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Suit of the Week: Anne Klein Pleated Skirt Suit

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. It seems as though there are a number of great looking A-line skirt suits to choose from for today's TPS — nice! I like this simple pleated skirt suit from Anne Klein — the inverted pleats of the skirt look flattering and interesting (and a welcome departure from the “kick pleats” that were oh so popular a few years ago). I like the darts in the jacket, as well, and the weight of the fabric looks great. I would have preferred simple buttons, both aesthetically and functionally (the jacket snaps) but the bars add another layer of interest. The suit (Mini Pleated Skirt Suit) is $149 (was $280). Enjoy free shipping on all orders through 12/26 at Anne Klein. (L-5)

Sales of note for 12.5

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

56 Comments

  1. Gorgeous–perfect for those of us who look terrible in pencil suits! Wish there were more color options. I’d have to see it in person, but I imagine you could replace the bars with buttons.

    1. Etsy has tons of interesting buttons on sale. I just bought some to replace the very plain, ugly plastic buttons on a winter coat. The bars on this suit don’t look sewn on, though?

  3. Cute. Kinda vintage-y vibe. Flipside: If you got a big badonk-a-donk, you might look like a basketball from behind. LOL.

  4. Love the look of the suit. Feeling kinda “eh” about the buttons – don’t love them, don’t hate them. If the suit was a great feel and fit in person, I could probably overlook the buttons.

  6. Now that the kate spade Halle is back, I am looking to order. Any tips on sizing for those who have already tried on? I usually take a 7 (J.Crew for one), can occasionally fit a 6.5, but had to size up to a 7.5 for Ferragamo heels.

    1. Half size up. I am wearing mine now. I wear a 7 in Ferragamo, a 7 in Stuart Weitzman, and a 7.5 in my Kate Spade wedges.

    2. I ordered some yesterday in both a 7.5 and an 8 since I am generally a 7 or 7.5 but with all of the comments about sizing up I was nervous about commiting to one and having them sell out again. Hope I love them since I’ve been stalking them online for months! I even ordered a navy pair from Zappos a couple of months ago that were mistakenly delivered to the wrong address (I opened my box and discovered a size 9 hiking boot instead!). Just to plug Zappos, they were really apologetic and great about the whole thing and even gave me a $50 voucher for the error. But sadly, despite the email notifying me when they were back in stock, I was always too late to get them there.

    3. Thanks ladies! I just consulted with Zappos as well — they said Halle has been running closer to “true to size” based on reviews, but the similar Marli Too has been running a half size small. So I ordered both the 7 and 7.5 (only two size 7’s left in stock now, fyi). Merry Christmas to me :)

      1. Ah, that’s right. Now I remember. I liked the Marli Too styling a bit more than the Halle (the Marli has a bit of stitching detail around the top that I liked), so that’s the version I kept. I went up a half size in the Marli Too.

    2. Same here. Maybe for a party or date, but a bit too cutsy for work (even in a casual office- it’s not about what’s acceptable so much as what image it projects) for my tastes.*

      * I’m sure that whoever responds that they wear that kind of skirt all of the time and is always taken seriously looks fabulous in them. I don’t; I look like a tiny child.

    3. I also love the buttons. I’m on the fence about the skirt. Might be too much detailing for 1 suit.

      1. That’s always my problem with AK suits & similar priced brands!
        I think the rule should be very strict that you can only have one detail per suit — that goes for you too, Nanette Lepore :)

  10. I’ve noticed that others have asked questions about party attire at work functions, so here’s my dilemma.

    I work at a small Midwestern firm. This year the party is at one of the partner’s homes right after work on a Friday night. Children are invited. The invite listed dress as “comfortable.” I’ll be attending with my husband and three kids. There will probably be 8 or so kids there total, including mine, plus a couple dozen adults. To my knowledge, the firm hasn’t done this before. Also, I generally only work in the mornings, so I won’t be coming straight from work like the rest of my co-workers, which everyone will know.

    FWIW, last year we did an in-office lunch instead of an out-of-office dinner as had been done in years past. A partner mentioned to me that the partners were trying to be considerate of the support staff…the implication being a some support staff may not really enjoy a stuffy, boring dinner – but the lunch turned out to be pretty stuff and boring, too. I think this newest plan is an attempt to make things more casual and fun.

    Given this scenario, what would you wear? Jeans and a sweater (where I might be underdressed compared to those coming from work)? A casual dress with tights (where I might look like I’m trying too hard)? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

    1. My law firm has sometimes had a more casual Christmas party. Most of the women tended to wear some variation of casual dress with tights or sweater set/dressy sweater with black pants and flats. Have fun!

