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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Sales of note for 8.30.24
- Nordstrom – Summer Sale, save up to 60%
- Ann Taylor – 30% off full-price purchase; $99 jackets, dresses & shoes; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off
- Bergdorf Goodman – Final Days Designer Sale, up to 75% off; extra 20% off sale
- Boden – 20% off
- Brooks Brothers – Extra 25% off clearance
- Eloquii – Up to 60% off everything; extra 60% off all sale
- J.Crew – 40% off sitewide; extra 60% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 20% off orders $125+; extra 60% off clearance; 60%-70% off 100s of styles
- Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off (ends 9/2)
- Madewell – Extra 40% off sale; extra 50% off select denim; 25% off fall essentials
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Rothy's – End of season sale, up to 50% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear in the big sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 25% off regular-price purchase; 70% off clearance
- White House Black Market – Up to 70% off sale
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:
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- 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…
Kate
I have this dress in the multi-colored print. It fits well and pretty true to size. I’m tall (5’9″) and it hits my knee right around where it hits that model’s.
AIMS
for a-lines in work clothes — talbots. I know the reputation may be that this is something your grandmother would wear but they often have very professional suits & great petites/plus size sections.
Mel
This looks like a great dress, thanks for adding in something better for pear shapes.
I haven’t really had any luck in the non-pencil area (hence requesting more looks), but if I do have to go with a pencil, Nanette Lepore, BCBG, and Ann Taylor tend to fit me the best. They seem to be a bit more generous in the hip area than some of the other brands more commonly featured.
Heather
A-line can be work appropriate, given the right color and fabric. I second the person who suggest Ann Taylor. Another request—could we make some attempt at suggestions for the plus size corporettes out there? Maybe even make it a reader’s question?
Amy
I still think this looks too evening for work. I think its the wide neckline.
Nic
Isn’t this a little low-cut for work?
Allyson
I would definitely suggest Ann Taylor/Ann Taylor Loft. I used to be a sales associate at the Loft and we catered to a lot of pear shape body types.
Anonymous
I agree that this dress looks nice for evening, maybe a work cocktail party, but I wouldnt wear it to work on a regular day. I think Amy and Nic are right– too wide of a neckline and too low cut.
Jay
I agree with Amy and Nic–the neckline would be way too low on me. I don’t like cleavage at work, and I don’t think it’s a very professional look.
lulu
I agree with Amy and Nic (too evening, too low-cut) but it might work with a jacket.
v
I suspect the girls saying it’s too low-cut aren’t busty. Those of us who are get used to wearing a camisole under almost EVERYTHING, and this dress would be fine with one.
As for a lines, I’ve had good luck with Ann Taylor too, and sometimes the Loft.
v
Heather, two plus-size recommendations: igigi.com and eshakhti.com. Both have lots of clothing that aren’t appropriate for work, but with some more-interesting-than-Lane-Bryant professional choices mixed in too.
Ariella
Frankly, it’s not just that we’d like to see A-line shapes; plus-size shapes are also welcome and encouraged. You have only once featured a plus-size dress. Newsflash: women who are partners and senior associates (and even regular associates) are not all regular women’s sizes.
Mer
I will outright disagree with you regarding the A-line comment. It is absolutely (in my opinion) necessary as a curvy size 8 to wear A-line or gored skirts, pencil skirts are far too sexy. Frankly, I do not want men who could be my father staring at my toosh. A quality structured garment made of woven fabrics that fits properly tends to be more appropriate than say, the jersey dress above.
Banana Republic usually has a few suits with a non-pencil skirt option. I have had especially good luck at their outlet stores. I also firmly believe that fun pieces from anthropologie can be easily toned down with a conservative jacket and hair style.
Mel
Just a note to the plus sized women, while Ann Taylor and Loft do not carry plus sizes per se, they go up to size 18 and the clothes seem to run very large. Compared to what I wear in other brands, I am usually a size or two smaller there than I am elsewhere.
