The Best Travel-Friendly Suits for Women

97 Comments

1. How do I not have saggy pants? I gained 20 pounds during covid and it basically all went to my tummy. So my hip vs waist measurements are not many inches apart. I feel like if I buy pants that fit my waist though that they inevitably stretch out and slide down! Do I just give up and pretend I’m pregnant and buy some of those bands??

   1. Belts and tailoring

   2. Or in my case, just hang off my a** because the weight did not land there, alas.

   3. I am not pregnant but honestly do recommend maternity pants if you think your weight gain will be temporary. You don’t need a separate band, you could try actual maternity work pants which look like normal pants but have a wide comfy waistband that expands a lot instead of buttons/zippers.

      I went through my clothing recently and pulled my maternity pants off the shelf because why n ot?

      1. Maternity pants are very obvious and people will think you’re pregnant. Also in my experience if weight has stuck around for the 1.5+ years this pandemic has been going on, it’s not going to come off quickly or easily.

         I would size up to accommodate the biggest part of your body and then have the pants tailored so they aren’t baggy in other parts.

   4. I wear belts for this reason.

   5. Get one of those elastic adjustable belts. I have huge hips for my waist and they make pants work when I can’t be bothered to get them altered.

   6. Elastic waistband pants! My pants fit my butt/legs well and then stretch out to my belly. My maternity pants don’t fit well.

      My Alfani and Charter Club pull on pants from Macy’s look good and are comfortable. I bought them postpartum, stopped wearing them when I lost the baby weight, and then started wearing them again for my pandemic weight.

   7. Stretchy pants. Betabrand, Wit and Wisdom, Sculptek, Wonderstretch, etc. Maternity belly bands are awful imo though some people like them. You’d have to buy extra long shirts to hide it.

   8. Some brands have fits that will more closely match your new shape – I find that Talbots pants, for example, have very little difference between waist and hip (and I can’t wear them for that reason, because my difference is like 12″.)

2. I have some suit pants that have internal snaps to adjust the length of the pants. Those are great for changing out shoes with the same suiting.

3. Ally McBeal level before times?

   1. I like it! I am currently w/o a black suit that fits, so maybe this is the replacement?

4. Following up from yesterday – I LOVE the idea of Cape May – that looks like what I had in mind. Any suggestions on where to stay?

   Will likely be 2 adults and 2 kids under 6.

   1. Cape May is cute and all but honestly I don’t know anyone who goes there as a tourist once it’s too cool to enjoy the beach/water – there’s some gimmicky stuff like Victorian Weekend and ghost tours? Why did Cape May strike you as the place to go?

      1. Sigh. She just said she loved it. Several people recommended it. Don’t be a negative Nellie.

         It’s a very cute town, the beach is nice to walk and play on even in winter.

         OP/ Beach Plum Farm is fantastic!

         1. she said she loved the IDEA of it… sometimes a long weekend is better in theory than reality depending on what expectations are. Knowing what the OP’s interests are and why Cape May seemed appealing is relevant in answering.

            1. We had this whole discussion yesterday. It’s not nice to respond to “hotel recs for trip I’m excited about” with “ewww why”

            2. Op here! Valid question.

               So this is a last minute surprise trip for my husbands 40th. In non-COVID times I would have surprised him with a long weekend to Scotland… then we had a big party planned and now… nothing is really working out.

               I need to stay in the northeast to avoid a quarantine from daycare. I also wasn’t able to get any grandparents to take the kids, so it’s with 2 kids. Baby has also never seen the ocean because she was born March 2020 and well… you get it.

               Cape May is the furthest south I can go without a quarantine, it’s the ocean, it’s kitschy enough to make him smile… it ticks the boxes.

   2. Maybe I’m a dork, but I love this place: https://www.wheatonarts.org . They do glass blowing demonstrations and pottery demonstrations, and there’s a glass museum and other old-timey stuff. I always saw school groups on field trips there in the before times.

5. I like St. John for travel. Stretch, and indestructible fabrics. There are lighter knits from them that will stand up to all but an Atlanta Summer.

   1. LOL I saw the first sentence and I thought you meant the Caribbean island. I was like “yeah, me too, the beaches are beautiful! But this seems like kind of a random comment…” Then I read the rest of your post, lol

6. My boss of the last six months has been headhunted to do the same job for another company. He has asked me to join his team over there. I really like working for him, but I’m nervous how a six month stint in a job would look on my resume in the future. FWIW I was at my prior company for 5 years and would stay at the new company for several years.

   1. You’re fine.

      I also think that you can speak to that in the future. “I didn’t go actively looking but my boss was moving, asked me to come with them, and we had a great working dynamic so I went.”

      1. +1 I’m very cautious about leaving a job after less than a year but this is an extenuating circumstance.

