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Wednesday’s TPS Report: Print Jersey Top Wrap Dress

Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. Donna Morgan Print Jersey Top Wrap DressHappy Wednesday! I like the look of this black and white dress from Donna Morgan, available in regulars and petites. The top is apparently a “true wrap bodice” but the skirt is a “partially-stitched down, faux wrap” — whatever it is the reviewers seem to love it, as all give it 5 stars. It's $128 for both regulars and petites at Nordstrom. Donna Morgan Print Jersey Top Wrap Dress Seen a great piece you'd like to recommend? Please e-mail editor@corporette.com with “TPS” in the subject line. (L-2)

Sales of note for 12.5

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

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187 Comments

  1. I love wrap dresses in the summer – as close to wearing a t-shirt to work as possible. :)

  2. Ladies, I have a 2nd interview at an i-bank in NYC today and opted to wear a khaki-colored Tahari skirtsuit w/ a black top, no hose and black heels. I chose the most lightweight suit I own because I was all suited up and wore hose to the first interview and almost died of sweat and fatigue on the trek over there. Also, my office is casual so I didn’t want to raise brows as to why I am wearing a conservative suit.

    Does my outfit sound terribly inappropriate? I am really paranoid because I saw my mom’s friend on the train and when I told her I have an interview today she was surprised I’m not wearing a blouse/suit because she thought i-banks were strict on dress code.

    2. I think you sound fine! Good luck with the interview!

      (As for your casual office, I usually come up with a way to ditch the suit jacket, sometimes swapping in an older cardigan before heading back to the office.)

    3. Not familiar with i-bank culture, but your Mom’s friend may be right. I would at least wear hose.

    4. I’d put on a pair of hose. We had a pretty strict bare legs=hose policy in my old firm (trust company).

    6. It sounds appropriate except that the no hose may raise eyebrows. But if it’s really hot, I doubt the eyebrows will be raised too high. Also, I assume your black top is of a conservative cut and style, i.e. not a t-shirt or cami.

      1. Yes, I will go buy hose just to be safe. The top is a knit Anne Klein top with a small tiger’s eye decorative button at the relatively high small keyhole closure.

    7. This will all depend on the place of the interview, but could you perhaps put your hose on in the lobby restroom of the i-bank building?

      Good luck on the interview! Let us know how it goes.

    3. A lovely dress, for sure, but not for work. Too casual … it would be great for a weekend or vacation.

    4. I work in a southern firm with a dress code on the casual side fo business casual, and I would not wear this dress to work. However, it would not be the work thing anyone has ever worn here.

      1. Next time, I’ll spell check before posting. That should read:

        I work in a southern firm with a dress code on the casual side of business casual, and I would not wear this dress to work. However, it would not be the workstthing anyone has ever worn here.

        Since I’m reposting anyway, – I agree that a different belt would make a huge difference regarding the beachiness of this dress.

    5. No. I’d say maybe if it were a more sedate color to offset the slouchy feel, but between the drapiness and the bright stripes (which remind of a (cute) beach towel), I think it’s too “poolside cocktails” for the office.

    6. This would be fine at my business casual law office, but I’d swap out the waist sash for a wide black belt for a more structured look.

    7. Maybe it depends on your region, but that dress would not be appropriate in my office.

    8. I’d wear it on a Friday in my office, BUT we can wear jeans on Friday. I am also wearing a decidedly inappropriate dress today for most business casual environments, but I have learned that I can push the boundaries in my office based on how the other women dress.

    9. Beautiful colors, but a little too casual. Especially if, as your name implies, you’ll be a first year associate when you wear it into the office.

  4. I think the combination of slightly too short, bright color, casual material, drapey fit and long sash make it too beachy/casual for a business casual office. If you could remove the belt (replacing with a wider leather belt) and if the dress hits you lower on the leg than it does on the model, I think it could work.

          1. I’m a sucker for summery stripes. I hope you buy the dress…. and maybe wear it on the weekends. :)

  5. I love the dress, but my wardrobe is being overtaken by black and white prints!

    I’m generally print-phobic for anything around my face (skirts are okay, but tops and dresses just look to busy for me), but would like to go beyond my comfort zone a bit.

