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Thursday’s Workwear Report: Ultra-Stretch Ponte Short-Sleeve Midi Dress

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A woman wearing a dark purple midi dress and black strappy heels

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

Quince is always a great source for work basics, but I’m extra excited when they start making those basics in great colors, like this beautiful ponte dress. If you’ve been building a business casual wardrobe for awhile, you probably have a solid collection of black or navy dresses, but this short-sleeved number also comes in this gorgeous dark orchid purple, as well as ocean green, orchid blue, and espresso. At this price, I’m tempted to get it in three colors. 

The dress is $59.90 at Quince and comes in size XS-XL.

Sales of note for 7/19:

104 Comments

  1. I decided a little while ago to try to sell some old gold family jewelry and then I just got a notice in the mail about a traveling gold buying event from some auction house that will be held in my city. Are those considered scammy? It would be convenient because it’s being held on a day I’m off from work but I would certainly prefer not to get completely ripped off if I’m going to do this. Any thoughts?

    1. So it depends. They’re going to buy it for gold value, which might be appropriate for the pieces or might not. If they’re unique or anything not a good option but if they’re just mass produced, it’s an easy way to get cash.

    2. You’ll get ripped off a little bit, of course. If you have absolutely no ties to this jewelry and it’s otherwise convenient, then go for it.

      If it has even a little sentimental value, or you think your kids, nieces, or nephews might want it one day (if it’s not completely hideous), think harder or do more research. I love vintage gold jewelry and always regretted never having any passed down to me, so buy it for myself.

    3. You won’t get the market price of gold, of course. I sold some similar old pieces to a very reputable jeweler, and when I asked him about the difference between the market price and what he paid me, he simply said “Profit”. Fair enough. It might be worth it to you to get a “good enough” price, instead of shopping it around for months and having the mental load on you.

      1. But you don’t get the market price selling ANYWHERE, right? Whether it’s a local jeweler or a traveling auction house?

        1. Correct. I think you can mail it in to some places and there’s less middleman involved.

        2. market price = scrap price, that’s the raw commodity value of the gold. So no, no one is paying you 100% of the commodity value as an individual. You may get an offer for 80% of commodity/scrap, etc. If you really hunt around, some refiners are more transparent than others. I remember there used to be a reputable mail-in vendor that did something like 91% but it was a while back and very much an “in the know” kind of place. (They profited on not actually scraping all the pieces, some were marked up and resold as whole pieces which is more lucrative).

    4. Do you know how much gold you have and what the current value is for that amount and quality? I would go into something like this knowing those details first. You aren’t likely to get top dollar but if your goal is to just get cash in hand, that may not matter.

      1. I have an idea as to the number of pieces and there is a mix of 14-carat and 24-carat, but I have no idea how the final “amount” is determined precisely or whether there are other quality considerations.

        2. Weigh how much you have of each, then look up the value by carat. But realize it’s going to be like consignment – you will get a lesser amount, not the actual market value.

    5. I’d have a jeweler melt it and make something new rather than selling it. Spur jewelry does a wonderful job of this.

      1. Not interested in this – I’m keeping the 1-2 meaningful pieces but I don’t wear jewelry except my engagement and wedding rings and no one else in the family wants the pieces either. Most of it is generic 1980s hoop earrings and things like that. We actually love antiques and family items (which is how our whole place is furnished) but these just don’t fit the bill and we need the cash more than new pieces.

        1. Sounds like a good enough reason. The hoops are back, but selling on Etsy is kind of a pain, so understand why you’re going this route.

    6. Best thing to do is buy a very cheap coffee scale and weighing each piece and calculating the scrap value of each piece. I like goldcalc.com – so 18k gold ring that’s 5 grams is $496 of total scrap value. Now a melter/buyer/refiner might offer you 80% of scrap and that’s typically pretty good. But if they offer you 50% or less, obviously that’s a huge scam. I will say the real real can be very dodgy for sellers, but they do a decent job for solid gold (i.e. the commision rate is 70% for items over $750, but they price gold at 2x scrap at minimum, so your $496 ring would be priced at $1000, and if it sold for that price you’d get $700 back. If it was discounted to $800, you’d make 65% commission at $525).

      1. This is very helpful, thank you! Are there any national-level stores (or any based in the SF Bay Area, where I am) that are known for offering good percentages?

