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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Zappos Couture seems to have a ton of great tops and blouses below $150 today, including this fabulous silk top from Elie Tahari. We love the “floral ruffles” at the neck, and think it would be a great pop of color to wear beneath a suit, whether it be black, gray, or navy. It's available in the purple “Cosmic Berry,” pictured, as well as a punch red “Valencia” (lots of sizes left as of this AM). Was $202, now $133 at Zappos Couture. Elie Tahari – Bethany Blouse (Cosmic Berry) – ApparelSales of note for 9.16.24
- Nordstrom – Summer Sale, save up to 60%
- Ann Taylor – Extra 30% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off sale
- J.Crew – 30% off wear-now styles
- J.Crew Factory – (ends 9/16 PM): 40% off everything + extra 70% off sale with code
- Lo & Sons – Warehouse sale, up to 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Extra 25% off all tops + markdowns
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- White House Black Market – 40% off select styles
Some of our latest posts here at Corporette…
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And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
- What to say to friends and family who threaten to not vote?
- What boots do you expect to wear this fall and winter?
- What beauty treatments do you do on a regular basis to look polished?
- Can I skip the annual family event my workplace holds, even if I'm a manager?
- What small steps can I take today to get myself a little more “together” and not feel so frazzled all of the time?
- The oldest daughter is America's social safety net — change my mind…
- What have you lost your taste for as you've aged?
- Tell me about your favorite adventure travels…
HotInTheCity
Love this! But, continuing the debate from the cardigan yesterday, are ruffles viewed as overly feminine like bows?
Bonnie
I think these ruffles would look great under a classic suit. There’s nothing wrong with a little femininity.
ceb
Yes! I love a little something to add interest. You CAN look feminine and yet still classic.
Shayna
I think it depends on the styling — worn alone, possibly, but under a well tailored, streamlined suit they may be ok. Generally I would skip them though and err on the side of caution
AN
This looks fine to me.
Heather
I really like this, but I wish it was a little less expensive.
Jay
Me too. Am I the only one who just cannot get behind spending more than, say, $50 for a top? I might spend more for a cashmere sweater, but my thrifty middle class roots just will not let me spend this much for a shirt, no matter what my income is. Just because I can afford it and I do think it’s beautiful doesn’t mean I can force my wallet open. I would like to, but I just can’t do it. How can I get over this Depression-era mentality?
anon - chi
I’m curious why you feel that you NEED to “get over this Depression-era mentality”. Unless you are unhappy about your inability to force yourself to pay $133 for a tank top, I wouldn’t mess with it. :-) Not that there’s anything wrong with paying that amount for a pretty top that you can afford and like, but plenty of us feel uncomfortable at that price point, myself included. Nothing weird about that!
Kaye
One way might be to give yourself a monthly clothing allowance. If you haven’t been spending it, and you see an overpriced top you really like – go for it! If, on the other hand, your clothing spending overall is higher than you’d like, you skip it.
Agreed with Jay, though – there’s nothing wrong with being thrifty, so long as you don’t “look thrifty” if you know what I mean :)
L
Cute! But would develop sweat stains quickly.
Nancy P
Glad to know I’m not the only one with this problem. I’m so frustrated by how much stores and designers have been using silk lately. Yes, lovely, but not feasible if you’re someone who occasionally sweats.
A.M.
I hate that this is also my first thought looking at tops like this. But it is realistic, and I’d rather be realistic without sweat marks than optimistic and sweaty!
Grump
I wear a lot of silk, am in the Middle East at the moment and have never had sweat stain issues (and I do sweat!). I wear a camisole under everything and I think that helps a lot.
Ellen
Does anyone else have a problem with how silk smells? I like the feel of it, but if I sweat at all it develops a distinct, very unpleasant fishy odor. Is it that I was wearing cheap silk? I don’t wear silk at all anymore because of that problem, and to think of, I tried on a Nordstroms silk blend sweater that I could detect the faintest trace of odor, and it was high quality. Is it me?
kcaco
Ha, no, I think silk sweaters smell awful, even at the store prior to wearing!
Ru
I thought it was just me! I don’t know why but I always attributed it to shipping and the mixed aromas that containers can acquire. I generally treat most of my silks like other fabrics and run it through the machine on cold water with liquid detergent and it smells fine after that.
KZ
I’ve never noticed, but I had a friend in law school that complained about it.
Sharon
Cute and great color – but when Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, etc offer similar shirts at half the price, it’s really hard to justify this price point, even on sale.
AnneCatherine
Yeah, prettty much this. Nordstrom has cute similar stuff too. Too lazy/scattered to gather links for anyone, but I was there this weekend. Lots of stuff on sale that wasn’t the week before, including silky sleevless ruffled blouses.
Lynette
Love this great color, the ruffles aren’t “too-too”. Neckline and arm holes are placed just high enough. I’m sold.
KelliJ
I really like this. I just wish it was about half the price.
Suze
Second! After all the recent sales and stuff, who has $100 for a tank top? Not moi…..:/
Anon L
Third. For my tastes, this simply isn’t unique or timeless enough to justify spending over $100.00
Ru
Kat is really feelin’ the electric purple lately =)
Kaye
I LOVE electric purple, so that’s A-OK with me :)
martha
i would only buy a shell at this point if it was an exact match for, e.g, the pinstripe in a suit, or tweed in a blazer or something. wouldn’t spend this $$ when you can get something equivalent from j crew or AT for a fraction of the cost.
