
- Talbots – 40% off your regular-price purchase; 50% off all sweaters, coats, shoes & accessories; readers love this cashmere boatneck and this cashmere cardigan, as well as their sweater blazers in general
- Theory – Extra 25% off everything; extra 10% off with Apple Pay
- Theory Outlet – Last-chance styles 70-80% off; extra 25% off sweaters; readers love this T-shirt
Some of our latest posts here at Corporette…
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
- Favorite comfy pants for an overnight plane ride?
- I’ve got a nasty case of tech neck…
- What’s a good place for a relaxing solo escape?
- What’s the best commuter backpack?
- I’m early 40s and worry my career arc is ending…
- I canNOT figure out the proportions in this current season of fashion…
- How is everyone wearing scarves in 2023?
- What shoes are people wearing to work between boot and sandal season?
- What’s a good place for a relaxing solo escape?
- What are some of your go-to outfits that feel current?
- I need more activities that are social, easy to learn and don’t involve extreme running/jumping/etc.
S
cute, its true, but the quality on their suits these days is nowhere near what it used to be, unfortunately.
Kate1
I agree, and I’ll add that the quality of all their clothes is nowhere near what it used to be. This drives me crazy because their clothes are exactly what I want to wear, but they just don’t hold up, and I don’t want to waste my time or money anymore.
Kit
I agree. It seems when jcrew raised its prices, it simultaneously lowered its quality.
Kathryn
I love a dress-and-jacket suit. You can wear the dress alone for an evening thing, and with a cardigan for a nice look as well.
Talbots has several every year, at lower prices usually and I like the quality, plus the size range is much much broader!!!
newassociate
how poor is the quality of this suit? i bought the jacket, pants, and skirt (but sans dress because that dress doesn’t fit right if you have a small bust), but it’s all still with tags attached. now i’m debating whether it’s worth keeping.
does anyone own the recent incarnation of this suit, post-quality downgrade?
talbots is so, so high waisted, and usually with boxy, short jackets (which makes sense because the pants are super high waisted). i can’t stand it.
i’m also frustrated by theory… for the kind of money they charge for theory suit pants, why aren’t they lined?!
Ariella
I have to say, I love this suit. But I agree that JCrew’s quality has gone swiftly downhill recently, even as they’ve raised their pricepoints. I’m one of those hated fat people, also, and JCrew’s 16s don’t fit me.
Talbots is OK, but what I would LOVE is to find a suit like this, in a good quality, and in plus sizes. Pipe dream, I guess.
SM
Ditto everything, though it’s a good value at this price point, I think. I stick with the Wool Gabardine suiting, which looks and wears better than the stretch wool, which often looks cheap. This my favorite suit suggestion in the past month, for sure.
SM
To new associate:
I agree; I liked the slim cut of Theory Max C pants in the photos online, but they look and feel cheap and are unlined–definitely a rip off, in retrospect.
My pet peeve about J Crew jackets, shirts and dresses is they are too full in the chest area and generally too short. I do love the fit of the pants, though–straight and fitted through the hips and thigh, though they run big–I have to get the size 0 taken in.
Brooks Brothers suits jackets are my favorite, though the pants are higher waisted than I like.
J
I’m glad to see that I haven’t been imagining the decrease in quality at J.Crew (and simultaneous increase in price point). I thought I might be losing it.
I do like the dress, though. I’m not sure if I like it $195, though.
Does the jacket looked kind of awkwardly proportioned to anyone else? It seems to be on the short side on the model, and weirdly boxy … although it’s hard to tell in the pictures.
Jane
I can’t see the jacket with the dress. The dress is pretty and feminine, with the little petals; the jackets is tailored and boxy and it works much better with the pants.
Lara
I like J. Crew stretch wool suiting (I’m not familiar with the earlier incarnations, but I’ve been satisfied with my recently purchased suit), but I find it poor that they refuse to sell lined pants in the Super 120s.
y
I’ve had this jacket for almost 2 yrs now, and love it! It’s so versatile and great with pants. I would not pair this with a dress, or skirt.
NB
I haven’t been wearing J Crew suits long enough to notice a decline in quality, but the suits of theirs I have have held up well and are pretty decent. And a suit is significantly cheaper than Theory, whose quality is really disappointing – in addition to their pieces being unlined, I have had more problems with a new suit from them (hole in the pocket – and not where the basting seams came from, hem dropping on a pants leg the second time I wore the pants, poorly secured buttons).
Sadly, this dress did not do it for me in person – the contrast in shininess between the petals and the rest of the dress didn’t seem appropriate for the work place to me.
MEG
Ever hopeful of J.Crew, I ordered this dress and jacket in two sizes last week and finally tried it all on tonight. Unfortunately, the ensemble didn’t work for me. The dress is fitted at the natural waist and the skirt flares out slightly from there. I wouldn’t call it a pencil (though they do in the description), and I don’t know how they got the rear view picture to look the way it does. Meanwhile, the jacket is long, hitting a few inches below the hip bone, and it’s boxy. The two pieces together left me shapeless. I felt a little like a nun.
FYI: Sizing runs large. The 2’s fit, and that’s weird because I am usually a 4, and these days I am pushing a 6.
S
re: j crew stretch wool. totally agree: they can’t even make the quality look nice in the photos online!
i adore theory max c pants, but do agree about the lining. i just had to replace a pair i’d had for not that long b/c they wore through, which they would not have if they’d been lined. of course, they also wore through b/c they were such a great pair of pants that i wore them constantly . . .
Cat
Ann Taylor Loft has almost an EXACT replica of the dress—for $79.50. It’s a little shorter, without pockets, but here you go:
http://www.anntaylorloft.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=20677&N=1200257&categoryId=211&Ns=CATEGORY_SEQ_211&loc=LN&defaultColorNameFromCategory=Black&defaultSizeTypeFromCategory=Misses
KC
I have this jacket and the 120s pants and skirt. The quality is decent for the price point, but I tend to wait for sales on JCrew suits and stock up then, since I like their style and they fit me well. I’ve had several of their wool suits for a few years now and they seem to be holding up well. I totally agree about the Theory quality though–for the (higher) price of Theory, I expect the suits, particularly the pants to hold up better than they have for me. Someone was asking about the jacket, I have found that it is cute unbuttoned, particularly with a skirt, but can look weird and boxy when buttoned, or when worn with pants.
koko
Love that dress !!!
Sue
I love J.Crew. And I highly recommend on waiting for their sales to purchase.
I have that suiting jacket, but it’s an earlier incarnation. It’s an incredibly boxy fit; the back is left loose/ kinda flares and I find that some just don’t prefer the look of it cos it makes them feel like they look like a ‘hunchback.’ I definitely wouldn’t pair it with a dress, unless it was slightly more form-fitting and structured.