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Updated: Oct 31, 2018 78 Comments · by

Suit of the Week: Hobbs

Suit of the Week

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Hobbs Invitation Julietta JacketFor 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 for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional. Since a reader mentioned British retailer Hobbs's new US website, I've been checking in, and I was excited to see that a lot of great work-appropriate pieces are on sale. (Be sure to click the little flag on the top right hand corner to see the correct currency; you don't want to get overly excited unless you're looking at the right one!)  The black “Invitation Julietta” suiting stood out to me — it looks classic, clean, professional, and generally great. The Julietta Dress particularly caught my eye — it comes in both white and beige versions (both pictured below) — it's normally $385 but comes down to $240 in the sale. The matching jacket (Invitation Julietta Jacket) is normally $345, but comes to $230, the matching skirt (Invitation Julietta Skirt) comes from $195 down to $105, and the matching pants (not pictured) (Invitation Julietta Pants) come from $210 down to $115. Here's a similar plus-size option (jacket and skirt — and some pieces in the set are part of Amazon's great sale that lets you take an additional 30% off last minute gifts), and a budget-friendly option. ADMIN UPDATE: Some readers are reporting seeing a video that starts playing immediately once you visit the site. If anyone can tell me what the ad is for, and where it is on the page (above the logo? right below the logo? between the 1st and 2d post? near the bottom of the page?) that would be hugely appreciated — we need that info to investigate the situation and make it stop. Thank you in advance! Hobbs Julietta Suit Hobbs Julietta Womens Suit

Sales of note for 9.16.24

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Kat Griffin is the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Corporette. You can read more about her here.

Comments

  2. Anon

    I need some advice for an incredibly sad situation.

    My partner has a co-worker who we are friendly with, but not close friends. We have socialized some outside the office, like once or twice a year at group things for a few years. The co-worker recently had a baby who is not expected to live more than a few days or weeks. We have heard from someone else that the co-worker and spouse are basically sitting vigil in the NICU. I don’t feel like we are close enough to offer real emotional/physical support without being intrusive, but it seems like we should do something. But what? Send a card? Is a welcome baby card cruel in these circumstances? Send flowers? Just do nothing now but send a card or flowers after the baby passes? (I can hardly bear to even type that.)

    • Anon

      I’m so sorry for everyone.

      It was very sweet when I had a miscarriage that people sent me cards saying just “we love you and are thinking about / praying for you.” Sending a baby card can so easily hit the wrong note here, but a blank card should let you write out the right sentiment.

      Is there an intermediary person (parent / neighbor / friend) that you can coordinate things with? Like taking out their trash cans / blowing their leaves / casseroles? But the whole thing is isolating and awful and just knowing that their community embraces them can be helpful. Also: go to the funeral or service if there is one (and they aren’t wanting to keep it as just family).

    • Anonymous

      That is hard. If I put myself in the parents’ shoes, however, right now I would not want any intrusion from anyone besides the closest of friends and family. I would prefer to receive cards/flowers afterwards.

    • January

      Don’t send a welcome baby card. I might send a “thinking of you” card now and a sympathy card later. Not sure about flowers – my inclination is no, but maybe someone else will have better advice.

    • BB

      Yeah, definitely DO NOT send a welcome baby card. If you’re close enough to email, I would send a note that says “We’re thinking of you. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do. We’re here for you.”

      I’ve had this exact same situation happen. Sort of close-ish colleague, baby in NICU not expected to live. We left them alone, but were very, very open/supportive when they were ready to reach back out. It’s an awful time.

    • Philanthropy Girl

      I’ve been the mom in this situation – it’s a nightmare beyond description. Flowers would be lovely – I received some lovely things after my LO was born. I dried them and kept them with my son’s things. I did the same with some of the flowers we received after he died.

      Personally, I received just a few “welcome baby” cards that arrived before my little one passed. Honestly, I treasured them. In the whole rotten mess, I felt like it gave some little glint of normalcy, and made me feel like my baby mattered – even if he didn’t live very long. However, this would be a very much “know the person” situation – some would hate it.