    2. Better to be overdressed than under dressed IMO. I would not wear jeans but would opt for casual dress, tights and something shiny (accessory, shoes) to spice it up for the holidays.

      Also I like this suit (despite the unique? buttons) – and although I am thin – I am curvy in the hip area and I find this shape is not necessarily the most flattering. Its great for those girls who are super skinny/straight who need to add some curve though!

    3. I’d wear nice jeans, boots or flats, simple tee, velvet or tweed blazer, pretty earrings.

    4. I wouldn’t wear jeans (although I think you’d probably be OK if you did), but I’d go with something nice and casual- slacks with a nice top or the dress and tights should be fine, IMO. Since a number of people are probably coming from work, I’d stick with something that wouldn’t look too out of place if you were wearing it around the office.

    5. I would probably omit jeans unless people wear jeans to work, ever.
      I don’t think you can go wrong with a non-descript (dress up/dress down) dress or pants & a pretty top.
      What will make a lot of difference is your shoes — dress + pumps may = overdressed/trying too hard; dress + wedges/flats may = I’m coming from home but I look cute & appropriate. Play around with it. If I was meeting co workers I knew would be in suits and they knew I would be coming from home, I would like wear a slightly more casual/less formal version of my workwear. Just like if I was a guy, I would, in that situation, wear slacks & a nice button down with nice shoes.

      1. Seriously, sometimes I wish we had it as easy as the men do when it comes to figuring out appropriate attire for both work and work-related events. Business casual office? Nice pants and a button down shirt. Dinner with clients? That, plus add a jacket. Cocktail attire Christmas party? Swap the khakis for black slacks, maybe a color button down you wouldn’t wear to work (deep red?). Jealous!

    6. I would wear whatever is appropriate Friday wear for your office, but I would accessorize a little more sparkly than normal, since it’s a Christmas party. I work in a technical field, and our Christmas parties are usually kids invited and casual. Most women wear black pants and a sweater.

  11. FYI, Amazon is having a fantastic sale on boots for those of you who might still be looking for the perfect pair. There are a ton of Frye and Charles David marked down to the $100 to $150 range (regularly $300-400) plus some other great brands as well.

  13. On the right suit, I think those buttons could be a nice feature. But IMHO they don’t work with this suit.

  14. I like the suit but different sizes on top/bottom. Darn pears (slight pear shape)!

      1. As a pear, I must do separates because the jacket is inevitably about a size or two too big when the bottoms fit properly. It just doesn’t make sense to get an inexpensive suit with a jacket that has to be completely ripped apart to get it to fit. I might as well spend that amount to get a jacket that fits properly in the first place.

  15. Threadjack! Do any of you RM lovers have the Lover’s Clutch? I’m very tempted to go for one of these in plain black with gold detail or the grey alligator. The red is really pretty, too. Decisions. http://www.endless.com/Rebecca-Minkoff-LOVERS-CLUTCH-Lovers/dp/B003QTDJBO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&cAsin=B003QTDM6Q&fromPage=search&sr=1-4&qid=1291242485267&asins=B003YL491I%2CB003YL4JZO%2CB003QTDJAU%2CB003QTDJB4%2CB003QTDJ96%2CB003QTDJAK%2CB003NSBTDI%2CB003VRZCVG%2CB003QTDJ9G%2CB003YL4JZE%2CB003YL4JZ4%2CB003QTDM6Q%2CB003QTDJA0&asinTitle=Rebecca%20Minkoff%20Lovers%20Clutch&contextTitle=search%20results&node=241745011&sort=relevancerank&keywords=lovers+clutch&showDesigner=1

  16. Hi Corporettes, here’s a threadjack:

    Do you think that 1 year of work experience (2 years by matriculation) is too few to apply to a top-10 business school?

    My story:
    I graduated from an Ivy with a public policy degree, and have had internships in US government and abroad at an international NGO. After college I took a job in the private sector (strategy analyst at a multinational corporation), to clarify my focus by comparing the two types of work and to get more business-heavy experience.

    Now that I’ve done so, I’m realizing that what i’m interested in is working for an international NGO (the UN or similar) or in a the non-profit/public sector in the US. I want to be able to combine my public sector knowledge and the knowledge that i’m gaining in the private sector now. I don’t have a “business” background, so I think that an MBA will give me the tools I need to equip myself to add real value in a non-profit setting, as well as help qualify me to make the change. Having worked in all sorts of environments now, I know what I want.

    I know that schools like Harvard have started a bit of a push for younger applicants, especially women. If I apply next year, I’ll have one full year of experience, and if i’m accepted i’d have 2 full years of experience by my time of entrance. I feel like my reasoning for an MBA is pretty strong, and i think i’ll have good GMAT scores. Would any of you MBAs believe it would be worth it for me to apply next year? Or will 2 years total still come up short?