      1. I’ve had to ban myself from buying any more black/white prints. They’re hard to resist …

  6. I love this dress! I purchased a Donna Morgan faux wrap dress a few years ago, and I wear it all the time in the spring/summer. It is so comfortable and flattering. Hope this dress ends up at TJ Maxx or Nordstrom Rack :-)

  7. I like it! What do you all think of this dress for a late summer wedding and/or rehearsal dinner (as a guest)? Is it too officey?

    1. I don’t think so, I would happily wear that dress to a summer wedding or rehearsal dinner. Maybe dress it up with a fun statement necklace and strappy heeled sandals.

      1. Agreed. This dress would be great for either the office with conservative accessories/shoes, or a wedding with fun/bright accessories and shoes!

    2. I think it’s fine for a morning/early afternoon wedding or any rehearsal dinner, but probably too casual for a later wedding.

  8. I like the dress and felt inspired to order a new wrap dress, but I ordered one from Boden. It is lovely.

    On another note, there is a new blow-dry bar in my city. Has anyone ever been to one of these? I just can’t see how it is worth it.

    1. Speaking of Boden, I’ve had my eye on this dress since it was $240 (not with it, IMO), but now its marked down to $74. Is it worth it, considering its kind of dressy and I have nowhere specific to wear it? (Not, for work, BTW)

      http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Womens-Dresses/Below-Knee-Dresses/BH010-PBL/Womens-Lavender-Blue-Feathers-Silk-Feather-Maxi.html?NavGroupID=4

      Also, since I’m responding to your post and blow-dry my hair straight, I would think it might be worth it for an event. Although I did just discover John Frieda’s 3-day straight (thanks to this site) and I love it. It keeps my blow-out really smooth all night. Based on the fact that I can do my own long-lasting blow-out now, I would say its not worth it.

      1. I don’t think it’s necessarily dressy – I see maxi dresses of this style all over the street as casual wear. However, this one has a 100% polyester lining. I personally find that polyester linings basically negate all the coolness/comfort of a natural fiber body. So this dress probably won’t be as cool and breezy as one would want a summery silk dress to be.

      2. Thanks, Supra! I really like that dress, and I don’t think it’s too dressy. My only thought is that it may not fit the way I like maxi dresses to fit. I think one that is empire waist or flowy around the middle can make you look a lot bigger than you are, and I can’t tell if that one does based on the way the model is standing. That said, if I hadn’t just bought another maxi dress, it might be on its way to me.

        I was going to try to link to the one I just bought from Banana Republic because I *love* it, but it appears that it’s sold out. By the way, am I the only one who thinks BR has really upped its game this summer? Brighter, fun colors, more patterns, better fit, interesting details. I’ve been quite pleased and tempted to buy a ton. It’s not just the usual navy, khaki, white, solid colors that they’ve had of late.

      3. Supra, I haven’t received it yet, but I ordered this dress recently. I’ll try and remember to post a review when I get it.

        1. Thanks!

          What I love about this one is (hopefully), I could wear a regular, wide-strapped bra with it. I see so many maxi dresses with thin straps or criss cross backs. To me, wearing a strapless bra negates the easy-breezy comfort of a maxi dress.

      4. Oh my goodness, the first thing I thought when I opened the link was that the pattern looked like deviled eggs.

      5. I have this dress and love it (though I paid sadly more for this, though not near full price). It is very flattering, no preggo look at all, on my hourglass figure – it’s pretty close-fitting until the skirt. Definitely worth it-very well made.

  9. I am, once again, extolling the virtues of Target for work clothing. I have been looking for nothing but lightweight skirts and dresses to wear to work and have found exactly what I need.

    This skirt (http://bit.ly/kQcwMF) is awesome! Knee length (I am around 5’9″ and it stops in the middle of my kneecap) and insanely lightweight fabric. It was z little clingy at first, but I tossed a slip under and it was great! I see that they only have XXL left, but I’ve seen this before and I think it will come back around. Ladies, this is worth stalking.

    Next, is a shirt dress from the Merona plus line (http://bit.ly/jEpH0V). Same lightweight fabric, middle of the knee (on me) length again, sleeves, and (best of all) no gapping! I’ve never been able t wear shirt dresses because the buttons would either pull at the bust or the hips (when I sit) or both. But this has a slight A-line skirt and plenty of room in the bust. For reference, I am a size 16/18 and got a 1.