        1. I’m not aware of any off the top of my head. You can call and ask and they should be able to just tell you what they offers as a benchmark. If they get squirrely you can just move onto the next place. If you’re asking it this way most jewelers will know you’re more serious. (I.e., I have 120 grams of 14k gold to sell, and 80 grams of 22k, I wanted to see what your scrap prices are?). Same thing with googling, most places/refiners online will be fairly transparent about it if they’re legitimate.

        2. Oh if you’re in the Bay Area, there are tons of cash for gold places. I’d check r3ddit and yelp for reviews. I’ve had friends sell what you’re talking about. You get a few hundred bucks but agree you might have better luck reselling the actual pieces, especially if they’re in good condition. Pawn shops are another option, lots in the mission.

          1. Unless pawn shops in your area are very different than the ones here, they are not going to give anything like 80% of the scrap value for gold jewelry. More like pennies on the dollar.

  2. Anyone been able to stop the 3am stress wake-ups? I’ve got great sleep hygiene, don’t go to bed worried, fall asleep fine, no phones/computers in the bedroom, but at 3:15, I wake up with a start with a new and improved anxiety about something. Sometimes it’s work, sometimes it’s home…the subject varies from night to night but it’s not something I’m typically worried about during the day. I take a baby dose of amitryptaline at night and magnesium.

    1. Have you tried taking a spoonful of peanut butter before bed? The theory is that you’re actually waking up because your blood sugar is dropping (you’re hangry) and the fat and protein from pb will help you stay asleep.

      That said I went thru a year or so with high stress and 3am wakeuos – Xanax kind of helped

      1. I’ll try that. It seems like it’s at the end of a REM cycle, so maybe. I don’t typically eat after 6:30, so by 3, my stomach is probably empty.

    2. I wake up in the middle of the night often, but usually fall right back asleep. Since it sounds like your brain is spinning on something to aggressively for that, can you redirect to something that isn’t an anxiety spiral?

      For me, when I realize I cannot get back to sleep I will read so I don’t spend the next few hours ruminating on how much I wish I was sleeping. Sometimes I read until my alarm goes off, other times I read for a few minutes and recognize I am ready to fall back asleep. This used to happen a lot more frequently than it does now. I think training my mind to do something calming rather than running through a doom loop helped tremendously.

      1. similarly, I turn on an audiobook (one that I’ve heard a gazillion times), and the story drowns out my spinning thoughts but also is boring enough to fall asleep.

    3. Yes. Some of the usual culprits are histamine dumping (in which case a cetirizine at bedtime can help) and blood sugar (the advice I received was to cut carbs/sugars at dinner and eat a protein snack before bed).

      I think in this case the anxious thoughts are prompted by the sympathetic nervous system being in overdrive, rather than the other way around. (We feel anxious because of the adrenaline, and then our mind fixates on something because of it.)

      1. Yeah, I think if it was the same thing every night, it would be anxiety, but maybe just my mind searching for an explanation because it’s panicking. My kid has 10pm night terrors, I have 3am panics, going to try some PB for both of us.

        1. My husband had night terrors pretty regularly until he had a final sobbing conversation with a loved one about some long-held feelings and they went away for good—about 15 years now.

    4. I’m kind of laughing at myself because my answer is exercise. I guess that’s not the default answer and now I feel a little silly but my experience is this is a problem that I can literally outrun. When I miss a few days the stress creeps in.

      1. +1 – if I lift heavy and/or run hard, I sleep well. I’m 47 but that got me out ahead of the middle of the night wake ups.

    5. I keep an audiobook playing in the background as next level white noise so that when I wake up, I immediately latch onto the story, which is one I already know well and won’t excite me. This has pretty much fixed it for me, but obviously your mileage may vary if you’re sharing a bedroom.

    6. If you’re 35+, anxiety and sleep disturbance are common signs of perimenopause. There are estrogen receptors everywhere in your body, so it may be worth having a conversation with your doctor or a specialist.

    7. Not the answer for everyone but a new job and limiting my contact with my mother. We can debate which one had the bigger contribution.

    8. I’ve been in therapy for a year, and the anxiety wakeups are less frequent. Most of the therapy has been about calming my nervous system down (vs addressing one specific topic).
      When I do wake up, I can usually get back to sleep with an audiobook. I like to have a “bedtime” audiobook and a “daytime” audiobook. The best bedtime audiobooks (for me) are essay collections read by a man with a good accent–Colm Toibin and Rick Bragg are favorites. I’ve been listening to the prologue of Rick Bragg’s The Best Cook in the World off and on for over 2 weeks now. (In fairness, it’s 1 hr 20 min long.) Also, I set my audiobook player to turn off after 30 minutes–otherwise, it’s hard to fall back into deep sleep.

