Tuesday’s TPS Report: ‘Fluid’ Jacquard Cardigan

75 Comments

1. Do not like that material at all, it looks like it belongs on a sofa!

2. Love it!

3. Cute! I like it for winter!

4. I like it a lot, but not 100% certain what the fabric would look like in person . . . or if it would shed like mad on my black sheath dresses & skirts.

5. From N’s website:
   Viscose rayon/polyester/cotton/modal/cashmere; dry clean

   Sigh. I am always leery of those concoctions of materials. If it were more cashmere and I could risk handwashing it, it would be a definite buy!

   1. Same here. I was on the hunt for a merino/cashmere cardi and liked the look of this one. But the assortment of materials put me off as I wasn’t sure if it would keep me warm in the office – if I travelled to cold climates.

6. I like it, but would probably need to belt it. For you Nordstrom-less NYC folks, I checked out the new Rack at Union Square on Friday. It’s a manageable size (compared to say, Century 21) and I found a lot of great CE brand stuff. I got a gorgeous wool CE Atelier pant suit for $200; I don’t think it is available online. It didn’t even require that much digging to find matching pieces! Lots of cute non-suit jackets, too. They divide the shoe department into designer vs non-designer, so it was easy to find the Ferragamos and Stuart W shoes. And there was a whole rack of James Perse tees!

   1. Thanks for the reminder about Nordstrom Rack. I shop way too much at N and the Rack is always an afterthought, but it should not be. I never seem to find anything I like there but I should probably try and go more often.

7. Usually not a fan of jacquard, but kinda loving this look. Can anyone comment on the feel and look of the fabric? I would hate to look like a sofa ;-)

8. I want to point out that Classiques Entier and Classiques Entier Atelier (which this blazer is) are different brands. As much as I love CE, CE Atelier clothing tends to be more boxy and seems geared toward older women. The brands are even in different departments (Atelier is in the same department along with St. John and Lafayette, CE is in the Individualist department along with Trina Turk and Theory).

   Yes, I spend way too much time at Nordstrom! :)

   1. Clerky you are awesome. Thanks for the explanation.

      1. No problem! At first I didn’t realize there was any difference between the two brands until I realized how different the fit was. About half of my wardrobe at this point is from CE, but everything that I have purchased from Atelier I have ended up returning. Something about the Atelier fit does not work for me (too boxy and aging, somehow).

         1. I mostly agree with the assessment. But I would still encourage trying on some of the Atelier pieces. My absolute favorite black dress pants and casual pants are Atlelier, and both are completely modern. I’ve tried several other styles hoping for similiar fit but they looked absolutely awful (too high in the waist, too long, too boxy, etc.).

            I know styles are different under every brand, but I think Atelier is more varied than most.

   2. Clerky, i think i disagree a bit. You might recall that last week I had found a great CE suit during the Anniv. sale. I had always just stayed in the section where CE is located (“Individualist”) …feeling that every quick run through the next section in the store found (“Studio”) very high, impractical pricing for me. Although some are glorious, in my earliest of 50 years (had that bday cruise in 2008…softened the blow).

      Well, this black suit was brought to me by the sales consultant, so I didn’t know where it was located originally. I looked at it yesterday and It’s CE Atlier…glimmery black, with faux belt, great buckle on the skirt, and double collar on the jacket. Not on line sadly. Fits perfectly on my hourglass.

      Then a red CE Atlier suit…skirt is true to size. The jacket, well I was swimming in it…has a long cut, so I am waiting for a much smaller size in the mail…liked that it has an unusual jacket cut and two belts. http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3096682/0~2376776~2374327~2374330?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=2374330&P=1

      The CE suit in grey “twisted stripe” (on line) was terribly boxy in the jacket. It will require taking up and in to make some shape out of it…seemed so matronly and, gasp, masculine … I’d almost need to think about having a tailor add a strip of lace or trim or something, somewhere…probably will go back to the store. http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3097958/0~2376776~2374327~2374330?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=2374330&P=2

      I was surprised last night to realize that the CE Atelier skirts are equal to or “only” $10 more than the CE skirts…maybe it’s because of the Anniv. sale? So much for impressions when zipping through store “sections.”

      Here’s to knowing that YMMV holds true for within-lines of clothing as well.

      1. This is Clerky, for some reason I can’t post under my usual name. So glad that the Atelier suits worked out for you! I haven’t found anything in that section I have liked much, but reading your comments, it’s probably worth checking out again.

