ByElizabeth Hours Updated
Comments 132 Comments

Splurge Monday’s Workwear Report: Sunbury Wool-Blend Bouclé Jacket

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.

A woman wearing an ivory boucle jacket, black top, and black pants

Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.

Hello, gorgeous! This bouclé jacket from The Fold looks like something I’m going to want to wear every day this winter. The ivory color is beautiful, the shape is a classic, and the texture is perfect for getting cozy on a cold day.

While I would love to see this paired with the coordinating skirt or top, my inclination would probably be to wear it with black or chocolate trousers for something a little more subdued (and less likely to stain). 

The blazer is $595 at The Fold and comes in U.S. sizes 2-16. 

Sales of note for 10/30

  • Nordstrom – Extra 20% off clearance
  • Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase + extra 15% off your $200+ purchase
  • Brooklinen – Friends & Family – 20% off sitewide and 50% off select bundles
  • J.Crew – 2700+ markdowns
  • J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance
  • M.M.LaFleur – Save 20% on suiting and dresses! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
  • Talbots – Enjoy 30% off your entire purchase

132 Comments

  2. For any UNC grads, are you following the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial? It makes me so sad to read about but I am glad that they finally caught the guy.

  3. What is good no-line shape wear with a high no-roll waist? I just need need smoothing vs tight constriction.

    1. thigh society cooling shorts. don’t compress but smooth and no line and they don’t roll.

      1. I have a few Thigh Society shorts and they don’t really provide any smoothing in the tummy area. I like them for chafing prevention, though.

    3. The panty-style bottoms don’t work well for me. There’s an Amazon off brand underbust compression tank (joyshaper, maybe?) that I like a lot for waist-area smoothing.

  4. Are people still wearing pre-COVID OG MMLF dresses? I didn’t wear last year due to size fluctuations and just took out of the bin and a few fit (some are in the donate pile as just not working for my current shape though). I feel like I wore soft pants for the past 18 months but want a change. Back to these?

    1. Yes, they’re beautiful. If they fit you and fit the occasion then why not? Use what you have!

    2. Depends on the style. I just pulled out an Etsuko the other day. Feels pretty timeless to me. Sleeveless sheath? No.

      1. My opinion is the opposite. The sleeveless sheath dresses are timeless. I swapped out my fitted collarless jardigan for a slightly looser one with a collar and still feel current enough in the dresses, especially the later ones with longer hems. The Etsuko is so recognizable that it’s automatically dated.

        1. Are the the Etsuko hater from a few weeks ago? It is not dated. It’s a perfectly good dress. Stop making other readers feel insecure about very serviceable dresses in their closet.

          Honestly people like you are the problem and are keeping insecure people in a perpetual (and unnecessary) buying loop.

          1. Can someone link to the Etsuko hate thread? It was one of my favorite dresses when I was a prior size.

          2. Omg it’s a fashion blog, this is literally the discussion we are all here for. If an anonymous internet voice hurts your self esteem, that’s a you problem.

        2. I think it’s partly the three quarter sleeves that look dated. Also I agree that the slim belted style makes it, like the black halo dress that predated it, I think extremely recognizable styles 10-15 years ago.

          Yes it’s serviceable. If people like it they should wear it. Im sure there is a way to style it so it looks less dated. But it’s not current and that shouldn’t make people feel bad or make the people who acknowledge it mean or wrong. Most stylish women have less than perfectly current clothing in their rotation. That is real life. But they don’t kid themselves that a dress they’ve gotten more than a decade of wear out of looks current when it doesn’t.

        3. Three quarter length sleeves are the only dresses I wear, other than sleeveless. For some of us with long limbs and high waists, the 3/4 sleeve is just perfect to balance.

    3. I do sometimes. They’re not my everyday level of formality at my office, but more for conferences or client-facing days. Some styles feel a bit more casual/modern to me, but I’m terrible at their names. Think: wrap-front and midi styles

    4. Some of them, particularly the ones with straight skirts hitting just above the knee, look dated to me. That said, they still look professional, and I am guessing the cut will come back into style before too long. Wear them if you like them.