    Hope this helps! Happy shopping!

    1. Oh those skirts are wonderful! I wear them (black, dark purple, brown) mostly for knocking around on weekends – I feel so much cooler and pulled together than shorts. Mine are a year old, so the quality may be different this year, but I throw them in the wash like tee shirts and they don’t fade or pill.

      1. They have more colors?! I’m definitely stalking Target now. Thanks for the heads up.

    2. I’m so excited that Target is coming to Canada soon, although 2013 seems so far away. There are only going to be a few locations in my city and the one closest to me is a 10 minute walk!

    3. I have that shirt dress in solid black and in the pattern and LOVE them. So comfortable. The only downside is that a lot of other women have them too!

    5. I just bought this skirt in-store last week. The store had tons of sizes available.

  10. Threadjack–I am moving tomorrow and have hired two movers (of the “men with van” variety). They charge $85/hr plus the cost of the van. How much should I tip them (two men)? Should it vary by how long it takes? Should it be based on a percentage? I was thinking of taking 20% of the total base hourly price (not including the truck rental) and dividing it by two–then rounding up to the nearest whole bill (so not $22, but $25, etc).

    Thoughts? I’m in Brooklyn, FWIW.

    1. For similar movers, in a relatively small, cross-town move scenario, I generally give $20 per man, plus at least that much extra to the crew chief, plus water or soft drinks for all during the move. With just a 2-man team, though, to me a tip of $25 sounds reasonable. I would not base it on a percentage, since a higher tip could just be a “reward” for taking longer to move you. Give extra if they go above-and-beyond, if it’s super hot, etc.

      1. Yeah, that’s what I was thinking–$20-25 each depending on the circumstances. I am reluctant to base it on time b/c that’s just it–they make more the longer it takes and they know that they’ll just be killing time between jobs if they finish it quickly. I don’t want to rack up a crazy high bill.

        This is a cross-town move–15 min drive, nothing too complicated.

    2. How much stuff do you have? When I moved, I had about 1/2 of a 2-bedroom’s worth of stuff, and I tipped 3 guys $25 each and bought some kind of sports drink (and kept it cold) for them. When they moved my stuff into the new place, I tipped again (a little bit more, it was a long drive), got cold drinks, and bought pizza. (I asked if they wanted pizza, they politely declined anything specific but indicated they would have some if I was getting it anyway, so I did.)

    3. I’m in Seattle (obvs) and recently tipped my (3) movers $60 each on an 8-hour move. It ended up being about 20% of the total bill. From the guys’ reaction, I gathered that was a generous tip. But I’m moving again in a month (long story) and wanted them to remember me well.

    4. Oh, and I should add that I totally agree about the cool beverages thing–last time I moved I had a ton of water, Gatorade, and even beer at the destination (they turned down the beer, but I had one!).

      They arrive at 9am and should be done by 12 or so–only a 15 min drive. And only two guys–I think I will do $25 each maybe $30 if it ends up being harder for some reason.

    5. I have tipped $20 each for a 3-hour move. I think it should vary by how long it takes and how much stuff you have, not as a fixed percentage of the price.

    6. Every time I’ve done this, I’ve told the movers (usually 2) as soon as they arrive that I’ve budgeted 2hours plus a tip equal to an hour. I ask them if they can get it done in 2 hours, and if they say yes, then I tell them the extra hour (in cash) goes to them to split. It’s always worked well and they seem to love the arrangement. That has been separate from the truck rental in my case. I also provide drinks (and sometimes food). This is the best way to get them to hustle. If for some reason it took longer, I’d make some kind of adjustment if they’d been working fast so they’d still get a good tip, but that hasn’t happened in my case. Note: This is for fully-packed box moving, not them packing things up or waiting on me. I’m ready to go when they arrive.

  11. Sorry to threadjack so early, but advice?
    Went out on a date with a dude I met online last night. He seemed very nice, easy to get along with, I’m not opposed to going on a second date with him. We had exchanged several messages prior to the date but because of various scheduling conflicts and both of our fairly busy careers, didn’t end up going out until probably a month or so since the last messages were exchanged.