         1. Good luck, Clerky! I will be keeping the red CEAetlier skirt regardless of what the jacket brings. It’s a fine piece of pencil skirt without being so tight as to be inappropriate on me. I guess that discrepancy in the skirt vs. the jacket is why the skirt isn’t listed online any longer? If/when the black CEAtelier suit shows up on line, I”ll post it to your attention. It always takes me aback at Nordies, when looking for suits, as many other dept. stores and chains tend to present ALL their suiting together. Yeah, we wander through other depts. at Nordies.

            FWIW, my new Rack in Houston has not had any CE suiting pieces there…more like suits sold as one piece, A Papelle etc … more like what I”d find at Macy’s. It’s curious. Houston’s seems much more downplayed in style and content than the one I frequented in Maryland. Ah well.

            Happy midweek to you. Elizabeth

9. Hello Chico’s.

   1. This is much too tight for Chico’s! :)

10. I posted this late last night and fear it may have been missed. I saw this CNN article and all I could think of was Kat’s post on Road ID – I may get one now. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/26/arizona.crash.mixup/index.html?hpt=T2

    Also, to the girl asking about a 2 page resume, I also replied with my experience on your thread.

    1. Thanks for the reminder. I had mine and hubby’s Road ID’s in the shopping basket and hadn’t “pulled the trigger” until now.

    2. Oh God, can you imagine how badly injured someone must be to be unrecognizable even by her family? Awful, just awful.

       1. While I completely agree, these two girls looked very similar, complicating matters, I’m sure.

11. Ooooh, meant to ask, did anyone go to the Dallas meet-up? How was it, and most importantly, what did you wear?

    1. I would love to know as well!

       Anyone else live in Philly? I’m moving there in the fall.

    2. I wish I could have gone, but I had a federal court MSJ filing that Friday and midnight filing deadlines are the work of the devil. I hope it went well – I had even worn something cute to work on Friday in case I was able to escape.

    3. I want to see pictures.

       We should have one in DC. I think there are a lot of DC Corporettes here.

12. I bought that cardigan at the Nordie sale! The salesperson picked it out and persuaded me to try it on. It is gorgeous. The fabric is lovely and silky. It drapes perfectly and is very slimming. It is an elegant piece.

    1. it’s not too heavy for Southern California?

    2. what’s the sizing like? Would you size up or down if you’re between sizes?

       1. I also bought this at the sale. Ditto the comments above about the fabric – it is soft, substantial enough to sub for a jacket and hangs beautifully. It also looks as if it won’t pill or shed (fingers crossed). I plan to wear it both belted and open. Re sizing, I’d go smaller if between sizes; that generally seems true of the Atelier branch of Classiques Entier, and it worked for me this time.

13. Threadjack –

    Just wanted to vent/get opinions on this.

    I work for a large corporation spread out around the country. My boss is a 2 hour flight away. I go to visit him once or twice a year, he’s never come to my location.

    When I fly to other locations, I am generally not permitted to rent a car and am dependent on boss/coworkers to take me around to meetings, pick me up from the hotel, take me home, etc.

    I just found out that my team members and boss will be in all day meetings when I am up for my visit this year. I think it’s pointless for me to go on this trip if I won’t be meeting with them. My boss thinks it’s fine for me to just sit in an office on my laptop at another location all day and I think it’s totally pointless. Why travel somewhere and have the company pay for hotel/airfare/meals when I just sit there and work by myself like I can do at home? Waste of time and money.

    Am I being unrealistic? Usually when I am up, I spend a great deal of time with my boss, but I hate depending on him for rides home, to get dinner, etc. I know he has a life, but it’s such a pain not to have a car. Last year he couldn’t get dinner with me several nights so I just had to get room service at the hotel and then a coworker went out with me another night. Several days he didn’t want to get lunch with me, so again, I eat out of the snack machine or I find someone else to take me (and really, there are only two other team members at this location – eveyone I work with is spread out amongst 3 different buildings in this large city).

    I feel like I am asking him to clear his entire schedule to cart me around – and maybe I am – but I think that if I am not permitted to get a car that I should have someone to take me to eat meals. He doesn’t work in an urban area where there is any way I can walk to places.

    Arghhhh. So frusterating. It feels like I have to “ask my dad” to get some damn dinner.

    1. I don’t see the point of this trip, what are you supposed to accomplish during it? Maybe it should be postponed to some time when you can get face time with the boss. As to when that happens, I assume by “not permitted” to rent a car you mean you won’t be reimbursed for it? I imagine you’ve already tried to change that policy so at this point, I would just rent a car and pay for it yourself. The claustrophobia/dependency feeling is not worth it. If the company is paying for cabs back/forth to airport, perhaps they will pay for those and you can use that money to offset some of the car costs. Seems like a ridiculous policy all around.