    1. disclaimer: i am not an MBA but i used to work for a top 5 b-school.

      average work experience at my former employer was 5 years, average age of first-years was 28 (for the full-time program – students enrolled in a part-time program were generally older), average GMAT score was 714 (with 80% of the class falling between 660 and 760). based on the numbers, 2 years of work exp (by the time of matriculation) is pretty low.

      while the school that i worked for had a program to recruit young students for the full time MBA, the program was aimed specifically at 4th year students in the associated undergrad institution. i’m not sure if it’s like that at all b-schools or if other schools have young scholars programs open to all, but i might recommend looking to see if schools you are interested in have them! having such a program might also indicate an insitution’s general openness towards admitting younger candidates.

      also, keep in mind that if you apply and do not get in, your application will be kept on file. if you apply to the same school again, you will have to explain how you have grown as a candidate since your last app – not an enviable position! not sure if all professional schools are like this, but i believe this is something that b-schools stress pretty heavily.

    2. I work for an international NGO in a senior position, and have worked at several intergovernmental organizations and NGOs in different regions. An MBA will not help you get a job at one, at all. Get a master’s or PhD in economics, international relations, public policy, development economics, regional/area studies, etc.

      Also, with all kindness, your phrasing “international NGO (the UN or similar)” indicates that you have not the slightest clue about the field you profess to be interested in. An NGO is a non-governmental organization. The UN is the opposite of that; it’s an intergovernmental organization. There is no similar organization to the UN; there are regional intergovernmental bodies. There are international NGOs in many different fields, including human rights, humanitarian relief, development, governance, etc. Some basic coursework in international relations will teach you more about the basics of the field, and if you decide to pursue graduate-level work in international relations, you will need to learn this before applying.

      1. This, exactly. I tried to use this spin EXACTLY when applying to Harvard Business School’s 2+2 Program a few years back- it failed miserably. I got no call, no interview, no nothing, and I had a decent GMAT score, good grades, REALLY good internships, language skills in a government critical language, and a u-grad degree from a top Ivy school. Upon further investigation, I basically found out that what Eponine said is true, 100%. I found this out from various b-school administrators talking to them at subsequent events, from people who were current students at the school, and from various career mentors.

        As for 2+2, it’s good for people with an engineering background (or so I’ve heard), but I don’t know how geared it is towards people with a non-profit background. Plus, I don’t know if you can apply to 2+2 if you’re not a rising u-grad senior.

    3. I concur with Anon in Chicago that you will likely be at a bit of a disadvantage. The two programs I am familiar with that target younger workers are the Harvard 2+2 and Chicago Booth’s fellowship (I forget the actual name). Both require that you apply while still in undergrad. Since you’ve missed the opportunity to apply through those formal programs, you’ll be lumped in with the other applicants with 4-7 years of experience and very specific goals.

      If you truly think an MBA will get you where you wish to go, by all means apply! However I think Eponine also made some good points that you don’t seem to have much clarity around your goals yet. You should consider taking a look at Kennedy over HBS, and programs like Johns Hopkins’ SAIS to get a good look at the other options available that would likely further your goals in governmental/non-governmental work much better than an MBA would.

      Good luck with your decision and any applications you decide to submit!

      1. I also agree about looking into SAIS or the Kennedy School. If working for a non-profit/NGO is what you REALLY want to do, I don’t think an MBA will help get you there (unless you want to do marketing/financials/etc. for a non-profit, which it doesn’t necessarily sound like you want to do).

        1. Some other suggestions are Yale’s SOM, which has traditionally had a strong program in non-profit mgmt, and the Fletcher School at Tufts, which has a public sector bent, as well as a business track.

          And a P.S. to Corporette – I don’t know what your banners are, but something’s really messing w/ my ability to surf you at work. Which stinks, b/c it really is the only time that I really would look at this site.

    4. There are masters degress specifically geared towards nonprofit management you may want to consider as well.

      What kind of job do you want within this NGO? Policy/lobbying type activities, research, fieldwork, management, fundraising? These are all different areas where different backgrounds may be useful. Gear your graduate school decisions towards the actual job you ultimately want within the nonprofit.

      (Sidebar: “doing nonprofit work” says absolutely nothing about the kind of work you want to do. It is possibly even more vague than saying “I want to practice law.” This was about all the focus I had before I went to law school. I now regret that decision. Please heed my advice and don’t make hasty, expensive decisions based on vague goals and limited understanding of what you are actually getting yourself into.)

      Finally, do not go into significant debt to get a degree if you want to work in the nonprofit sector. It will limit you far too much.