Abby
This dress is too low cut for work. If worn by a busty woman, her breasts would show. Not something I like to see at work.
dr d
I’d recommend pieces from the lines of Nic&Zoe, Joseph Ribkoff, and Bently A. While they may be more colorful and non-suit for the traditional corporette, I find the colors, cuts for real women in misses sizes and curves, and ability to mix/match with solids from the closet make them very functional. Again – may be more of a pattern stretch for court and meetings, but great for everyday professional looks. Here in Texas, we do wear color! Finally, I find them at boutiques rather than the traditional department stores, which are rather all the same imho. Gotta love the sales at Talbot’s for basics and layering items (as well as a source of mostly all solid pieces).
Anonymous
um, not to be rude, but couldnt you start a blog for plus sized professional women’s clothing, if you believe there is such a demand? I thought the point was for the editors to show us (the readers) thier choices for clothing for professional women? I’m sorry, but I have zero interest in seeing plus size clothing in the TPS section. If something comes in regular and plus size, wonderful! but, if not, I think this blog should continue catering to the 00-16 population.
Kathryn
Talbot’s Woman is good for plus sizes, of course, and Salon Z @ Saks, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor…
Don’t forget to check Lands End from time to time. They have some top quality wool suits and cotton shirts and shells.
A-line may look ladies-who-lunch, but on my extra round butt, pencil looks way too vavavoom! A decent compromise if I can find it is a skirt that falls straight down visually from the widest part of my hips –it will have to be wider than a straight pencil, but not necessarily a big A.
C
One of the changes we’re hoping to make eventually is to have a separate page to feature plus-sized clothing (with its own RSS feed and/or newsletter) and a maternity section, also, featuring maternity clothes. But we still have to figure out some technical issues with making it happen… let alone finding the time to find the clothes to feature.
And, agreed, today’s dress would be too low cut on a busty woman — but if you’re pear-shaped, I think by definition you’re *not* busty (because if you were then you’d be an hourglass, not a pear). Just our $.02.
v
Though it’s worth noting that A line sillouhettes also look good on busty women, because it provides some balance and gives the illusion of a more hourglass sillouhette.
anonymous
Donna Ricco dresses often have more structured a-line skirts, which look professional but give you some movement in the hips. See, e.g., http://www.donnaricco.com/productdisplay.aspx?p=551.
Jay
Agree with Anon 2:12–I’m tired of people complaining that Corporette features clothes that fit “regular” sizes. If you want a blog for plus-sized clothes, start your own. Frankly, in my office, there really aren’t any plus-sized female associates or partners–SF is a very health-conscious area.
But fwiw, I love A-lines and have never thought they always make me look like a lady who lunches.
Penelope Phillips-Armand
A-lines are also more practical for women who walk to work and who don’t like to feel hobbled under any circumstances. Do any of you ever think of sewing your own clothes, by the way? Skirts and dresses are easy.
v
Yeah, Jay, people are hot in SF. Too bad about all the douchebags.
El
It’s not about having a blog for plus-sized clothes, it’s about the fact that Corporette is a “fashion and lifestyle blog for overachieving chicks.” That includes plus-sized women.
Bessa
Agreed with many – only okay for work IF you wear a camisole. Which I think looks kinda dumpy under a wrap dress.
E
I hope Corporette doesn’t cave to the plus-sized whining going on here. Anyone looking at an outfit posted here probably takes into consideration how it would look given her own body type. I’m short and have big hips. Not everything’s going to work for me, and someone’s considerations about weight shouldn’t be that different.
Cat
1) if it’s too low-cut on you (which, it appears to be for most) – use a cami. pretty much any color but brown, dark blue or yellow (does anyone else share my bumblebee aversion? yellow with gray only, please) would be cute.
2) in re the plus size debate. As a “normal” size, part of the reason I like this blog is not because I treat it as an online catalog – but because sometimes a picture sticks with me as I shop (or shop in my own closet). Anyone can enjoy the inspiration. I suspect part of the problem is that even for a featured item that comes in sizes 0-16 or 20, the size 0 is the size that’s used for taking the picture of the item. C can’t help that.
3) C – I don’t think most people using “busty” uses it in the sense of disproportionately large bust to hip ratio – more that a generous helping of cleavage, anywhere from a B to an FF, no matter what your pants size, can be tricky in a dress or neckline like this.
S.