    9. Bang awake at 3.30 every morning with an anxious surge too, so I can sympathise.

      For me it’s perimenopause.

      I’ve tried it all: protein snack, supplements, antihistamines, exercise, acupuncture (yesterday).

      Upping the dose of HRT helped but worse side effects (rage) emerged so I’m waiting for a specialist menopause clinic appointment in two weeks.

      Getting up immediately and making a calming hot drink, sitting outside in the cold (winter here) or going for a short walk has been the most helpful. Sounds counterintuitive but all the audiobooks in the library never help when my body is in that surge.

  3. What’s everyone doing for the holiday weekend? It’s boiling hot in my midwestern city so no cookouts for me

    1. My husband insists we are going to have a BBQ on Sunday. If I get my act together we’ll have a flag cake on Saturday. Other than that, we’re hunkering down in the AC.

    2. Dosing the dogs with Gabapentin and hiding in a closet. The neighbors put on a fireworks show comparable to that of a town’s show with massive fireworks that last a good half hour, and lots of other people will be randomly shooting fireworks starting last night. No joke, I’ve got some books loaded on the Kindle and have put down in my closet two yoga mats with a folded thick comforter over them, and several pillows.

    3. It is so damn hot in MA today that I can’t even imagine cooking, much less cooking over a hot grill. My husband swears he’ll grill, I’m picking up pre-made potato salad and serving toppings/crudites on the side along with a few cold desserts (cookies, icebox smores pie, and key lime bars). My teens have agreed to come with me to the movies on Sunday, I suspect for the snacks and aircon but I’ll take it.

    4. I cleaned up the Big Splash wading pool in my garage and invited my sister over for an evening mojito in the pool.

      2. Oooh. I have an inflatable pool in my basement from pandemic days, and I currently have no next door neighbors, so this might be what I do!

    5. Working – I found out yesterday my weekend is canceled and I’ll be working all weekend due to the extreme heat

      I work in operations for my city government- so between the heat and those impacts (opening/running cooling shelters, anticipated increase of 911 calls due to heat-related illness, potential impacts to the power grid and other utilities) AND the pre-existing July 4th festivities and all that they entail, my entire department was called in. We alternate holidays and I was supposed to be off for the 4th, but yesterday they said weekend’s canceled so here I am

    6. I have a summer gig at the local minor league ballpark, so I’ll be there. It’s nice after a day in an office job to be able to put my head down and cook, though I’m glad I no longer have to cook full time to pay the bills.

    7. Hiding in the AC and packing for Italy. We’re island-hopping near Naples for a week so… if anyone has specific restaurant recs for Ischia or Procida, lmk!

    8. Hoping the AC repair guy has the right parts to fix the unit that went from total champ to DOA overnight.

      2. Oof. This was me last year during the end of June heat wave. I ended up in a hotel for one night. Best wishes for you and your HVAC.

    9. We are going to a Fourth of July concert with fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl tonight — my older brother and his wife are joining us. Other than that, our weekend is blessedly free. Which is great because I just finished a giant Rotary project yesterday and could really use the down time.

    10. Nothing special for the Fourth. It’s too hot out to grill and we are not watching any fireworks.

      We normally go to the National mall for the fireworks since we live within walking distance. But between the incredibly late start time (wtf thought 11pm was a good idea?) and the ridiculous security, we are skipping it this year. Luckily, my toddlers, too young to realize that we’re skipping fireworks this year.

    12. Hosting a BBQ at our summer house for friends. Can’t wait, should be gorgeous weather.

    13. Going to my adorably Americana small town pancake breakfast and parade, and then a small BBQ with another couple in the evening.

  4. I’m really skeptical about this pick. Not sure this dress would work without major accessories.

      1. For me, it’s the high round neck, the sleeve length, and the exaggerated a-line skirt. I think I might could live with any two of these three things, but all three together is just not doing it for me.

      2. +1 – it would be totally fine on a new grad trying to build out a work wardrobe, or an intern (so, timely for both those groups I suppose). On my mid-40s self it would read as dowdy or just slightly dated. Inoffensive but dated.

      4. yep I wore dresses like this all the time as a junior Big Law associate in 2011/2012/2013

    2. curious what you say that? or what accessories you would add? I would say it’s not trendy but won’t stick out too much in the office and fit and flare is a forgiving shape.