      Honestly – if you are able to send flowers twice, once now in the hospital and once later after the memorial, please do. Don’t worry that you’re not “that close” – some of the most touching and thoughtful things done for me were done by people who were not close friends.

      • cbackson

        I have not been through this situation, but I really agree with Philanthropy Girl’s last point. I received some incredible kindness from acquaintances as I was going through my divorce (including people here). If your heart is motivated to offer kindness and support, then do so – you never know how much your words can matter.

    • Blonde Lawyer

      Is there one person that is closest to them that can serve as point person and let you know what kind of support is welcome? In a similar situation our office manager served that function. She contacted colleague and said “x, y and z want to get in touch. Is that something you want or no? What would be most helpful?” She has done this for two sad situations we had. The results were different. One said they would prefer no work contacts right now. They appreciated if everyone was informed so they wouldn’t have to tell the story on their return and could “get back into work.” The other, who had her own medical dilemma instead of a child’s, wanted emails of support from anyone and only calls/visits from a select few but those calls/visits from the select few were very welcome. Office manager handled telling who was welcome who wasn’t in a very diplomatic way. It was something like “employee can only handle a couple visitors at this time so Jane and Joe will be representing the firm in visits. Please send your wishes, if you were intending to send them, through them.” Etc.

    • Anon

      Thank you everyone for the insight. Philanthropy Girl, I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for giving your perspective.

      Would it change anyone’s thinking to know that my partner and I have a new baby ourselves? I wonder if hearing from us might be painful if it makes them think of our baby? Or is it ridiculous to think anything could possibly make this *more* painful? Perhaps I’m over-thinking, but I would really hate to think we were making this worse for them even in a tiny way.

      • Philanthropy Girl

        Thank you for your sympathy. I’ll weigh in on this one.

        Hearing from you via a card or flowers will probably not be more painful (although don’t include the baby’s name in a card). They will in all likelihood be so grateful that they are being remembered.

        However, as a note for the future, seeing your new baby (or photos) will be gut wrenching. It may be painful for quite a long time – seeing children that are the same age as my son would have been is very sad for me, and was more so the first year or so after he passed.

    • Anonymous

      I’m late on the reply, but I’m a NICU doctor and have unfortunately been through this scenario many times. It’s incredibly tough for everyone involved–my sympathies for your colleague (And you! It sucks to feel helpless). The families are devastated and exhausted and there isn’t much you can do for them besides love them and let them know you’re there for them. In this situation, I would try to do some subtle behind-the-scenes things to make sure the baby (and family) gets extra TLC while they are inpatient.

      1. Find out what NICU the baby is in.
      2. Call that NICU and ask for the charge nurse.
      3. Tell the charge nurse you would like to send lunch/cookies/bagels (you choose) for the care team. Ask how many nurses/techs in the unit. Get the delivery information.
      4. Send an appropriate amount of food with a nice card that says “Thanks for taking such good care of baby X during this incredibly difficult time. We will never forget your kindness.”

      This small act of kindness often helps the family/baby get extra special TLC while they’re inpatient. It seems silly, I know, but this is what I do for any hospitalized friend, and it seems to help the family feel supported without being intrusive.

  3. No Problem

    I have a hairstylist dilemma.

    I’ve been going to the same stylist for about 5 or 6 years, but she just switched salons. I’m ready to schedule my next haircut, so I looked up the new salon and their haircut prices START at $100. Haircuts at the previous salon were just under $50.

    Is that really a reasonable price to pay for a haircut in DC? I only get my hair cut about 4 times a year, so it’s not an enormous hit to my wallet in the grand scheme of things, but it is double what I’m used to paying. It’s great that my stylist is making more money, but would you be loyal to your stylist if she suddenly started charging double?

    • nutella

      $100 is about average in a big city, I’d say, but I can’t say specifically what DC prices are like — $50 seems like a steal to me.