      1. Agree! Figure out what you want to do *before* you go to school. It sounds like some informational interviewing would be a very smart idea to both figure out what you want to do, and to figure out what programs would best help you get there.

    5. Before committing to this, if you are planning on taking out loans to pay for B-school – and especially if you have loans from your undergraduate degree – think carefully about whether the type of job you will get in a nonprofit setting will enable you to pay off your loans. Nonprofit salaries are not high until you get to the top echelons of the largest NPOs and even then it’s variable. Also, consider this. Most people who succeed in working in the nonprofit world are subject-matter experts on a given topic relevant to their NPO’s mission, or they are specialists in some kind of business function. An MBA is a general business degree, although you can specialize in certain things. What, specifically, do you want to do for an NPO? Do you want to run one, as an exec director? Be a part of policy-making and lobbying efforts? Fund development? It’s essential to know what you want to DO for an NPO, not just say “I want to work for an NPO.” And also think carefully about what TYPE of NPO you want to work for – what issues you would want to work with. That should guide your decision-making about grad school.

      I know a lot of people working in NPOs, large national and international ones. None have an MBA. Quite a few have Ph.D.s in public policy specialties, sociology, or another liberal-arts discipline. In many NPOs, business school won’t help you rise to the top; you need to be an SME in what the NPO does for its mission (so have a specialized Master’s – or preferably doctorate – in environmental issues at an environmentally-focused NPO). I would rethink an expensive MBA if you plan on working in nonprofits. It’s much more likely to hinder you than help, especially with your experience level.

      1. This. I have worked in the non-profit sector for nearly 10 years and most of my colleagues have advanced degrees in economics, education, international studies, psychology, etc. One of my senior colleagues has an MBA from Yale SOM which, as one poster said above, has a really strong program in non-profit management.

        There’s a lot of good advice in these replies. I, too, would reconsider that MBA. I thought long and hard about an MBA earlier in my career but found it less useful that my other degrees.

        Good luck!

        1. Thanks for all of your thoughts — it’s always good to get a real wakeup call!

          As you all have shown me, I definitely need to dig in more and clarify my goals before really thinking about applying, and decide what specific direction I want to move in. I wasn’t very clear in my previous comment, but I did major in public policy and IR, so I do know the difference between the UN/ NGOs/non-profits. I worked at what would be properly classified as an NGO, wrote a thesis on the UN, and may soon begin to do some work for a US-based non-profit think tank along with my private sector job.

          Yale SOM is currently the place that most interests me — i’m more interested in management/strategy than subject specialization, which is why the MBA interests me more than a PhD (although maybe I’ll start to reconsider). I shy away from MPP/As only because most of the MPAs I’ve talked to have told me that the work I did in undergrad was actually quite similar to what they’re doing now in the grad version of my school, and it might not be worth “doing it again.”

          But in any case, this was excellent advice and you’ve given me a lot to think about. I may be asking more questions in the future!

          1. OP, agree with those who have told you an MPA may be redundant with your undergrad degree in IR/econ. Both Kennedy School and JHU SAIS have interesting dual-degree programs that you might want to consider depending on your interests.

    6. i’m not the op, but i am also looking into grad schools to pursue a career in non-profit work, and your advice was all really helpful, so thank you!!

  17. I don’t like this suit. The bottom & the weird bottom are 2 reasons, but also I don’t think this is a very flattering skirt shape on most people. For one, it’s not really an A line, but really more of a mermaid shape, which, IMO, is harder to pull off at work if you have curvy hips & a generous rear. Also, I think this many details just seem cheap. Maybe that’s just a perception issue, but as far as I am concerned it’s still an issue. Change the buttons and skirt bottom & you have a lovely suit.

    1. Oh, and my biggest gripe is that inevitably — at least on me — pleats like this on a skirt become wrinkled because I sat down without laying them exactly flat & then I feel like a mess for the rest of the day. Happening with the skirt I am wearing right now. Not at all enjoyable!

      1. Excellent points, AIMS. I was getting warm and fuzzy at the idea of an A line skirt suit because I love the one I have, but I think you’re right that this is a very different animal.

        Would look cute on someone other than me, though, I think.

  18. Threadjack. Filene’s (at least in D.C.) is offering 50% off all Barney’s items. I got a Marc Jacobs vest for $32.

    1. Do you know when this sale is going until? If I went tomorrow, could I still get in on the deals? Which Filene’s is it?

  19. I’m not sure how long the sale will last. I went to the filene’s at friendship heights.

  20. This suit seems to have an odd cut around the armhole. It doesn’t fit the model quite right. But on th Anne Klein web site I saw lots of other cute and reasonably priced suits.

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