Suit of the Week
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.
There are a ton of summery suits out there right now — we considered two separate white suits (which ultimately struck us as a little too reminiscent of a grandmother's wartime “I'm getting married” suit) and a seersucker suit (which we may still post at some point). Ultimately, we fell in love with this gorgeous set from Rebecca Taylor, although we do wish it were just a skirt instead of a dress, both to give it much more wearability as well as to lessen the drycleaning requirement. Still: the gray is flattering, the “blouse” is interesting, and the jacket — man, we love the ruffles and the ribbon trim on the jacket — the whole effect is detailed and interesting without being too girly: a tough feat when we're talking ribbons and ruffles. The jacket (Rebecca Taylor Ribbon Trim Jacket) is $395, and the dress (Rebecca Taylor ‘Work-to-Date' Mock Two Piece Dress) is $375; both available at Nordstrom.
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With the assumption that the skirt would be longer on me than the model, I really, really love this. Yes, it’s ruffled and feminine; but it’s beautiful and work appropriate, I think. The dress seems like it would be flattering to the figure as well (at least to mine…) It’s more than I have to spend on something distinctive like this, but it’s beautiful.
Agree – if price wasn’t a factor, this is beautiful (at 5’2″ I have no delusions of having the same short skirt look!) — although I would switch the blouse out for something a little less flounce-y.
…and yes, I realize that this means I would likely not purchase this whole set — but I do like the way the outfit looks put together w/ the jacket on, just not w/out it.
Lovely, especially the detailing that plays on a uniform aspect (thinking military/pilot with the stripe effect on the cuffs).
Sadly, I fear only for the short-waisted pet-ites among us (Kat, is that word fixed yet? :) ). At 5’4 (though with a fairly long waist for that height), I picture the skirt starting right under my bra, for which no shortness of leg can compensate.
you know, the word IS fixed and it made an inCREDIBLE difference — i went from having to manually approve about 25 comments a day (more?) to now having about 5 a week. truly insane.
I can’t say as I like it together. The jacket — in the picture anyway– seems rather dowdy & boxy (and not in a good way. I liked yesterday’s take on an vintage shape much better).
The dress is admittedly lovely, and I actually love the idea that the “blouse” is sewn in b/c I hate to tuck & this rather solves the problem (dry cleaning bills be damned ;) ). I would have to try it on though due to the length — looks awfully short on the model (and catalog models tend to be on the shorter side in the industry).
If it helps, I’m 5-8, and this dress will hit me exactly where it hits the model (I measured).
That will not work for me I’m afraid. Might be just barely okay if I stand (I’m 5’4) but then I could never sit down around anyone at work!
Thanks for measuring! :)
am i the only one who fears the top part will be see-through?
Nope, I think it will be as well.
Why, Rebecca Taylor, WHY did you have to go and ruin the most beautiful and feminine and unique jacket with an ultra-trendy, looks-potentially-too-much-like-it’s-from-the-junior’s-section, likely-entirely-too-short and possibly-unflattering-on-most fake skirt/blouse dress alien hybrid child??? You just couldn’t stick to suiting basics and make a lovely matching pencil skirt with a classic air almost reminiscent of Chanel could you? No wait, Rebecca, don’t even try to talk your way out of this one- there could be no justification I would accept. My grief is just too overwhelming to listen.
The jacket makes me think of the most recent collection of St. John that makes me unbearably lustful for the to-die-for feminine silhouettes. The alien hybrid child of Mr. Dress and Mrs. SkirtBlouse again makes me think of the type of mannequin that would appear in a junior’s section, similar to the one I thought of earlier in reference to the ruffles on ‘roids hot pink blouse.
It’s a good thing you saved “ruffles on ‘roids” for last because I was laughing too hard to focus on my screen after that bit. Classic!
Yes – LOVE!
Agreed that this kind of dress/blouse combo often comes from the Jr’s section — but I was thinking maybe done by RT, it would not have that cheap, flimsy quality of the Jr’s section items you’re thinking of.
But it appears they copied their length from the Jr’s dept. as well — boo.