      2. Ditto — I have two instances where my boss left and “my boss left” has always been seen as a complete explanation.

      3. +1. You have a good rationale for the short stint.

      4. +1 I wouldn’t blink at this if I was hiring and you had this explanation.

      5. +4

      6. In fact, it’s a huge compliment – you’ve only worked together a short time and he/she wants to make sure to preserve the relationship? You’ll have no trouble explaining this.

   2. You’re fine. Short stints happen. Short stints (especially multiple) without reasonable explanation, which you have, are a yellow-to-red flag.

   3. No big deal at all, especially given your work history and this explanation. There is probably a way to explain it explicitly in your resume and cover letter down the road if that feels necessary.

   4. I wish I could take my boss with me to a potential new job that I’m expecting to accept in the next few days. My current org is dysfunctional and has treated my boss like crap, and I love love love working for them.

      I think it speaks to your work that your boss is wanting to take you with them after only 6 months.

   5. Any chance you can convince your current employer to give you the job your boss just vacated? I’ve seen newbies promoted for less. Chaos is a ladder and all that.

      1. Was coming on to say exactly this. I mean following is great, but don’t overlook the opportunity to move up

7. Reposting – caught the morning thread too late.

   Anyone have a favorite way to keep a food journal on your phone (iOS if it matters)? I should not nor do I want to track calories. I don’t need to track fitness. I don’t want to use MyFitnessPal or anything like that. I just need something that is basically a fancy excel spreadsheet to list my foods (I am trying to identify problem foods, not lose weight). I want to be able to do it on my phone, since I have that with me all the time and want it to be super easy to use because I won’t use it otherwise. Knowing myself, having an app vs. a self-created spreadsheet would cause me to be more likely to use it. I’ve tried a little paper notebook – FAILED. I’ve tried something on my computer – FAILED. I really suck at this stuff.

   Any suggestions?!

   1. Can you just make a note in Keep?

      1. I’ve never used Keep. Will investigate!

   2. Can you just use the notes feature since you apparently just want to write it down.

      1. I could, absolutely, yes. But I was hoping for something that had the days already built in and was pretty (dumb, I know hut it would motivate me to use it) because I am the laziest person on earth it seems! Definitely the fall back solution if there isn’t anything else.

         1. What about just putting an entry in your calendar for each day and filling it in from your phone?

   3. I don’t have iOS, but maybe look for a symptom tracker type app instead of a food related app if you want times/dates. A diary journal type app might work if you only need dates.

      1. Will check out those types of things. Thanks!

   4. Do you want to export it? I think MFP allows exports. Otherwise just do Notes, or maybe look for an intuitive eating journal app.

   5. How about just taking a picture of your meals?

   6. Would creating a Google doc work for you? Download the Google Sheets app, create a new sheet and then you have a spreadsheet on your phone?

      1. I downloaded several different apps after suggestions on this thread and none of them were wanted I wanted, so I did end up creating a spreadsheet in Google Sheets. Still not my ideal tracker, but it seems to be the best I can do for right now!

         Thanks all!

   7. I just use Evernote for an ongoing list, entering the most recent day’s meals at the top with the date.

      I am not very adept with it, so I don’t know if it is has broader functionality if you will want that later.

   8. When I was working to diagnose some stomach issues, I found several FODMAP apps that had the sort of tracking you might be looking for. I especially liked CaraCare – easy to track times you ate and the specific reactions you had, as well as the foods themselves.

   9. Calendar app?

8. Okay, I had a work from home multitasking fail that I needed to share.

   Today’s the day where I had meetings solidly from like 8:30-3 and then lots of catch up. During one of those meetings where I have to mostly listen, I thought, ‘Huh. Let me just chop some stuff mindlessly and I’ll make some potato soup with these beautiful, farm fresh organic potatoes I need to use.’

   Feeling lazy, I didn’t peel the potatoes but they were really well washed… or not. I also was really not thinking because I was listening to this call. Aaaand that’s how I currently have a pot of what appears to be mud. I made beautiful, farm fresh mud soup.

   1. Well, one of my most brilliant and beautiful friends used to regularly let her young kids/toddlers play in the dirt, much of which wound up in their mouths as they experimented. She would shrug…”they’ll be fine….” And she is a great pediatrician. And sure enough, none of them are allergic to anything and are tough as nails.

      So that’s my anecdata. Eat the dirt.

   2. I literally LOL-ed. I guess there’s no recovering that, either.

   3. Oh dear! Haha.

      I met a guy in a bookstore once who told me he eats soil for his health so you may have a market for your soup!