    However – at said date, he was talking about his undergrad. I said oh, what made you choose it? He said well I was originally at Colgate*, but I transferred to NYU* because it wasn’t a good fit for me. He then went off on this thing about how he really couldn’t stand being outside the city, he really wanted to be in a more urban area, etc etc, basically telling me all about his experience at Colgate. I was a little confused because I remembered him telling me something different but I just sort of rolled with it because hey, I get a lot of messages and get people confused a lot.

    Otherwise the date went fine, I did like him and he asked me out again and I responded positively (in a “give me a call, we’ll figure something out” sense) but it was bugging me when I got home. I went back and checked the messages he sent to me. In those messages, he said he was at Yale* for two years, but transferred because they didn’t offer his major.

    *school names changed to protect the not-so-innocent, but we’re talking fairly comparable levels of prestige here

    Now here’s the thing – I really don’t care about school prestige. The Ivy vs. non-Ivy thing doesn’t impress me much, and all the schools he listed are schools where you can get an excellent education so it’s not the substance of WHAT he lied about that’s bugging me. But I *am* confused about the lying (miscommunication? I’m not sure). I know I am some random chick from the internet, so he has no obligation to me, but I am kind of confused/sketched out as to why I got two totally different stories from him.

    So, do I still go on a second date with him? Do I ask him to explain this (and if so, pre- or during second date?)? Do I just write him off and quit responding to him and not let him know it’s because I caught him in this weird lie?

    My gut says to move on, but I’m really unsure if I should ask him to explain this (or call him out on it) first. I guess its possible there’s another explanation outside of an outright lie … but I’m not sure what it could be.

    1. You are not some “random chick on the Internet.” You’re a woman who’s trying to meet men online with the hope of ultimately finding a partner for an intimate relationship. You’re entitled to the disclosure of truthful information.

      He’s a liar. Move on. People who misrepresent basic facts about themselves in order to improve the impression they make on people always have an excuse.

      1. As long as you’ve fully checked this out and are sure there was a discrepancy, I wouldn’t bother discussing this with him. He’ll have an excuse, and might even become combative and retaliatory. Just let it go. Now if a good friend makes a date with him that I would tell her; that’s only fair.

        I watched the pilot of a new show called “Suits.” It was more enjoyable than I expected. But part of the premise is that to get hired at a top firm, a young man (of course he’s brilliant and sympathetic) lies about having gone to Harvard Law School, when in fact he’s not a graduate of any law school whatsoever.

        Some people mistake fantasy and reality.

        1. I have fully checked it out the extent that I can – I’ll admit I’m detail oriented so I picked up on SOMETHING strange as soon as he said it, but like I said, gave him the benefit of the doubt – a lot of guys out there and a lot of messages and I figured hey, I’m getting something confused.

          But like I said, it was bugging me so I checked. His emails say very clearly – Yale for two years, NYU for his final three (did a masters and undergrad). When we were talking on the date, I asked if he’d wanted to stay in the city for undergrad (since he’d gone to high school here) and he told me no, he wanted to get out and decided to go to Colgate, but ended up transferring to NYU because it was too rural. So like I said it *could* be a miscommunication but I really don’t see how.

          1. God, how many times could I have typed “like I said” in that comment? Sorry!

      2. And sometimes an illness, sometimes a dark side, sometimes a sob story… all of the above… doesn’t matter. Moving on isn’t penalizing him, it’s prioritizing you and making way for the next guy, or the right guy, or The One, or whatever you’re out there for.

    2. Bottom line – he lied. Like you said, it’s not about where he went to school, but about him being a liar. Move on!

      1. I agree. Who knows what else he lied about or will lie about? While it isn’t a big deal by itself, I wouldn’t trust a liar. Especially not as a potential partner.

    3. Since your gut says to move on (and you likely will), I think you should call him on it first, and give him the chance to explain before you move on. I think you should do it in absolutely the most polite way possible – i.e. beginning of the date before anything costly has been ordered or commited to, or on the phone before the date.