       1. I don’t know the ponit either, the point is just to spend time with my boss and see the 2 team members who are up there and any other people I am working on projects with (and they are all at other locations, around 15 -20 miles away).

          That’s a great idea about renting a car and paying for it myself. I honestly didn’t even think of it.

          And yeah, I’ve asked about the car, he just tells me it’s unecessary as he will drive me and that it’s not approved. he even picks me up from the airport. When he told me he’d be in meetings all that day I brought the car thing up with him again, and said I’d take a cab/shuttle but he insists that he or a teammate will come get me.

    2. Can you pay for your own car rental out of your pocket? I know for me the $25-$30/day would be well worth having the freedom to leave my hotel!

       I do agree it is a waste of time to travel just to sit in an office by yourself.

       1. Re: Waste of time.

          So glad you agree with me. My boss was upset with me when we were both travelling to a third location because I went around the office and talked to everyone (and by talking, I mean sitting down and catching up, talking work, getting face time, etc). He said it looked like I wasn’t doing any work as I was barely at my desk. I told him then that I didn’t see the point of travelling to another location and just working like normal, that I wanted to go around and talk to people I only see once a year.

          Apparently my social nature makes me look like I am just chit chatting all day. But it this really SO horrible to chit chat with someone for 5 minutes who I see once a year? He told me to make the meetings formal and behind closed doors and on the calender so others would know I was working.

          1. “He told me to make the meetings formal and behind closed doors and on the calender so others would know I was working.”

             Okay, don’t kill me, but I feel like (and I don’t know him, so I could be wrong), he is trying to help you/clue you in to the firm culture on this one. Just go with it, even if it seems silly to you.

             1. It could be and I appreciate your honest feedback. Thanks.

                I work for a bank by the way…and am the only female in an entire department of male coworkers. So I don’t feel like I totally fit in and play the game right in this old boys club.

          2. Can you schedule your lunches w/key coworkers to catch up and perhaps even picking up their lunch? This would give you a chance to catch up and ensure you get out for lunch. Talk to them when you arrive or drop them a note prior to your trip.

             BTW – I agree it is a waste to have you travel to another location to do exactly what you could have done in Chicago.

          3. Whenever I went to other corporate locations, I went for specific meetings. I always scheduled meetings with everyone I wanted/needed to see, just to make sure they were in town.

             I can see how just walking around and chatting can look like an inefficient use of your time to your boss. I always asked the engineering assistant to let everyone in the department know I was in town, would be sitting in such and such a location, and would welcome people to stop by and chat about their IP issues. Kind of like office hours I guess. If I needed to go to another person’s office or a conference room, I’d leave a note on my computer screen saying I’m with so and so, be back soon. You don’t go to another location to do the work you do every day. You go to meet the people you usually talk to on the phone, and establish a better working relationship.

          4. What about telling everyone when you are there and saying you will be at your desk for the 2 days (in addition to scheduling lunches, etc)? Then they stop by YOUR desk for the chit chat. Might change the optics a bit.

       2. Wow where can you rent a car for $25/30 a day? We are flying to Colorado for a wedding in a few weeks and to rent a car from Thurs to Sun will be approx $250… :( If anyone has codes or secrets please share!

          1. try Costco if you’re a member (or join to save $!)

             1. THANK YOU. I am a member (thanks mom & dad for adding me to your membership!) and I just re-rented a car through Costco and my rental dropped from $269 to $125. Anon at 11:56am you ROCK!

          2. If you can rent from someplace other than the airport, it’s usually much cheaper. I’ve seen fees/surcharges at airports that are more than the price of the rental itself! They’re also more likely to force you to pay for a full tank of gas at some exorbitant rate instead of allowing you to fill up on your own or pay for the gas you’ve actually used. Weekly rates and weekday rates are usually a bit cheaper than weekends as well.

          3. Also try hotwire.com. Sometimes if you prepay you can get much cheaper prices through them.

          4. Do you have your own insurance? If not, that raises the price greatly. If you don’t need to get the car rental company’s insurance it’s much cheaper.

          5. I have oodles of rental car discount numbers (AAA, alumni associations, military, etc.) and by far the best for us has been the discount that comes with my husband’s membership in the Hawaii bar. So check with your bar association for discount numbers.