    5. I think I like a plain solid dress as something I can throw a blazer on over top of. It’s a harder thing to find than I would have thought. So much is rufflepuff now.

    6. I have some Etsukos that I still wear on occasion! A lot of the others have been hanging in the closet because they are just too formal for my life these days.

    7. i think the styles are all somewhat timeless, it is more does the level of formality call for it?

      1. Totally agree. I got rid of my MMLF dresses when I changed jobs a few years ago just because I’m not in a formal environment anymore, though when I go to conferences and things like that I sometimes wish I had held on to one or two.

  5. When you get offered a new job that does PTO bands based on tenure with the company (1-3 years gets two weeks, 4-6 three, etc.), do you expect the company to match the seniority you had at your old job? I’m almost 40 and not going back to two weeks of PTO but the interviewer seemed to be hedging on whether that was possible. I’m prepared to walk away but curious what others have successfully negotiated.

    2. absolutely would not take a job with two weeks vacation at this point in my life. if they can’t guarantee it that would be a big hard pass.

    4. Yes, and my company expressly advertises that they do this. Anyone who is not very junior gets higher amounts of PTO from the go, and it is a very easily negotiable item if that is still too low.

      FWIW, I am a middle manager and get 7 weeks of PTO each year. Being asked to accept 2 weeks would be an insult.

      1. Same here, we tell people in interviews to negotiate this. I don’t much like our PTO policy so this is how we help people around it.

    5. Yes it’s pretty standard to negotiate a seniority match, I’ve done it a few times.

    6. reading these responses, very much wishing I’d known this was negotiable

      It’s not something I’ve ever been offered, although I’ve never pushed for it

      1. I mean, the whole point of negotiations is getting things that aren’t straight up offered to you.

    7. Thanks all. I don’t have the offer yet but I’m near-certain it’s coming. The interviewer made it clear that the offer would detail the PTO at the new hire level (which is in fact 2 weeks total) and made some vague noises about “discussing it at that time” in a way that suggested to me that it will be an uphill battle to negotiate for more. I’m somewhat concerned they’ll try to appear magnanimous and give me 3 weeks (instead of the 6 I have at my current job) but as I said, I’m willing to walk away. Nothing is more important to me than sufficient PTO.

      1. Definitely walk away if they’re being pedantic about tenure. It’s an indicator of how this company treats its employees in all regards. That means they’re the type of employer who barely keeps your salary in line with inflation, provides minimal schedule flexibility, avoids providing benefits whenever they can get away with it…

      2. I have found that this tends to be common in manufacturing, even if you’re, eg, in house counsel.

        That said, companies can figure out how to make it work. My company gives me insane flexibility such that I rarely need to take PTO: full remote + if I work a half day, I can put in for the full eight hours. (Contrast a company I used to work for wherein my boss said that if I left a half hour early, I had to put in for four hours of PTO and would t let me roll unused PTO.)

      3. maybe it was just a socially awkward way of him to signal to you that this would, in fact, be negotiable?

    8. When I started at my company I negotiated for an extra week of vacation, which matched my seniority level at the time. But they didn’t give me that seniority level going forward, so now I’ve had to wait a full 10 years before I got another week.

      I’d suggest trying to negotiate starting at a higher seniority level rather than just taking the extra week of vacation.

      1. I just checked and they updated the policy, so now I don’t get extra vacation until year 15. Bleh.

  6. I don’t know what the heck is going on in the level above me, but they are wildly shifting directions on a project from week to week, and then it’s on me to actually execute. I am frustrated, my team is frustrated, and I’m caught in the middle. Any pushback, even if it’s gentle, is not landing well with my boss. It’s pretty clear that I need to shut up and just do it, no matter how misguided. I am having some very strong internal reactions to this situation, and I fear that it’s coming out in weird ways even though I’m trying not to let it get to me. I just don’t do well when I feel like I’ve been set up to fail, you know?