Hehe. I actually really like the suit but that’s a great hyphenated description even if I disagree!
Ditto. Like the suit, but at least Frump cracks me up while dissing it!
Frump, your tone reminds me quite a bit of the guy who wrote a complaint letter to Richard Branson after having a very unappetizing meal — and I love it!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html (if anyone missed this awhile back, it’s worth a read — very funny.)
That was so funny. I was laughing so hard the partner whose office is next to mine came running in thinking I was sobbing. HA! Fortunately, he had read the piece before and understood why I was laughing so hard after I explained.
There are a couple of things I do quite love: St. John and helping people get a good laugh. It is a good day for me when I can either try on something of the former or give somebody the latter.
I love the dress, but I’m not a fan of the jacket, it seems a bit dowdy. Like a previous poster noted, the advantage of having the blouse sewn in is that it will stay tucked, very practical!
I’m not a fan of this blouse-sewn-into-skirt thing. If you don’t magically meet all of the maker’s proportions, it seems that there will be awkward lumps and weirdly hanging pieces of fabric. Love the jacket, though, and I have a sheath dress I think it would look gorgeous with!
Actually, does the jacket look rather boxy to anyone else? I mean the detailing is gorgeous, but the cut of the jacket makes even the skinny model look kind of shapeless.
I tried this on in Nordstrom’s last weekend and I was very disappointed. Beautiful on the rack, but super short and hugged all the wrong places on me–plus, it definitely didn’t work with my long torso (5’8″). BTW, it runs at least a size smaller than my Banana Republic size.
Does it annoy anyone else when sites don’t bother to show pics of the model actually wearing the clothing but instead use some sort of photoshop thing to make an image of the clothes on top of the model, as they’ve done here with the jacket? Drives me nuts. I want to know how the item actually hangs on a person before I spend $300 on it.
Interesting! I didn’t realize it was photoshopped, I thought it just had an awkward fit. How can you tell it was photoshop?
Love it, but way too short especially when sitting down (and i’m just 5″4). I’ve seen women at work doing the ‘pull & tug’ too often to consider buying anything shorter than knee length when standing.
Nope. The ruffling around the jacket reminds me of a clown outfit. And, mein gott, the dress is so way- too short- for work.
This seems like something that would look good on a really tiny person. This suggests junior or petite sizes, but this one is sized for misses, with a full-length trimmed sleeve that cannot be shortened. So…it may be out of the question unless you are on the taller side, it which case so much ruffle stuff may look cutesy. This is the year of the ruffle. Are we seeing too many ruffles these days?
Just FYI — you can definitely shorten a sleeve like this if you’re really inclined. It involves taking it in from the shoulder & is much more expensive & time consuming, but can be done.
I’ve got to say this is far far too short to look even slightly professional on anyone but the most petite ladies. And if anyone in our firm wore a skirt that short we would all assume she was out to snag herself a single partner. Inappropriate for a professional office.
This is really cute, but way too short. I am assuming the model is 5’10” or so – if I am 5’8″ the skirt would only be 2 inches longer at the most, and that is still too short. I like the jacket though!
75, this is definitely the year of the ruffle. It is also morphing into other shapes – rosettes, petals, etc. – that I predict will be more prominent next year than straight-up ruffles.
looks like a hooker without the jacket and a school marm with the jacket. gross.
As an aside, please do post the seersucker suit. I for one would love to see it. And while you’re at it, how about some footwear suggestions to go with – perhaps something classic and something trendy?
Ally McBeal called and she wants her suit back.
That has just made me laugh so hard – that is exactly what the short skirt makes me think of. Let’s all meet down at the bar for some karaoke.
I have set many a sleeve, and it is a big job. It would be expensive, and you would need a really good tailor. In lots of places – such as where I live and work – there is no such good tailor. Boo hoo.
I just tried this on at Bloomingdales (what can I say, I seem to be in the minority but I actually love the top) and it wasn’t too short (I’m 5’6″) – hit right at the top of my knee. It was, however, too tight, so if you’re going to order, I’d order a size bigger in the dress.
Also, it’s made of some weird material that’s like a cross between denim and canvas.