      1. Not the OP, but I agree with the. To my eye this looks identical to the dresses my entry-level self would have worn back in the 2010s. For my role and budget at the time it was an okay dress. Not super fashionable, looked like something a broke junior could be expected to wear. It was reasonably staid for the office and easy to care for. I think that description still applies. It would be fine for a very casual day where comfort was my priority, but it’s not really lending any gravitas.

    3. Well, I’m the outlier. It’s exactly what I want in a dress –sleeves, silhouette, length. HOWEVER, I loathe spandex. So, now I’m all sad because I WANT THIS DRESS but I don’t want the material. If it were wool, I’d be all over it. Alas!

  5. I started a new job at a small company a couple months ago, and I’m losing my mind. They abuse email and calendar invites instead of having real defined processes, and they’re supposedly a data/tech company but all their code is 20 years old and has been maintained by one part-time guy for the past 5 years. In short, it’s a mess. I feel the company was misrepresented to me during the hiring process, but it’s too late to go back now. I developed some significant health and family challenges about the same time I started this job, so I’m barely hanging on as it is and there’s no way any of this will resolve itself in the next 6 months, so finding a new job isn’t in the cards unless it magically falls into my lap. Honestly, my personal life will only get more demanding in the next few months. I’m debating whether I “quiet quit” and see if I eventually get fired for it, or make plans to quit with nothing lined up and if so how much of a cushion I need/how long I need to make it. Any commiseration or stories of hope from those who have been in similar situations?

    1. What level/job function are you? I think you will likely have a lot of runway to quiet quit or just…not be a successful hire for 6+’months.

      1. I’m a mid-level software engineer, ostensibly hired to help the guy who has been maintaining the code for the past 5 years. He’s… a little difficult to work with, though understandably so. I said part-time because he’s actually the company CTO so he spends most of his time on business development stuff and he’s also been the only guy making new features and fixing stuff. He wants lots of new features and isn’t particularly open to the suggestion of updating processes and updating the now-ancient codebase because those get no immediate pay off.

    2. So they have some old tech, are the people otherwise decent? This feels a little reactionary.

      1. The people are otherwise decent except that there are constant “emergencies” because their software is constantly breaking and they’re just mindlessly using AI to patch fixes on that cause more things to break a couple months down the line. Imagine a 100 year old house where every issue that comes up is DIY resolved in the quickest/cheapest way possible, and they’re trying to put more modern additions on instead of addressing the foundation cracks and ancient wiring and plumbing in the original structure. And if you suggest that perhaps you need to take a step back and update/fix the original house first, they’re aghast that you could suggest such a thing. Other than that, they’re fine people.

          1. +1 this is way more common that most people realise. I have a horrible feeling it’s getting worse some places because of those awful patches!

            How close is he to retirement?

            I’d stay, attend conferences and network to a better role. Ask about the code base as part of the interview process.

    3. Oof. I have no real advice for you, but “they abuse email and calendar invites instead of having real defined processes” hits home because my company is exactly like this. It is maddening. The inefficiencies drive me batty but I’ve somewhat managed to let go of my irritation because I’m taking it as permission to relax about efficiency. If they don’t care, why should I get worked up about it? I’d suggest leaning way out. If this place is that much of a mess, will they really notice if you’re not performing at your best? Best of luck to you.

    4. What do you consider to be abuse of email and calendar invites?

      From your description, it is hard to tell if there is something more than buyer’s remorse going on.

    5. Is it a mess that threatens the company’s existence and therefore your own employment? If so, you need to muster whatever resources or reserves of strength you have and jump ship. If not, in light of the personal and medical issues you talk about, you need to thank your lucky stars for the paycheck and stability while doing the minimum you need to do to stay employed. Figure out which mess you’re in and proceed accordingly.

      1. Honestly, I’m amazed that the company has stayed afloat this long. I think it comes down to luck and the fact that the CTO can and does work 12 hour days every day. Maybe the company can’t afford to put in the work to fix it, maybe he just likes feeling important, haven’t gotten a great read on that yet.

    6. If you’re not thrilled, can you propose change? I started a new job that had insane, terrible ways of doing some things but I’ve been able to reshape a lot of it.

    7. Given that you’re underwater in your personal life, can you do your 8 hrs, and then email the CTO “hey, worked on FireDisasterBug today, current status is a,b,c”. Then close your laptop and go home. Leave off the part about “and this bug wouldn’t have even happened if we had an actual QA & release process!!”.