   4. I once made Spanish tortilla without cooking the potatoes first. There is no such thing as good multitasking.

      1. I did the very same thing once! This actually makes me feel better…

         1. Hah, I feel better too now.

9. I need to change it up. What is your favorite fall fragrance, whether a perfume or a home candle or diffuser?

   1. Serge Lutens – Fille en Aiguilles

10. I put on makeup this morning for the first time in a long time. It was . . . not good.

    It sank into my pores and also glommed on to any flaky skin (skin is oily and retin-a makes it flake a bit by my eyebrows / forehead and nose and chin). Like I looked worse, not better (for on-camera zoom call). Does foundation ever work? Is there something that floats over non-perfect skin and makes it look better? Or is makeup only for perfect skin, in which case I wouldn’t need it?

    1. I like Charlotte Tilbury’s Healthy Glow. Still need a bit of concealer for undereye and any blemishes, but it does a lovely job of evening out color while giving you a slightly sunkissed look.

       (If your foundation used to work well and it’s been sitting in your makeup drawer for a year and a half, it’s also entirely possible that it is WELL past its expiration date and the chemistry has changed.)

    2. Did you use makeup primer? It seems like you may to use to a new/different primer.

    3. Is your makeup old?

    4. For pores, you need a primer. I like the smash box primers. Porefessional from benefit is good but you have to let it set for kind of a long time, otherwise it pills.

       For flakes, I’m right there with you. My nose is perpetually flaky but also oily. It looks ok if I use a tinted moisturizer (I use Laura mercier) but the second I put any powder on it, it’s flake city. I gently scrub away as many flakes as possible before doing my makeup, but I still see some flakes.

    5. I have non-perfect skin and wear foundation daily. But the color and texture have to be darn near perfect; there’s not much room for error. It sounds like the formulation of this product isn’t quite right for your skin. I don’t have any great foundation recs for oily skin, but I will say that those “glowy” formulas look terrible on me and something more matte is better. If you have existing flakes, anything’s going to look bad, though. You can have less than perfect skin texture, but flakes are going to be very obvious with whatever makeup you use.

       1. Does anything float above your pores but not adhere to downy face fuzz?

          1. Use tinkle razors to eliminate the peach fuzz.

    6. I use retin-a and if I get flaky, I’ll soft washcloth to very, very gently exfoliate those areas.
       For your experience today – agree with others that this formula might not work for you. What about a BB cream, or using a mattifying primer under liquid/cream foundation?

       1. Just saw the bit about face fuzz – I am also fuzzy! I’ve been using the NYX mineral veil and it plays well with my peach fuzz. It’s pretty sheer.

    7. in addition to checking how old your makeup is, could you try applying your foundation as concealer (just where you need it) or getting an actual concealer and leaving most of your face uncovered?

       You could also focus on color instead of perfecting your skin. I feel way more awake with a touch of color on my lips and cheeks, and adding brown mascara (I’m fair, and black can be pretty stark).

       1. This. I only use foundation and full makeup for webinars I’m hosting and which are recorded.

          For daily Zooms, a bright red lipstick does wonders fr making me look awake and polished. I also smear some of that the same lipstick on my checks as blush, because I’m lazy and cannot be bothered to mess with a brush and powder blush.

          Now, if I want to be really fancy, I also do my eye brows – but that’s only one 1/30 days, LOL.

    8. Silcone-based foundation like FaceAtelier ultra skin doesn’t settle into lines

    9. I totally sympathize! Co-sign the suggestion to check your makeup’s age. You may want to try a gentle toner (I love Son & Park’s Beauty Water) and perhaps upgrade your moisturizer to treat some of the flakiness. I have oily skin too but if I don’t moisturize well, it also flakes around my nose/eyebrows/temples. In the summer, I use Kiehl’s Ultra Moisturizer … it absorbs really easily and doesn’t feel heavy at all. In the winter, I like the Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair. You may find that too rich, though. A good serum can also really help your skin, both in terms of exfoliating some of the flakiness and extra moisture.

       If your skin is hydrated, that should take care of a lot of the “pore sucking up anything I put on my face” issues. For times when you are really going full-face, a primer can make a big difference in terms of how your foundation sits on your face. Another key is to take your time and give your products time to sink in before you put on the next layer. Let your moisturizer really sink in and dry before you attempt to prime or layer on foundation.

       Finally, on days when I want a fast touch-up, I use MAC’s Studio Fix powder foundation. That stuff is magic! Go to a counter and get color matched (very important!) The pad applicator will give you really serious coverage, or invest in a brush and just give yourself a light dusting. Doesn’t settle in to pores/lines, gives really great coverage, feels like nothing on the skin. If it’s too matte for you, give yourself a gentle mist (another plug for Biossance … the Squalane + Hyaluronic Toning Mist) and let it dry. Helps make the finish more dewy.

    10. Makeup is the worst. Honestly if it’s zoom you can just blur yourself with the touch up feature. If you really want makeup and foundation isn’t working, I’d look at your routine. Throw out your expired products. Exfoliate with a good mask, apply a quality foundation on moisturized skin with the right tools, and don’t skip the primer or the settings spray. But seriously, just let software solve this problem. We’re evolving past makeup and real pants anyway.