    1. I’ve been in this situation before and it stinks. Your frustration is valid. My coping mechanism is to document the changes in direction in case I need it in the future. And to remember that I can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, and refuse to internalize other people’s problems as my shortcomings.

    2. This is sorta happening to me right now so I don’t have any good advice. But I can say that after several months of constant changes they were pressing me about “whether I understood the direction/could explain it to others” and I slowly sent from the “there is a lack of clarity” to “I have significant documented concerns” to “I have no idea what is going on” and that last thing led to some improvement in the situation actually.

  7. I’m struggling with motivation to work out, really to move my body at all. My busy season at work this spring led to a busy year. I have an in-person job with a fairly lengthy driving commute, I sit at my desk, I eat in my car or at my desk, and I go home and basically fall straight into bed. I don’t think I’m depressed – a lot of this is time, but I recognize at this point I do have/could carve out time and I just don’t want to. I’m almost 40 and know it’s better for me long-term to workout. What motivated you to get into a working out streak even in busy periods?

    1. At this point in my life, I work out for the mental benefits as much or more than the physical. But also, when you’re sitting this much, you do start to feel really blah. Or at least I do. During busy periods, the one thing that motivates me is knowing that I’m carving out a tiny bit of time just for myself that bosses, spouses, kids, etc. can’t take from me.

    2. Worsening back pain and clothes that stopped fitting have been the best motivators for me to actually get up early and go work out.

      1. Yeah. As someone with brand new back pain in my mid-40s, I’m trying to keep the flareup impacts to a minimum with workouts.

    3. Do whatever you find fun. Do you like the energy of a dance class? The peacefulness and difficulty of a trail run? Pick whatever makes you at least somewhat excited to try and make that your focus. For me, mountain biking is the way.

    4. Can you walk at work at all? I worked at a university for a few years so I would take a stroll across campus for the real Cuban coffee even though the Starbucks was next to my office. Getting outside was nice.

    5. Are you someone who would be motivated by a pedometer or smart watch that lets you track your steps? (Apparently I am, and I don’t mind if it’s silly if it gets me to try to hit my targets from day to day.)

      Does working out give you more energy, or sap the energy you have? If I were falling into bed at baseline, didn’t feel depressed, and working out wasn’t helping, I would follow up with a doctor to make sure I wasn’t missing something common and treatable that has fatigue as a symptom.

      1. If you are of Tamagachi age, Garmin has a “Save the Kitties” watch face that gives you additional cats for moving. I find it much more motivating than closing rings.

    6. I just made it enjoyable. I joined a luxury gym where the shower and steam room are a treat. I don’t force myself to do it first thing because in the morning because that means i need to both work out and get up early and thats two things. Obviously your schedule might differ.

      Also if I’m really not feeling it I can walk on the treadmill, jog really lightly or just do one set of all my lifts. In the grand scheme of life a few light workouts are fine as long as I keep moving and lifting. Unless I’m really in the mood my workouts are less than an hour. I listen to my podcasts or audiobooks while I workout. I buy nice looking gym clothes and have a complete wardrobe of cute and soft lounge wear to drive home in.

      Also I completely reject group fitness. I hate the weird show-offy vibe of the lady who is always in the front, the fact that the instructor might try to give you weird life advice and the one guy who is always grunting. It’s crazy to me that anyone enjoys it. The more I researched the more I learned that a “boot camp” style class is not only unnecessary but probably not the best tool for building strength. If it’s your thing then it’s awesome but it’s not necessary for exercise.

      1. Haha, same. I hate group fitness.

        Also I wish the saunas and steam rooms at my gym could be relaxing. People will not STOP TALKING in them.

      2. Haha, I love my group fitness classes. I find it much easier to motivate when others are around me and someone is telling me what to do. If I’m on my own I’ll give up before those last reps become hard. And I’ve come to like many of the regulars in the class. If the group instructor is too chatty or just weird, I just switch out to another class. And yes to a nice gym with a steam room and sauna. I take a grueling class on Friday late afternoon and follow it with steam room, sauna, ice cold shower. It is the best way to start my weekend and leave my work week behind!