      If you want to stick with your stylist, you can call and leave a message saying, “I’m so happy to hear your good news about this new chapter at New Salon! I’d love to follow you, but need to stick with my budget from X salon. Could we work out a price or could you otherwise suggest another stylist I should go to? Would love to hear from you!” She might be able to work something out — but might not.

      • No Problem

        Thanks for the insight on prices. I don’t think $100 is totally out of line for a big city, but it does seem like a lot for my relatively low maintenance hairstyle.

        • Claire M

          This happened earlier this year to me – my stylist moved from Tysons into DC. She offered her old clients reduced pricing at the new salon, plus she usually gives me $5 or $10 off a couple times a year. So I do think it’s worth asking to see if you’ll get the legacy price.

    • roses

      I live in DC but for haircuts I go to Casal’s near the Clarendon stop in VA. It’s $55 for the most junior stylists, no tipping policy, and the cuts I get there from Micah are better than any I’ve had in the District.

      • Anon in Arlington

        I second Casal’s wholeheartedly! But on the other hand I don’t want everyone to start going there…

    • kellyandthen

      I pay about 65/70 for a basic cut at PR and Partners. 100 is simply too much for an admittedly basic haircut, I don’t care where you are.

  4. Ellen

    I lOve hobbs! I wish this guy who works in the kitchen would stop grabbing my Tuchus! What is it with men? Where is Jared Kushner? Does he have a brother? Oh my god! This is fun but I need to show some restraint when the manageing partner gets here! YAY!

    • Susan

      Ellen, please be careful. My sister in law was impregnated by a guy who was here illegally and could not get a green card unless he married her, which she did not want. Now he wants custody and he lives in Chile. It is a big mess.

  5. Down

    Does any just have periods of time where they feel like they can’t stop making mistakes? I’m a second year associate at a small firm and I feel like lately I cannot turn in something without a mistake no matter how careful I am. I’ve even had mistakes from projects I thought were done coming back to haunt me in the past few weeks.

    Is it me or does this just happen sometimes? It’s making me feel really down on myself and my abilities as a lawyer.

    • Mpls

      Are they similar types of mistakes (a trend that you can fix going forward) or different mistakes each time? If it’s the first, then you can have a plan to address it. The second is just a product of learning, I think. I don’t think anything is every going to go perfect (human nature is prone to error) and as a long as you are learning and not repeating mistakes, I think it’s pretty natural.

      And really, you don’t hear about all the stuff you are doing right, so it makes mistakes stick out more. So, you probably aren’t too out of line. Error rates will likely drop with experience.

    • Woods-comma-Elle

      Yup. Totally. I go through phases like this. It’s a bit self-fulfilling, as once you notice mistakes, you may end up noticing more of them. It may well be that you’re not making any more mistakes than usual, but because you are aware of them, they seem to be popping up all over the place. I was talking with a friend of mine recently and she said she had also had this kind of scenario.

      Sure, it can be you, and of course the usual advice on how to check your work etc comes into it, but I just wanted to say I have sympathy as sometimes go through these times, usually when I’m super busy/stressed or something else is going on.

    • cbackson

      I call this the mistake shame spiral. When you’ve made a lot of mistakes, I think sometimes you psych yourself out and start making more and more. You have to take a deep breath, let it go, and start over.

      • anon

        Yep – that’s me in the mistake-shame-mistake spiral. Trying not to stress more because it seems to cause more mistakes, in addition to making me miserable.

    • Wildkitten

      If you made no mistakes in year two what would you have to look forward to?

  6. salary envy

    I just want to vent a moment. I know I never positioned myself well for a 6-figure salary (because of my chosen career path), but I sure wish I made more money. I can’t ask for a raise (public sector), and we don’t get bonuses. We haven’t had raises in 7 years.

    So, seeing all of this “gift your assistant $100 for every year seniority” is really frustrating. Yes, I read past it. But, some of you are gifting your assistants/coworkers (or are the recipients of such gifts) more than I make in a week

    • c

      I’ve heard you can have time, $, or an interesting job/collegial colleagues, but rarely all 3!