    11. Very late reply but I’ve yet to find a full foundation that looks decent on my skin. I have great luck with nars radiant tinted moisturizer applied with a Bobbi brown face brush. It looks like my skin but slightly better and more even. I love it.

11. Thanks to everyone who answered my question the other day about high risk elderly folks and Moderna boosters. My dad’s PCP had told him there was nothing they could do for him because despite being in his 70s with a long list of health conditions he isn’t technically “immunocompromised” but today he consulted with one of his specialist doctors who felt very strongly that he should get a booster ASAP and arranged for him to get Moderna #3 at the hospital pharmacy today. This is a huge relief for me.

    1. Excellent outcome! Very happy for you and hopefully full protection will remain for a long time.

12. Moment of frustration today – I went to Williams Sonoma to return a gift (with gift receipt). However, because more than 30 days had elapsed since the gift-giver purchased the item, they would not give me merchandise credit and basically just gave me their customer service number to call.

    I asked how this is supposed to work with holiday giving (since we’re all being encouraged to shop in advance due to possible shipping delays) and told not to worry because the clock starts when the item is delivered. OK, guess risk is on me then, because if something happens to ship quickly it’s unable to be exchanged in January??

    So… guess who won’t be shopping from THAT family of brands this Christmas??

    1. They’re part of the Pottery Barn family right? Pottery Barn has terrrrrible customer service.

    2. I’ve been wondering the same thing re: Christmas returns. Unless retailers extend their return policies to account for early buying, it’s gonna be a mess.

       1. I think the retailers are loving the fact that people won’t be able to return gifts ordered early and will not extend the return window.

13. Speaking of holiday shopping, my MIL asked for a list today because she’s worried about shipping delays. Guys, it’s September. I have no ideas.

    What are y’all asking for? I read a lot and like being outside with my horse, but am facing possible elbow surgery in the next few months which could derail all of my cold weather plans.

    1. I always ask for books, candles, or tea. I hate providing wish lists, so those are always my fall back plans.

       Last year I also asked for a fancy planner, so I might do that again this year.

    2. If you don’t already have a kindle, an impending arm surgery could be a great reason to get one; they’re very easy to hold with one hand. Added bonus, I bought the Brooklyn Public Library out-of-state card this year and have probably saved hundreds of dollars on e-books and audiobooks (I’m in a city where the library system is much smaller/less options/longer waits).

    3. I feel you. I’m not in the mood for holiday shopping or making my own holiday lists. I’m actually hoping that since it’s so early, I can get the shopping and list-making over with, and then spend the actual holiday season focused on non-mercenary aspects of the holidays. But, sheesh, we’re over a month away from Halloween.

       Especially if I were having surgery, I’d focus on warm and cozy things and lean into the reading hobby. Things like Ugg slippers or cashmere socks, a beautiful throw blanket or the Barefoot Dreams robe, your favorite tea or coffee, a temperature controlled mug, Ann Bogel’s new book journal (My Reading Life), a new Kindle Paperwhite, actual books, a bathtub book caddy (if you like baths), a personal library stamp or embosser (if you enjoy owning your own books).

    4. Any cookware to update, a warm cozy throw blanket to read under, slippers,

    5. Based on this morning’s thread, a heated vest!!

    6. Donation to a charity of your choice.

       1. Yep. I don’t need more stuff in my life. I would much rather have the money go to a good cause.

    7. well don’t ask for anything from the Pottery Barn / Williams Sonoma family, see my annoyance above!

    8. My mom does this every year. I hate stuff and am asking for food delivery gift cards.

    9. Gift certificates to local restaurants from which I can get takeout to eat solo. (I will eat in restaurants but realized that gift cards are awkward when with a companion and I’m not usually intending to cover them.) I can’t really justify the spend but I want to support them and this is something my parents like to spend on.

    10. beeswax candles, a big hydro flask, throw blankets, slippers, a Patagonia vest

    11. Fancy linen garment bags – I need a better system for storing off season & special occasion items that doesn’t involve dust bunnies.

        A specific piece of art or wall decor for our bedroom (searching for exactly what I want but I have a mental picture!)

        A fresh set of everyday wine glasses (ours are stained at the base where red wine has seeped into the joint over the years, but it feels wasteful to spend money on new when they work just fine….)

    12. I got a Barefoot Dreams blanket as a gift, and everyone in our family fights over who gets to cuddle with it.

    13. Books, tote bags, face masks and other fun skincare, candles

    14. My MIL is same! Things I want for Christmas (generally) and MIL will pick one of these (probably): Lettuce Grow, Vitamix (love smoothies and my blender is on last leg), another Butter Pat cast iron skillet (MIL got me one last year and I absolutely love it), Blackberry farm pantry, Peloton apparel!

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