Well, I’m an hourglass, not a pear, and as a matter of fact, I can’t wear pencil skirts, either — at least not any that I’ve tried on. So thank you for the recommendation.
Anon
The anti-plus-size comments here are pretty disheartening. Professional women come in all sizes, and to hear that non-plus-sized people aren’t interested in seeing plus-size clothing, presumably because they can’t wear it, when they expect plus-sized readers of Corporette to be thrilled to see example after example of items of clothing *they* can’t wear, seems pretty hypocritical to me.
housecounsel
Try Calvin Klein, Lauren by Ralph Lauren and Tahari for professional dresses, some straight and some A-line. I find them at Macy’s, Nordstrom and when all the stars are aligned, Nordstrom Rack.
housecounsel
And speaking of which, this dress is way too low-cut, and I’m tired of camisoles.
lawdiva
I’m a size 4/6 and see no problem with a plus size column or at least some plus size options featured once in a while. Jeez people, the average woman in this country is size 12! As long as the site continues to feature clothes for non-plus size as well, I don’t see any problem with including some clothes for the plus size population as well.
lawyer
There is nothing wrong with a pencil skirt if you have a big butt!
E
You know what people? As another poster kindly reminded us all, stock photos for most of the clothes shown here happen to be in a size zero range, excluding almost all of us from ever wearing any outfit exactly as it appears here.
And the fact that the “average” woman is a apparently now a size 12? Well…I don’t care. It’s not something to be strived for, and I’m simply not going to tip toe around people complaining about this blog who are sensitive about their weight and excusing it by the fact that “everybody’s doing it.”
MJ
I’d like to add that some “plus size” women are simply tall. I am a 14, and nearly six feet tall, and most people are shocked to hear that’s my pants size. It’s about proportion.
I’d also add that A-line shapes balance out those with broad shoulders as well. As a former swimmer, they give nice balance to my “V-body”.
Ariella
Hey Corporette,
Despite the fact that your blog will obviously become overrun by big fatties (who aren’t partners and don’t actually work in high-powered jobs; only thin women get those jobs) if you start featuring plus-sized clothing, drop me a line because I’d be happy to get involved on that side of things.
For all of you who are apparently offended by the thought of featuring plus-size (or even petite?) clothing on this blog, get over it. No one WANTS to be fat, but it’s a fact of life – even for those of us who are trying to lose weight. Should we walk around naked? Apparently you would have us wear unattractive clothing with a heady sense of self-loathing and shame because of the shapes of our bodies. But here’s the truth: we’re your bosses, your subordinates, your mothers, your sisters, your daughters and your friends. Just because you’re obviously fat-phobic and intolerant doesn’t mean that a blog – which is a business entity, by the way, and it makes sense for them to appeal to the broadest audience possible whether it offends your delicate sensibililties or not – shouldn’t feature that clothing.
For those of you who would point out that the clothing suggestions are just ideas for shape and color, I agree. However, the “shapes” that fit some women do not fit ALL women. By arguing that this blog should show only “regular” sized clothing, you’re essentially arguing also that they should only show clothing that fits a single body type. So all you women who are pear-shaped or apple-shaped, TFB for you. We’re only going to show clothing that fits an hour-glass figure. Fair? Sure!
It is too bad that the internet allows people to make the kind of stupid, intolerant and hurtful comments that appear on this thread. You hate fat people? Fine. Why don’t you tell that to every fat person in your life and see how that turns out for you. But don’t expect a blog or a business to just ignore a significant segment of its readership because you don’t think that fat people “deserve” to see nice clothing.
And to those of you who suggested that fat women get their own clothing blog? Oh, yes, because as a litigator who works 90 hours a week (some weeks), I certainly have the time for that. Seriously: get a grip.
Lady
This thread may be cold but I will pipe in with my own .02 regarding the plus issue.
I’d love it if C would ocasionally feature and plus sized item or two. The options for the plus size professional are woefully small. If something were highlighted I would jump on it bc frankly I just don’t see that in stores.
I believe the naysayers would feel differently if they only had a handful of shopping options, many of which are no longer doing professional clothing.
I dont have a lot of options as a tall plus sized professional. Someone acknowledging that and pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.