    • BumbleBee

      Think about it this way, if it helps. I make a lot of money in BigLaw, but my life isn’t really my own – I’m at the mercy of my email account &a bosses, and I don’t always love my job. There are definitely days when I would trade my big fat paycheck for something that let me had more of a life and that I really enjoyed. I think the grass is always greener.

    • tesyaa

      The gift is a once-a-year thing and shouldn’t be compared to anyone’s weekly salary.

    • pension envy...

      I hear you. This website is a fantasy for me at times and some responses really make me feel poor. Fortunately, it has taught me to have a better eye, invest my limited fashion funds wisely, and to fool others into thinking I am more (frugally) stylish. Only I know my limited income.

      Just remember, the people who post on this website are not representative. We are lucky to be where we are….

      The funny thing is that these days I envy the benefits of my friends in the PUBLIC sector! Their job security, pensions and retiree health insurance benefits, guaranteed holidays and better hours overall. My father worked in the public sector for many years and made less than 1/3 of what he made in the private sector. But his retirement benefits now are AMAZING… just from the limited time he worked for the public sector. My friends working in law in the public sector (judges, contracts for city government, court of appeals etc…) are all going to retire long before me with very nice pensions and health insurance perks. These benefits are changing over time, but I’m hoping you have some good ones locked in.

      I know it is hard to appreciate these benefits when you are young, but in retrospect I wish I had gone into the public sector earlier. The inefficiency and system problems in my area in the public sector may have made me crazy though….. I have to rationalize now, as I waited too long.

      • Mpls

        I wouldn’t rely on those awesome pensions (defined contribution plans) being around – a lot of public entities are having to make major cuts or risk bankruptcy or moving towards defined contribution type plans for current employees. I think those, and retirement health benefits are thing of days past.

        And job security…how quickly we forget the federal gov’t shutdown and mandatory furloughs. I don’t think public sector is the refuge it once was either.

    • Pretty Primadonna

      I’m here to commiserate. Only occasionally do I long for a six-figure salary; I appreciate that I have traded a more flexible and less demanding job for a smaller salary. However, much more frequently, I sit and think about the salary I would be making had my public sector employer given across-the-board raises even every other year since I’ve worked full-time. Le sigh. It gets better? :-)

      With regard to (lavish) holiday gifts, I don’t think too much about that (same with big bonuses…). Just like the six-figure salary, those types of perks do not come with the public sector territory, and are trade-offs, as noted above.

    • Philanthropy Girl

      I understand – I’m in the Non-profit sector, so I’m definitely at the bottom of the financial spectrum here. But I focus on the things I love about my job, and try to not look too closely at the scuffs on my shoes.

      And I love daydreaming about beautiful dresses like the one above.

    • marketingchic

      I’ll commiserate. Everyone’s suggestions of “hire a house cleaner” when you’re overworked and “must see” places in Europe make me a little sad – those kinds of things are not in the cards for me for years. But I try to remember that relative to a lot of people in the world I’m doing well.

    • Anon

      I can relate, in the “I paid off my six-figure student loans in 3 years” comments. It’s just not how it works, and though I am glad to have access to IBR and PILSF (sp?), I worry that the program will change before my 10 years are up.

    • Anonymous

      I feel similarly. I chose a public sector job when I could have made several times more in the private sector. I know it was my choice, an I have plenty of good reasons for having made it. That said, it’s still frustrating.

    • Anonymous

      I totally feel this way sometimes, but then an article will cross my desk that breaks down how much the average person in my city makes and I realize how ungrateful I am. I make more than ~60% of the city, and I am just a few years out of college. I have a job that I love, and although I am on a budget, I make ends meet every month. I don’t live in the best part of town, but I also don’t have to drive an hour in every day. It is all about give an take.

    • anon

      It was always my goal to work in the public interest sector (law) but I wasn’t able to get a job in my field and didn’t have parents to support me until I did, like many of my classmates. I had to switch to private sector. I make “a lot” of money compared to the private sector, but it goes out the window to loans. I don’t qualify for any types of assistance, nor do I make enough money to quickly see them vanish. When I was un/underemployed, I pined for a private sector (or any) salary. I was completely convinced that the only thing that mattered was financial security.