  6. I am one of two national experts in niche topic X at my organization. The other is more senior than me and originally got me hired so we could work together on this topic. The organization is about to have a big event on topic X. I wrote the first draft of the materials but have been shut out of all subsequent editing and planning for the event. I have asked a few times how I can help support the event, but have gotten total silence. Meanwhile, the entire staff is being asked to attend the event. I cannot believe that I will be expected to sit there and smile and not say anything and let someone else be the face of the organization and take credit for all the work in this area. This is a sign that they want me to quit, right?

    2. No, sounds normal that you are the more junior and they don’t want two ‘faces’ at the same time.

    3. I don’t agree with others that this is normal or expected if you are more junior, though without more context it’s tough to know.

      I don’t love that you’re not getting info or responses and feel that you’re shut out. That to me is a sign of some dysfunction or possible toxicity.

    4. I agree it’s consistent with the fact that you’re more junior, but it also s*cks. If you were hired to work on this topic and wrote the first draft of materials, a good organization would be including you and promoting the fact that the org has a team of people with expertise in this area.

      They don’t want you to quit. They want you to stay behind the scenes. To me, that’s a sign you should look for other opportunities.

      1. I agree that if OP wants to be the face of the company for their topic they need to find a company where they are at the top of the ladder. In this place, it sounds like they came in a rung or two down and haven’t really grasped that fact.

      2. I would be careful with this approach. We don’t know the ages of the senior or junior person.

        When I was under 30 I was in a similar position and my bosses boss got all the credit. I spent 5 years working on the area to be an expert. I was pissed.

        The reality is that someone in their 50s who is senior to you will be the face. If you are under 35, you aren’t going to carry the room the way you think you are capable of, regardless of gender.

        If 45+ look to leave to be the senior expert elsewhere.

  7. I am one of two national experts in niche topic X at my organization. The other is more senior than me and originally got me hired so we could work together on this topic. The organization is about to have a big event on topic X. I wrote the first draft of the materials but have been shut out of all subsequent editing and planning for the event. I have asked a few times how I can help support the event, but have gotten total silence. Meanwhile, the entire staff is being asked to attend the event. I cannot believe that I will be expected to sit there and smile and not say anything and let someone else be the face of the organization and take credit for all the work in this area. This is a sign that they want me to quit, right?

    1. This sounds more like the very normal experience of someone who is not the senior expert in the topic.

      1. Maybe for an entry-level person. But I was hired specifically for my ability to represent the org on this topic, and I frequently get speaking invitations and requests for advice from stakeholders. In fact, if I am not actively participating in this event, it will be noticed.

        2. Were you really told your role was to be the face of this event, or is that just your assumption (because it kind of sounds like that’s what is happening here).

          FWIW, in my smallish company, I am one of two experts in my niche. My senior takes the lead on nearly all speaking engagements and presentations because the audience wants to hear from the senior person, not the junior. I have a lot of internal visibility and am not being wished to quit. This is just how hierarchies play out.

          1. Not to be the face of this particular event, but to be one of the faces of the org on this issue (among others). When I was hired I was literally told “we are hiring you because we need someone who is capable of representing the org on X and other topics, and we know we can rely on you.”

      2. Oh, and I am only more junior in this particular org. I left a much more senior position to take this job because I care about the work, and the other expert was just hired first into this startup. I’ve been doing the work longer and have more technical knowledge than they do.

        1. Why does any of that matter if you are the junior person at your particular org? They hired you for the role you are in, not for the position you left.

          Think about reversing the roles. If you were the senior person, wouldn’t you expect to be the face of things? Why would the junior hire supersede you? How would you react if the junior person was trying to slot themselves in to have more visibility on your project?

          1. OP isn’t saying she wants to supersede the senior person, just that she wants to participate and get credit for the work she’s already put into it.

            I’ve been to many events where the senior person was the leader/ face of the project and also involved a more junior, but still knowledgeable person, in the presentation. There’s a way to do it that makes both people look great. At the very least, she should be credited on the slide deck.

            It might be normal for a senior person to take all the credit for a junior’s work, but I’m surprised at how many people seem to be saying it’s OK.

          3. OP doesn’t seem to understand that the org isn’t operating for the purpose of promoting OP.

        2. Tenure at a job can mean more than tenure overall, sorry. Other Expert has been there longer, maybe buds with the higher-ups, and so is first in the pecking order.

    3. Are you you basing the sense that they want you to quit solely on this one event? Or is there more going on?

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