Happy Aarti Won
Hijack:
Aarti (the NEW Food Network Star) is going to be doing an interview on Sirius/XM Satellite radio this morning. It is on the “Catholics Next Door”
program on the Catholic Channel. I would bet you can hop online and listen in if you have satellite radio. If not, I imagine that the hosts of that show will put it on their website as a pod cast. One of their websites is: GregAndJennifer.com. You can also find it through their facebook site which I hear is The-Catholics-Next-Door. Congratulations, Aarti! You ARE a star … and I’m jealous that Kat knows her well.
Veronica
Offtopic but I desperately need advice from the commentariat here – I am a new law grad and will be having an interview at a smallish (25-30) lawyer firm in Boston shortly. I am certain they will try to offer me the lowest salary I will accept. What is your estimation of a reasonable bargaining floor to set? I am lucky enough to be able to afford to turn down all jobs if need be, and I want to work for the firm, but still I would not be able to put out my best work if I felt like I was being exploited, nor do I want to lower the expectations on salaries for other law grads any further than they already are. Thanks in advance.
anon
What tier law school did you go to, and where did you graduate in your class? Did you clerk? Is this a small firm as in a “lifestyle firm” or as in a high-powered boutique?
Anonymous
In my experience the employer usually makes the initial offer. I’d counter offer with twice the difference between their offer and what you want to make (so if you want to make 60K and they offer 50K – ask for 70K). Generally you can usually get 10-20% more than their initial offer if you negotiate well.
Also, if this is just an interview, don’t bring up salary. Wait until they’ve offered you the job.
Salary
Veronica, in my experience (2nd year associate at a 30 lawyer Boston firm) salary isnt really negotiatiable. It’s a sort of take it or leave it deal with smaller firms…
With that in mind, after you are offered a position, and the firm makes you an initial offer (or in the LATE-stages of your interview process, ONLY if you get the sense that it is appropriate to do so), initiate questions like: “how is associate compensation structured (base salary, bonus, benefits);” and, “are all associates compensated at the same salary level…” Get as much information as you can, because you don’t want to attempt to enter into a negotiation process with a partner that you will be working closely with only to learn that your salary wasn’t really up for debate in the first place…
Your pay scale will depend largely on the type of law the firm practices. (e.g. med-mal insurance defense firm is likely to pay a lot less than a boutique commecial litigation firm). I would say under 100,000 and more than 50,000, depending where you end up would be the range of starting salaries in Boston for a small/mid-sized firm, though I am definitely interested in others’ thoughts on this.
Veronica
Thank you all for your replies. As many of you have correctly sussed out, this is not a case of a boutique IP firm or other firm with tiered compensation in competition with Biglaw, and no Tier 1 diploma adorns my wall. I think the general consensus is that my offer (they have said that this interview will definitely contain one – I have interned with them before) can be expected to be between 50 and 100k, which seems like a reasonable starting place.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Anon L
50k-80k is about standard at small firms in Los Angeles. Just depends on business, how badly they need you, and how much negotiating they let you do.
Kaye
You’re in school, right? Can you compare offers with classmates interviewing at similar firms and get a sense that way? I did a lot of this when looking for my first job.
anon - chi
I hate to say it, but this is almost impossible to answer. There are small firms that pay over biglaw market (still $160K for 1st years in my book), those that pay at market, those that pay a little under market (I know several in Chicago in the $120-15oK range) and those that pay WAAAAAY under market. Do you have any sense of who the firm regards as its closest competitors? Is this something you could ask in an early-stage interview? I don’t think it would be obvious that you’re asking in order to compare salaries, but that would give you a couple of good data points.
If the firm lists biglaw offices as its competition, I would go in no lower than $145K. If not, perhaps you can do more research as to the pay at the named competitors. But as other commenters have mentioned, it really depends on what type of small firm this is – if you are a Harvard grad looking at high-powered boutiques, that’s one thing. If the firm does med mal or insurance defense work, that’s quite another.
Little Lurker
Veronica, I don’t have any good advice, but I love the phrase “commentariat” and will be incorporating it into my later posts. ;)
Ms. Basil E. Frankweiler
Threadjack:
Has anyone ever heard of/used The Iris Organization (or in the alternative an organization that assists with speed reading and note taking)? I ask because the Groupon for today in Denver is for a one day, five hour class for 60 as opposed to 199. The organizations claims to boost reading speed, comprehension, and improve note taking. My reading speed and comprehension were great until I entered law school. And I can always benefit from note taking help. So any help you can provide about this (or similar) organizations is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Another Sarah
If I recall correctly, you are still in law school and you just finished your first year, right? If so, I can tell you that your reading speed and comprehension will seriously pick up this year. Case opinions are all written the same way, and since you read thousands last year, this year will be muuch easier – very shallow learning curve compared to last year.
Oops on me if you’re a rising 3L. But if you think your reading speed/comprehension still took a major hit, then maybe this would be good. Never heard of the organization, but then I never did research as to speed-reading institutes, so that doesn’t mean anything. :-)
Rising3L
It did get much better during second year, lol. First year was the worst for how long it took to prepare for class.
Clerky
Absolutely loving the vibrant colors featured this week, but I agree with pretty much everyone else that this top is cost prohibitive.
The most I have spent on a top is $75 for a Classiques top that went on sale. I love it, but those types of purchases are rare. $133? No way.
Ms B
Beautiful top, but at $133 plus $8 to $10 per dry cleaning times, say, eight to ten cleanings year (every other wearing), the per wear cost is way too high. Especially when I bought a somewhat similar top in black from Ann Taylor earlier this year on final sale for $14.99 and it is machine wash delicate!
Kaylee
If this were Facebook, I would “like” your comment lol.
Do love the top though. I love wearing purples, especially since I have darker hair.