      Think about it this way – you have nothing to lose, since you’ll likely be moving on. If he freaks out or acts insulted at being called out, then you officially know you made the right choice. On the off chance he has a reasonable explanation, you’ll be able to make a decision based on that. And, if he just fibs about schools all the time because he’s insecure, he deserves to know that this a stupid strategey, and that quality women will be more interested in him than where he went to school.

      Good luck – I’m single again for the first time in years (age 34) and I’m running in to these sorts of issues to as I re-learn to navigate the waters of the dating world.

      1. Not the route I’ d take, I suggested dropping him flat. But if one had this conversation, I’d also have handy the numbers of the alumni offices of Colgate, NYU and Yale. Pretend to be an employer checking basic information. Or if one has a friend who’s an alum of any of those places ask her or him to look the guy up on the alumni directory (although his absence would not be dispositive, some people don’t want to be listed).

        Of course, the mere fact of having to do this is a bad bad sign.

        Plenty of other fish in the sea. This one smells bad.

        1. I was a Supreme Court law clerk. No, gosh, I guess I wasn’t. I was smart enough to have been one, and I would have worked really hard, so why I can’t I say I was? It would give me so confidence and everyone would be impressed.

          :-)

          1. Typo:

            “so why can’t I say I was?”

            (Expert proofreader after the fact as well. :-) )

      3. Um, no. You don’t want to get together again with a guy who gives you a bad feeling. I did that once, when I had an “off” feeling about a guy I met on match, and it got really, really weird when I told him I thought we should end our date. Weird and a little scary. If you have a bad feeling, just drop him and move on. You don’t want to be there when some guy who is just one step away from being a random stranger possibly “freaks out.” And you don’t owe him any “life improvement” lessons. (PS – I later met and married someone from match.)

    4. Just to be clear, in his initial emails he told you he went to Yale for two years and then transferred to NYU, but in person he said he went to Colgate for two years and then transferred to NYU?

      I feel like this speaks to a deeper insecurity about who he is and that he feels the need to lie about his past in order to impress people. That can flare up in all sorts of other ways, like being passive aggressive, belittling the person he’s with, or just not being comfortable in his own skin. I have a friend like this who is embarrassed about where he went to undergrad, and he can be really obnoxious and grabby about prestige in other, stupid ways (totally obsessed with labels for everything – cars, clothes, hotels, etc). It’s annoying even just as a friend.

      THAT SAID, if you like him, I’d say go ahead and go on a second date. But just keep your eyes open for other personality ticks that suggest a deeper insecurity. There are other harmless explanations for what he did (wanting to maintain anonymity is a big one), so I wouldn’t personally call this one a deal-breaker. But it’s up to you, of course!

      1. Anyone who went to prestigious schools knows pretty quickly if someone else went to one. The other person doesn’t mention where s/he went to school. Which is fine if it’s not something they want to highlight. Out of tact the person who went to the good school doesn’t press.

        But you don’t lie about it, and seemingly repeatedly. And especially not to women whose trust you seek.

      2. Yes – the initial emails said that he started at Yale, then transferred because he wanted to pursue a major Yale didn’t offer, and in person when I asked about his undergrad, he said oh well at first I wanted to get out of the city so I went to Colgate, but then I really wanted to switch so my junior year, I transferred to NYU.

        I guess I am unsure if I just really want to be around someone that is that insecure. Especially because I told him, prior to him telling me about Yale, that I went to a school directly comparable to Colgate. I definitely get the anonymity thing – that’s why I dodged the question, during the initial emails, about where I had been accepted to grad school. I did like him – but I don’t know if I liked him so much that this was okay. I am still puzzling over the whole thing – what a weird thing to lie about.

        1. Harvard and Yale grad here:

          That’s effing b.s. No one transfers from Yale to go to Colgate or even NYU. Yale has amazing undergraduate majors and I’m sure there’s the opportunity to design your own major. Plus, Yale on your resume opens more doors upon graduation, not that the job market is easy for anyone.

          If you pursue this, and I strenuously suggest you don’t, call the schools.

          1. Well in fairness he didn’t say he transferred to go to Colgate, just to NYU. And he did study something very pre-professional.