             And to the OP, if your hotel has room service, it can also get you a rental car. Ask the front desk next time. That way, your boss can pick you up at the airport, but when he’s not around, you can get yourself a car and he’ll never need to know. For what it’s worth, I work in the Midwest but the rest of my office is in DC. When I visit (about once or twice a year) it’s nonstop chit-chat. I usually don’t have time to eat, even, because there are so many people I want to see. Sounds like you and I are doing the same thing.

             1. Thanks North Shore. Great ideas and good to know you do something similar.

    3. Totally rent the car yourself – you can also probably claim a tax write-off for it as an unreimbursed business expense. Cold comfort, I guess, but it’s better than being totally out of pocket.

       Also, it sounds like your boss has a high need for control. Have you considered getting a new job?

       1. If she only sees him once or twice a year it really doesn’t sound so bad :)

       2. He’s a TOTAL control freak to the point where he speaks over me and inturrupts me with things he thinks I should be saying. I’ve talked to him about it and he tells me he’s trying to help me. It just makes me (and hopefully more him) look like an idiot. Luckily, I rarely talk to him or see him.

    4. You’re likely permitted to rent a car; they just won’t reimburse you, right? Rent it. It will be worth it. They probably hate carting you around as much as you hate being carted around and being dependent upon them. Schedule one or two dinners with the boss while you are there, and otherwise, just act, and be, independent of him.

       Traveling to sit in another office to do the same work on your laptop—without getting much of a chance to see your colleagues—does seem odd, but from what I have observed, this is how corporate life often is. (B-I-L works at big 4/big 5 accounting firm, they pull the same pointless stuff on him, but you must go along, or be perceived as not a team player . . . ) Who knows, if you don’t go, your boss may all of a sudden clear his or her schedule, and complain to someone higher up that you didn’t take the time to come and he’s had his eye on this up-and-comer anyway, etc., etc. It’s not worth the risk of ruffling feathers by bucking the trend of what they’ve always done. For some things (correcting workplace injustices/prejudices), yes, but not to save a few days of boredom and travel.

       Am I the only one who loves room service, especially the part where you don’t have to do dishes? Sometimes it’s more relaxing not to have to make conversation. Try to think of it that way.

       1. I like room service and I like going to restaurants and eating by myself. People watching is fun :)

       2. I love room service, but I don’t think I’d like having no choice but room service – it’d feel claustrophobic.

       3. I love room service too. I spend all day, every day talking to people – work colleagues, opposing counsel, clients, husband, kids. I really enjoy a night alone in a hotel with room service and a movie. That’s my idea of heaven (actually, going to the movies by myself is my absolute favorite thing to do.)

          1. RR, I think we must be cut from the same cloth, because I like going to the movies alone, too!

             1. Isn’t it great? You don’t have to worry about whether someone else wants to see the movie or whether they like it or whether it fits into their schedule. A few times a year, I play hooky for an afternoon and go to a matinee by myself.

          2. It is one of my favorite things – alone in a hotel room, room service, movie. I bring nail polish etc to give myself a mani/pedi, too. Sooo nice and peaceful.

    5. Before renting a car yourself, I would double check to make sure it is not against the company regs. My father’s company forbade them from driving on any company trips because of liability reasons. They could cab, limo, shuttle, train, as much as they wanted but no driving. They didn’t want to pay if the employee hit someone on company business. It would be interesting legal question if you had paid for it yourself but you would still be on a company trip.

       1. It’s not, when I go to locations that I don’t know anyone at it’s just fine for me to rent a car. I think they just don’t like me driving around a strange city by myself and feel like it’s easy just to pick me up.

          1. How weirdly paternalistic.

          2. “They don’t like me driving around a strange city by myself and feel like it’s easy just to pick me up” doesn’t make sense. They don’t have a problem with you driving around a strange city by yourself when you go to locations where you don’t know anyone. (And, of course, there’s no reason that an adult shouldn’t be able to drive around a strange city by herself.)

             1. I say that because my boss made a comment about it two times in the past. Once in relation to the city he works in, and once in relation to another city I had to travel to last year. He went so far as to tell me he didn’t want me driving around that particular city alone because it was so big and that he was sending a teammate with me. I was hugely offended by his comment and I informed him his comment was entirely inappropriate. He made the comment on a phone call that his boss was also a part of. His boss called me after it, and I told him too how inappropriate and offensive I found the comment.

