Suit of the Week
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For this week's suit, we're liking the birch-cloth cotton, short-sleeved skirt suit from J.Crew. We like the casual elegance of it, combined with the comfort of stretch. The jacket is $178, and the pencil skirt is $108.
Sales of note for 10/2:
- Nordstrom – Extra 20% off clearance! I rounded up my top picks on the Weekend Open Thread – lots of Veronica Beard and more on DEEP discounts (lucky sizes only)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your full price purchase, plus deal of the day: 10/2: 40% off wear-now styles
- J.Crew – 3100+ items in sale
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off all sweaters and pants
- M.M.LaFleur – Lots of blues and reds in the sale section. (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom Rack – Extra 40% off select clearance
- Old Navy – The Old Navy x Altuzarra collab is in! All sizes (up to 4X!) of the blazer in the collab is still available, and it is eligible for today's Super Cash offer
- Talbots – 40% off one item, 30% off everything else
- Theory – End of season sale is on!
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:

Agree. Nothing of value to add. But I agree.
I don’t understand the point of a short-sleeve suit. It’s not formal enough for times when a real suit is required, and otherwise I think it looks a little strange. I guess if you just love wearing suit-like items, though, it would work, but I find suits somewhat uncomfortable as it is, so why wear more of them?
I love this and will wait for it to go on sale! This is the perfect summer equivalent to a black-and-white small pattern jacket with black pants – for client meetings where the partner will just throw a sports jacket on over his usual slacks and dress shirt, but such an ensemble would look ridiculous on a woman.
I have several JCrew suits and their quality is quite good for the price point. Suits like this one almost always go on sale too, so you will probably be able to get a great deal on this one in a few weeks.
C – any thoughts on the point that you couldn’t wear this suit when a “real” suit is required? I need a new suit and if I’m only going to have one, does it need to be more formal than this?
I live in the south and see these short-sleeve suits everywhere. Very practical, especially in summer. I’d keep to the ones with smooth, i.e., not ruffled or gathered, sleeves, so a cardigan (air conditioning) would go on over it without bumps.
I love J. Crew suits too. Always reasonable priced. The fit is younger and more modern than Ann Taylor, yet no too trendy. I tried some Theory suits which are about twice the price–I think the J Crew suits are still better made.
S — oh yes, you definitely need a more typical suit. We’ve got to write some sort of intro text for this Suit of the Week feature — it’s intended to be the similar to the flavor of the week. Vanilla and chocolate are still the flavors that are anchors — that’s your black/navy long-sleeved three button jackets-with-knee-length skirt suits (with matching pants, of course) — this feature is just the rum raisin of the week.
I second Corporette’s response to S. You definitely need a more traditional suit if it’s your only one, but if you’re getting many, I love short sleeved suits in the summer. My office is technically business casual and plenty of women at all levels don’t wear suits unless they’re meeting with clients, etc. but I’m one of a few female litigators and I look very young so I tend to wear suits every day because I think it helps my image around the office. I feel like the short-sleeve suit is a good alternative to the cardigans/skirts a lot of my coworkers wear that I think would make me look too young but still give me a more casual alternative.