            But there is something really weird about the whole thing for several reasons, not the least of which is that you’re right – those schools in general have low, low, low transfer rates. He also didn’t talk about Yale in the way I talk about my own Ivy League grad school (in that sort of don’t bring it up unless you have to way), but having served on the undergraduate judicial committee and helped to design my own undergrad’s academic honesty policies, it honestly occurred to me that he might not have left… of his own volition. If he left. If he was there? God, I don’t know.

            He has a very common name so not sure if calling the schools would work, though I may reach out to some friends that are alumni to see if they remember him. But that seems like a lot of work.

            In any case, he told me in person he was at Colgate (in which case, the switch to NYU is more logical) but I really don’t know. It’s just such a strange thing to lie about, especially because all of those schools are great schools!

            Sigh.

          2. Are you a troll? In general I think you are really off. I know plenty of people who have started out at highly prestigious schools and transferred out because they wanted to be closer to home or the school just wasn’t a good fit. Just because something has an amazing school/major doesn’t mean it’s a great fit for every student.

            As for the OP, I think it’s a sign of some serious insecurity that he lied initially, and I probably wouldn’t go out with him again. My guess is that he wants to have some intellectual superiority to any woman he dates, since Colgate and the OP’s alma mater are comparable. Again, that’s a very bad sign. I don’t want to date a guy who feels like he has to outdo me at every turn.

          3. MelD – “plenty,” really? The transfer rate out of Harvard and Yale is quite low. I went to Harvard, knew tons of people, and knew only one girl who transferred to a different school (another Ivy) because she’d gotten off on the wrong foot with some of her roommates and felt like she needed a change and a fresh start. The only other people I know who left did so more or less unvoluntarily.

            I agree that “you’ve got to be kidding” came off as overly snooty and the Yale –> Colgate part doesn’t make sense if she’d read carefully, but I do think meeting someone who’s gone Yale –> NYU (at least as an undergrad) would be quite unlikely. And given what the story changed to at dinner (Colage –> NYU), that’s probably what actually happened.

            Huge red flag in any event and I seriously think this would be the perfect time to cut your (minimal) losses, OP.

        2. Move on for sure! He’s going to have other weird sketchy things come out as time goes on.

        3. Yeah I think this is more than just insecurity, because it is such a huge thing to lie about. Presumably if you date him for a while, you’ll end up seeing his resume, transcript, meet someone who went to the real school with him. I think its a bigger red flag than just being insecure.

        4. @E- Yale was just a label to denote prestige and the OP was *not* actually talking about Yale. Yes, people do transfer out of prestigious schools generally and some take some time off and might not be considered as actual transfers. My sister and I both had high school friends/classmates who started out at prestigious institutions and ended up leaving because the schools weren’t a good fit.

          1. Right, I’d extend my comment about Harvard to Yale, Princeton, Stanford, maybe one or two others that OP might have meant by “Yale.” Maybe my experience at Harvard isn’t representative of that whole group, or maybe we’re casting different “prestige” nets.

            There are lots of other schools I’d consider prestigious (including NYU) but given that NYU is presented as a different category entirely, I thought my assumption was fair.

          2. I should clarify that I am of the opinion that ALL of the schools involved are excellent schools, and schools any student would be lucky to attend. I was just trying to convey the mostly meaningless distinction of tiers WITHIN some of the top schools in America. Like I said, I went to a school analogous to Colgate and will attend an Ivy for grad school. I think once you get to that level of school, your education is going to be great and you will have plenty of opportunities.

            But yes, I was trying to convey the difference of the tier of Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT with NYU or Colgate. I don’t intend to imply that not all of the schools involved are prestigious – they all are, they all accept a small minority of the people that apply to them and they all offer lots of great things. I was NOT judging him based on the quality of Colgate or NYU or Yale, just on the lie itself, with the caveat that the reason he lied may have been the increased cachet of Yale as compared to Colgate.

          3. E – I gotta stick up for my Ivy. Despite the fact that it isn’t on your list, it is in the top 5 on the US News report. And I don’t particularly like your “maybe one of 2 others” comment. There are a lot of good schools out there.

            But regardless, there are many reasons people transfer schools and they apply to Ivies as much as any place else. People really do transfer because they like cities or they don’t. I went to a city school. I only applied to city schools, but some people realize it’s not for them, or vice versa.