    7. Either walk during the workday or do an early morning class before work, whichever seems best to you.

    9. I come home from work and the first thing I do after I change clothes from work is stretch. Full-body, on a yoga mat, sometimes with a Peleton or youtube guided workout. Sometimes for 10 minutes, sometimes as much as 30. It really helps with undoing the posture problems from sitting at a desk all day. Usually, after a short stretch I feel motivated to do a little more, like lift for 10 minutes or go for a walk in the neighborhood. I only do a hardcore workout maybe once a week, but just the stretching has made me feel so much better and unlocked some of the flexibility I had when I was younger.

    10. My go-to is a daily 20-30 minute walk at lunch. I feel like I have to take a break and get away from my desk anyway, and the walk helps re-energize me for the day. If you do this several days a week, it’s enough to boost your health in all kinds of ways. Sometimes I will also take a walk after dinner, which is another great time to get outside and decompress.

    11. Back pain when I don’t exercise, telling myself I can get Michelle Obama arms (I’m far from it).

    12. Paying a higher fee for small group personal training and having to sign up for a specific time. Once I am there I enjoy it but I definitely needs someone telling me what to do and making sure I am doing it.

    14. Recognizing that working out is not just better for me long-term, it’s better for me short-term – I sleep better, I have more energy, I have more mental clarity. It’s a gift to myself, on a daily basis.

  8. Here is a light request for recommendations! I love buying Advent calendars for my young adult daughters and have already procured beauty-related ones for 2026. This year, there is a fiance and a long-term boyfriend, and I’d like to include them in the tradition. Does anyone have suggestions for cool Advent calendars for young men?

      1. I bought this for myself one year, because no one thinks MOM might want to be surprised with a personally-selected advent calendar. Anyway, it was boring. It’s just shortbread in different shapes. I love shortbread, but I was underwhelmed.

    5. If they’re craft beer drinkers there are some great ones – we’ve done the 12 Beers of Christmas for a few years. I’ve also eyed the Bokksu Japanese snack advent calendar, which is a little spendy but seems very fun.

    6. just snagged a cheese advent calendar at Costco! Don’t know yet how if it’s any good of course.

    8. In case he is really into coffee, as in, he grinds his own beans and brews with distilled water, the Roasters Pack was a huge hit with the coffee snobs in my family last year. So much so that I’ve eliminated the surprise and just pre-ordered it for them again this year.

    10. I did crazy soda flavors last year (I did mini cans), and my teenagers liked that. Honestly, I find it very hard to buy gifts for them, and I don’t see it getting better. There are sports themed ones, but they seem kind of kitschy. There’s a fun F-1 racing calendar if you have an F-1 fan.

    11. I bought a really cute puzzle advent calendar two years ago from Uncommon Goods. That might be fun for a couple!

  9. Real question: How do you use your PTO without falling behind on your work? I am a hoarder of PTO, to the point where I’m going to lose it if I don’t use it. A good problem to have. Without fail, though, taking time off just leads to me feeling more behind. So I keep pushing through, and keep feeling burned out. It’s ridiculous.

    1. You become satisfied with doing less. Get comfortable with saying no whenever you can or with dropping balls to the extent that you can without losing your job. I’ve been surprised at just how much I can downgrade my performance (post baby) and still be considered one of the top performers at my job. I thought I needed to be putting in 95% effort but they’re satisfied with 50%.

      3. I was going to reply with “lower your standards,” but this says it much more eloquently.

      4. Yup, this. I worked in higher ed for many years and had 6 weeks of vacation (sick leave separate and essentially unlimited). It was rare to use it all, especially for “real” (1 week or more) vacations, but I considered it an important part of my comp since our pay was so crummy, and I made sure to use every expiring day.

        1. OP here, and yep … essentially a middle manager in higher ed. There’s nowhere to transfer the work, and I need to see that as not my problem. It’s hard.