      Now that I am more financially secure, I miss public interest law every.single.day. Sometimes I cry on my way to/from work, thinking about what a huge hole there is in my life. That, and the leaving work at 7, working on the weekends.

      There are tradeoffs to everything. The grass is always greener. I’m certainly not trying to admonish you, but I think that there is a LOT of truth to the saying that the grass is greener.

    • Wildkitten

      I got my direct reports $10 mugs. That they d@mn better drink wine out of. Probably two buck chuck. But not at work.

    • Anonymous

      I may make a big salry in biglaw, but at least once a week I catch myself saying out loud to myself that I hate my job. And I think it basically every day. I would kill for a government job, but so far have not had any luck with the applciaitons I’ve submitted.

  7. LilyStudent

    I love this suit! (I mean, I love Hobbs generally, so…)

    Kat, I’m getting ads with auto-playing audio. Is there anything you can do to fix that?

      • LilyStudent

        The top-right ‘sponsors’ spot, I think – I’ll double check next time it happens. I can’t remember what the ad was for either – I’ll note it next time.

    • RLS

      For me, it’s under “More Sponsors” on the right sidebar, right beneath the Popular Posts This Month

  8. Umbrella

    This a bit of a silly question, but, any recommendations for a solid, durable umbrella? I live in NYC and have only ever bought those cheap bodega umbrellas that break after a few uses, and recently cleaned out my closet to find six (!!!!) of them, all broken (I really need to start cleaning out my closet more often/throwing away broken things when they break, but I digress). I want to get something nicer that actually lasts. My only requirement is that it folds down to fit in a purse. Willing to pay up to $40/50.

    • LilyStudent

      Anything made by Fulton is good quality – they make umbrellas for Cath Kidston and Orla Kiely among others, as well as for their own brand. I got a Cath Kidston one (made by them) this summer and it still looks like new.

    • Impulsive

      I don’t own one but check out an umbrella called The Blunt listed at The Grommet dot com. I have no use for it typically because of where I live but if I did I would probably get something like it.

        • Maddie Ross

          Not the Anon2, but I don’t like the assymetry of the pattern on the straps. The plain colored one looks odd and blank to me. It stands out more for some reason to me.

        • Anon2

          It’s just… a little off? Sorry, can’t point to anything other than just a gut reaction. And, you love clothes the most before you buy them. If you’re not sold (especially on something different, like this) then I recommend not getting it.

    • Pink

      I don’t know you or your style, but to me, this would be casual fridays sometimes, and when I want to dress up as Katniss for the office halloween party which happens never.

    • Pretty Primadonna

      The silhouette of the dress is lovely, but I don’t care for the print. If you aren’t in love with it, I think it would turn into a dress that you wore only once or twice, then asked yourself why you bought it in the first place.

      In other words, I’m talking you out of it. :-)

      • Enginon

        I don’t like it either (the print isn’t doing anything for me) but I’m missing the trashy. Yes, it’s too short for work (at least on the 5’10” model). but trashy?? I’m not trying to be snarky, just legitimately confused. (& also now paranoid that all of my weekend wear is trashy.)

        • Cream Tea

          Sorry – I’m a bit late.
          I think it was the flames. The flame pattern.
          It’s not the length or the cut. Sorry for causing panic – I’m sure your weekend wear is lovely!

    • Lynnet

      As a dissenting voice, I really love it, and have been eyeing it for a couple of months. Of course, I’m also known for lusting after completely impractical dresses from anthropologie.

  11. anon

    I would like to do something nice for our Distribution Staff for the holidays, because they handle all personal packages and I get a lot of them. It’s a pretty large staff, around 20 people, and they come and go. I was thinking of bringing breakfast (pastries, I guess) one morning, or else a tray of baked goods (maybe individually wrapped, so they can bring things home). Any other ideas? I’d like to keep it to $100 or so.

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