            They might transfer because the classes are too hard or the school doesn’t offer a particular discipline. And, of course, they might transfer because of money issues.

            And I do know people who have transferred out of Harvard. I also have several friends who now say they wish they’d gone to another school. And I’m speaking as someone who didn’t go there, but does know it quite well. I’m a legacy.

          4. Bunkster, I’m sure it’s a great school! I’m sure I have tons of smart friends who went there. I was just saying that OP was unlikely to have used Yale as code for that school (which she confirmed), and also saying that my experience at Harvard in terms of transfer students out perhaps only applies to those schools (maybe more, I just don’t know if the generalization holds).

            I am certainly not trying to say that everyone is happy at Harvard (far from it!) — all the usual factors apply and then some. However, it’s my experience that my unhappy friends at Harvard were WAY more likely to stick it out than my unhappy friends at, say, BU or Cornell who in my experience were likely to at least go through with sending out transfer apps.

        5. Yeah, he didn’t forget where he started at undergrad – he lied to you, and then forgot he lied in an email and lied again (or told the truth?) in person. So he’s uncomfortable with whatever the real story is and chose to lie. Not a good partner for you.

          Whether people frequently transfer from one school to another, or from a prestigious school to a less-prestigious one isn’t the issue (although people might do that for reasons of failing grades, lack of money, general misery). What’s at issue is that he gave you an unreliable account of something that’s not really very significant in the grand scheme of things but might impact how you see him, which is all kinds of twitchy of him.

        6. If you’re “unsure if [you] just really want to be around someone that is that insecure[,]” move on!!! There is someone out there who won’t lie to you about a simple fact about himself on Date Numero Uno (or in e-mails leading up to the date). You can do better than this!

    5. If I REALLY liked the guy, I might bring it up and go out with him again–you never know what his response could be.

      But if this was like 99.9% of my first dates with people I met online and you just feel lukewarm, I’d nix it–lies aren’t a great sign.

      1. Agree. But since your gut says move on, move on. If you thought there was an innocent explanation, you’d ask him and not the Corporette community. You know you want to move on and just want permission…

        1. I didnt get that her gut said move on, she said she would consider a second date.

          Frankly, I think you should go out with him again, and say something like, “I was really confused last time…” and see how he handles it. If you are meeting guys on the internet, and that is all of the exagerating they do, and are honest in person, I would count yourself lucky.

          1. I definitely was open to considering a second date – my gut is saying move on because of this lie/miscommunication/confusion/whatever. It may be that there’s a simple explanation, but I’m not sure what it could be and not sure what courtesy I should extend to him to offer such an explanation.

        2. I married a guy who told small lies early in our courtship that I chose to overlook. Big mistake! He turned out to be a pathological liar, who would lie about important things (educational credentials, money, etc.) and the most trivial (whether he’d been invited to someone’s country house or not, ridiculous crap like that), and whose lies got both more clever and more insidious over the years. Move on! I wish I had listened to people who gave me this advice early on, before marriage, children and career were all very nearly destroyed by this charming charlatan’s insecurities and lies.

          1. I also dated a pathalogical liar for 6 years. He rarely lied about anything important. Instead, he lied about the most ridiculous, mundane things. Like, he’d say he had the greatest steak for dinner when he really had chicken. We broke up in college and stayed friends for awhile. Then he would tell me one thing and leave another thing on his aol IM away message (remember those?) so that I knew everything he said to me had been a lie. It drove me totally batty and I cut the cord. We are still intertwined by mutual friends so we do see each other on occassion but I try to keep our interactions soooo limited for my own mental health.

            I think he lied to try to get power over his life since he didn’t have it in so many other situations. (Severe learning disability, failing out of school, rough family life, etc.)

            To this day he will do odd things like ask me to email him about so and so’s party and then never write back if I do. I swear he just wanted the power of me writing him and him ignoring me. Now, I just ignore him 99% of the time except when it is unavoidable due to small town and small group of friends.

          2. This. I found out I was dating a pathological liar much earlier in the relationship, but part of the reason ignored earlier signs was that the lies were about such mundane things (eg went to restaurant A rather than restaurant B for dinner). Regardless of the subject, though, lies from someone you care about aree very painful. Do not put yourself in this situation if you can avoid it.