          1. Ugh my sympathies. Higher Ed is the worst industry for “the world is going to end if we don’t get this done ASAP but actually the world isn’t going to end and it doesn’t matter at all.”
            I’ve worked in more stressful environments but nowhere with more unnecessary, self-created stress.

          2. 12:34, you said it. Nobody’s gonna die, but try telling that to administrators and faculty.

    2. Talk to your manager about coverage while you’re out or about reprioritizing deadlines.

    3. This depends on your team, but sometimes it’s easier to take last minute PTO. When there’s a lull I ask my supervisor if I can take Friday off.

      When I book PTO in advance I avoid scheduling anything critical leading up to or right after my days off. If something comes up beforehand I delegate the entire task when possible, instead of handing off half finished work to someone else.

    4. I find it helps to take it in smaller increments, like a Friday here a Monday there, or a long weekend.

      1. This, I take at least 1-2 random days off a month, usually to make a long weekend and it doesn’t result in the backlog but is very restorative.

      2. One time I had a whole bunch of PTO I had to use or lose, and I took every Friday off from mid-October until the end of the year. It was fantastic.

    5. If a company can’t function without you, that is their failure and not yours. Take the vacation.

        1. Which is annoying, to be sure, but the work will always be there, either in real-time or in catch-up. Take the vacation. Otherwise you’ll have worked the same amount but never gotten a break.

      2. Some of us have clients who depend on us. The only way to not do the work that is ethically required is to quit. We can’t just say “oh well” to the work we didn’t have time to complete.

        1. Early in my career, I worked in a field where, if some parts of the work didn’t get done, people literally died. I took no time off, stayed up until 2am regularly, and became generally a cranky jerk. Then I got asked to leave before I was fired, for being a cranky jerk.

          I worked in that high stakes field successfully for many years after. I took time off. I slept every night. Probably, some people died who might have lived if I had worked more hours. But in the long term, more people lived because I stayed in the field than if I’d burned out and left entirely.

          Part of working a high impact job is finding a way to make it sustainable.

          1. And in many cases, it’s just not that urgent. It might be unpleasant to come back to a lot of emails, but that’s a routine thing to expect, not something to never vacation because of. It’s like dishes or laundry when you have a family – there are always, always going to be a lot of dishes and clothes to wash. It doesn’t mean you never go on vacation because there’s an extra big pile of dirty clothes waiting or that you never host family because it makes more dishes.

        2. I mean you can probably get coverage or schedule those clients around planned vacations.

      3. I get that this is technically correct, but as long as you depend on a paycheck from this company, it’s still your problem even if it isn’t your failure. I always shake my head when people say this as if it means anything.

        1. Yep, me too. And who is going to get blamed when stuff doesn’t get done? The person who usually does it.

    6. Delegate and if you can’t, push back on deadlines to your manager.

      When I have “use or lose” I also like to take Fridays off or half days.

      I get 20 days of vacation (separate sick) and travel a lot for work. The work travel often earns me comp time and obviously I can’t take off while traveling. Comp time expires within 1 year; sometimes this doesn’t align with my major travel. For example, last year I took my big vacation in March and this year I took it in July. Between March and July I earned a lot of comp time but didn’t have much reason to take time off

      So, I took some summer Fridays. I left early afternoon some days (this just brings me such joy, I don’t know why). I went to a day MLB game. I went to the public pool when it was empty. I went to museums when they were empty.

      1. Along the same idea, take it on a Tuesday. Everyone assumes it is for a doctor’s appointment so they are less likely to bug you than a Monday or Friday. You just need to block off the time on your calendar and hold firm that you aren’t available that day.

    7. I could not take more than 4 days total for my wedding when I was a public defender. It was awful.

    9. I front load as much as possible, time my PTO for quieter times, take it in smaller portions, and don’t internalize the concept that I have to get things done on unreasonable timelines. I come at PTO with the perspective that I am senior enough to set expectations for my own work, and respecting my PTO sets an example for those junior to me that they can and should use their PTO, too. Our work is just work, it’s not life or death, it will be there once we are back. If we aren’t staffed enough to get the work done as quickly as TPTB want it done while people work normal hours and use their rightful PTO, that is a hiring issue and not a dedication to the cause issue.