                Yeah, I really should find a new job. :(

    6. This is really funny. The company won’t pay for a rental car, but will pay to fly you in, put you in a hotel, and feed you, so you can NOT have any meetings. This is how company’s waste money every day. Having been in this exact position, it is a waste of time for you and a waste of money for the company. If he wants you there, he needs to make enough time for you that makes it worth your while. If he can’t do it on a particular day, then he should be willing to change days. It’s disrespectful.

       Not that I’m suggesting anything, but I wonder what his bosses would think about the waste of money in this economy.

    7. Do you essentially work from home in a different city from the rest of these coworkers? If so, it sounds like the point of your trip is basically for them to see that you exist and are working hard. If you’re always nothing more than a voice on the phone, it’s easy for them not to realize what skills and benefits you bring to the company. So even if it seems silly for you to sit in an office doing the same work you do from home, you should consider the trip as an investment in your success with the company. My job has a lot of staff working from remote locations and the once-a-year annual meeting is a HUGE event for us because it’s the chance to actually put a face to people’s names and get to know each other – and the people who miss an annual meeting definitely suffer because they fail to meet new staff, build relationships, etc.

       It sounds like the firm culture values being thrifty and keeping your head down/not making waves. So if you really think it’s pointless to make the trip without being able to meet with your colleagues, frame your argument in terms of efficiency and value. Instead of proposing not to make the trip (which would be perceived as making waves), propose to make it at a later date when you can schedule meetings with everyone and, essentially, maximize the utility of your trip – frame it as getting more bang for your company’s buck, since they’re spending the money to bring you there.

       As for the car thing, it seems penny wise and pound foolish, but I’d drop it. Your boss has made clear how he feels. It may not be a good idea to rent a car on your own dime, either – you’re essentially sending the signal that you’ll spend your own cash on things that are the company’s responsibility, your boss may perceive that you’re wasting money and he obviously values thrift, and your coworkers/boss might feel like you don’t like them and don’t want to spend time with them getting rides or eating out. So consider carefully whether you want to rent one.

       1. This is great advice Erin, thank you. You are very on target with your assesment of my company.

          1. I just finished reading Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office (thanks for the recommendation, fellow Corporettes) and am in company-assessing mode lately :).

    8. What’s the point of the trip anyway? Can’t you reschedule so that you can atleast get face-time with boss/co workers?

       Re: car, aren’t cabs an option? Company can pick up the tab presumably. I am not sure why they need to cart you around – smacks of school to me.

       Also re dinner: why would you expect co workers to have dinner with you? Their job ends when they walk out of the door. I have never expected co workers/boss to have dinner with me when I travel abroad for work (maybe a catch up dinner , but that’s optional and certainly not more than once) and not sure why you think they should. I either order in or get recommendations from co workers/concierge at hotel etc or just explore on my own (in safe areas).

       I’m sorry if I sound snarky but your (dinner) expectations sound very ‘prima donna’ to me. Grow up!

14. In all honesty, I am afraid Chicago K will come across as whiny if she pursues this any more. The ability to Just Deal with work situations that are merely annoying is a major factor in success. Your boss wants you to go, and be inconvenienced by the transportation situation. So go, and be inconvenienced. You’re getting paid, right?

    And I totally don’t understand the room service problem. Dinner in a nice, quiet hotel room sounds like heaven.

    1. I have to agree — it sounds as if Boss is being unreasonable and inconsiderate, and it may be that he really gets off on inconveniencing you. That said, it’s only twice a year. I’d take some favorite books, cab it to a restaurant one or two nights (no way I’d spend my own money on a car, but that’s just me) during the course of the week, take my workout clothes and hit the hotel gym, and call it a mini- (although solitary) vacation. Not the best of times, but twice a year isn’t too bad.

       1. This.

    2. I totally agree with you about making waves/coming across as whiny. I am just going to drop it.

       The issue with room service is that it comes from the hotel bar and I am vegetarian, so the options for me are limited to eating a lot of appetizers, which I am perfectly happy to do a few of the nights – it’s like a built in excuse to eat junk food and lay in bed reading!

       Just the idea of that the whole week combined with not seeing a lot of people during the day combined with my very hectic schedule and not feeling like I have time for this trip anyway highly annoyed me this AM.

       1. oops that should read, “left me highly annoyed this AM.”

       2. I’m vegetarian too, and I haven’t yet found a hotel that cannot do pizza/pasta/sandwiches/soup (yeah I know they’re all boring) options for me. Ask them, explain the issue and am sure the hotel can help.

15. Bummer. Neither Classiques Entier nor Classiques Entier Atelier come in petites. It looks like they did have petites at one time but not anymore. I would buy more at Nordy’s if they had a well-rounded petites department.

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