      1. “I come at PTO with the perspective that I am senior enough to set expectations for my own work, and respecting my PTO sets an example for those junior to me that they can and should use their PTO, too.”

        That, plus setting expectations and boundaries actually helps other people perceive you as senior. If you’re too deferential and too willing to cancel your own PTO, you come off very junior and people will respond to that. The same goes for things like speaking to a CEO in the elevator or participating in a meeting with those more senior to you. If you act junior and tentative, others pick up on it.

    10. Do your colleagues take time off work? That can be empowering if you realize other well-regarded people at work take time off with no apology.

      1. OP here. They work the whole time they’re supposedly off, and I refuse to hold myself to that standard.

    11. This is about perception vs. reality. It leaves you feeling behind. Every organization will replace you if you leave. So whatever your work is can and will be done by someone else.

      Most of us prioritize our vacations in slow times. And then we delegate for coverage. You have to accept the work someone else does is not the work you would do but that doesn’t mean the work can’t or won’t be done. If you own your own business, that is certainly harder but not impossible. You just have to be more diligent about planning.

    12. I have found that it helps to add on one day before and one day after the actual vacation. This ensures I’m less stressed by not pushing trip prep in after work/before vacation, and have sufficient time to clean up/wind down before heading back to work where everything has become an emergency waiting for only me to resolve it.

    14. I remind myself that the reward for good work is more work and that there will always be more work. When I schedule time out of the office, I send out an initial notice and then remind often as we get closer. I do check my work email when I’m out but rarely respond; it decreases my stress knowing what I am coming back to.

  10. For my iPad I have a regular cover and also an Apple “Magic Keyboard” that I only use sometimes. When not in use the keyboard doesn’t have a place where it lives and I find it ends up floating around the house. I can’t really think of a good place to keep it. Where do people keep these keyboards when not in use?

    1. Replace both with the kind where the keyboard IS the cover (and a stand, and an extra battery bank, all in one).

      1. That would be way more weight than I want to carry around when I don’t need the keyboard.

    2. A few places: First preference is in a desk drawer. Second place is in a kitchen drawer where I also store cords. Third spot is in a bin in a living room cabinet for bulkier tech that can’t fit in the drawer.

    3. In general my rule is to keep things near where I typically use them. If I tended to use the keyboard at my desk, it would live in a desk drawer. If I tended to use it while sitting on the couch, it would live in a drawer of the end table. If I tended to type in bed, it would go in the nightstand.

      If you use the keyboard case in multiple places, the keyboard case is the best solution. You can swap it for a regular case for travel.

    4. In my desk drawer. I do not traditionally sit at my desk when I use my iPad, but the desk drawer seems like a perfect place for it.

    5. I’m going to quote Dana K White here, who would say that the way to find a home for something isn’t to try to think up a good place to keep it, but rather to ask yourself, “If I didn’t know where my keyboard might be and needed to start a long hunt to look for it, where is the first place I would go to start looking?” That’s the place where the keyboard should be stored. For me, that would be my desk, the bookcase next to my desk, or the drawer with my electronic stuff.

      Now, if the keyboard “floats around the house,” because you’re the kind of person who just put things down wherever you are without actually putting them away, then that’s a different thing to solve (with whatever kind of solution works best for you).

  11. My pediatrician recommends we get the COVID vaccine for my 22 month old, but his office does not have the required refrigeration to administer the shots. We cannot find any pharmacy that can do it. Any suggestions? We’re in NJ.

    1. Local health department? I don’t know how NJ is set up; my state has county-level departments that offer all the vaccines and will bill the major insurance companies for you.

    3. -maybe vaccine clinics at the big hospital & clinic brands
      -Have you called back the office to ask for help locating a vaccine? I feel like a pediatrician should help locate vaccines if they’re not going to provide them.

Comments are closed.