      2. It was definitely a lukewarm kind of deal. I think I should move on – I’m just unsure if I should ask him to explain himself (or call him out on it and be like, dude, that’s screwed up) first.

        1. See my comment above. For your own satisfaction, you may wish to call him on it. But from my experience, I’m afraid all that will do is ensure that he lies better to the next woman he meets.

        2. Don’t call him out on it. If he’s a seasoned liar, he’ll have an explanation at the ready, and you’ll start second-guessing whether you should really give him the boot. That’s the thing about the best liars–they’re great at making you feel like you’re the crazy one.

        4. No need to ask him to explain. People decline second dates all the time. You’ve got a funny feeling (for whatever reason) => move on!

    6. Just to add those who have said this before in order to make the percentage of responders in the “RUN AWAY NOW” camp as high as possible — run away now! Forget insecurity, this is about flat out lying, and not the small kind of fib about being stuck late at work when you really would rather just sit on the sofa watching tv. People who lie this easily scare me.

      1. Also trying to shift the vote towards RUN AWAY NOW. He lied to you. End of story, end of date, end of contact. You’re worth it!

      2. I’ll pile on to the “run away now” category although I would be twitching for an explanation. This is why I am in the small category of women who is uncomfortable with online dating. I married a guy who lied about little things in the beginning and turned into big things later. I have friends who claim everyone lies a little/tweaks the truth in online dating at first and my tiny experience with online dating has shown this as well (dude told me he was over 6′, he knew I was 5’9″, when we met he was shorter than me!!! did he think I wouldn’t notice??). It may be a small thing that can be explained away but it is just weird so move on.

        All of that being said, I will add to the transfering issue by saying I started at a very non-prestigious school and transferred to a larger still not-Ivy school because my marriage was a complete disaster and I was trying to save it with a change of venue. I generally tell people where I graduated when asked and don’t go into the details of the transfer unless it comes up later and I rarely tell people the actual reason for the transfer because it is just very private. If the only issue here was why he transferred out of Yale (or some equally prestigious place) to NYU, I would not be so critical of his explanation. It is the whole change in story about the original school that is bothersome. Personal tragedies, personal finances, stupid mistakes as a kid and a million other things I couldn’t pull out of the sky can explain any type of college transfer. Just because you loved the place doesn’t mean it is the perfect spot for everyone – even Yale, a place I probably would have loathed as an 18-year old. Sorry.

    7. Move on. No second date. He’s lying about something on your first date. Honestly, who cares what the explanation is? More dates, and you’re just asking for trouble and/or heartbreak.

    8. I agree with everything you said about moving on…but I wanted to add a general observation.

      This is an incredibly stupid thing to lie about. Its easily verifiable where you went to college — and unless its a consistent lie you tell constantly to everyone, then it would surely come up. Like when you facebooked him, linkedin him, or anything.

      I guess what I’m saying is — not only is he a liar, he’s really bad at it. I say move on. :-)

      1. Such a good point. When you put it that way, this situation reminds me of Weiner, almost! Telling near strangers who he was and sending lewd photos but expecting not to get caught? No reasonable explanation.

        1. It’s so weird what people lie about. I had a friend who was married to a guy for quite some time before finding out that he never graduated from college and therefore did not have the BA or MA he claimed to. She was heartbroken and even more so when she learned that the college/masters lie was just the tip of the lie iceberg. Just baffles me that someone would lie about such simple things.

      2. I would just add this: if you’re seriously considering calling schools to check up on him for a second date, then don’t go out with him. Not a good way to start things off–not that you’d be in the wrong, but it’s telling about how you already need to do homework on a guy. Plenty of fish in the sea!

    9. This brings up a bigger issue that I think women need to seriously think about. It’s not about schools, or small vs. big lies, it all boils down to the fact that in the last paragraph of your comment, you have the answer.
      “My gut says to move on.” There are so many times in our lives when we could have avoided bad situations if we had listened to our gut. So please, listen to your gut and move on. And then thank your gut for telling you what to do! (as far as whether or not to explain it to him – I wouldn’t bother. It could open the door for him to make excuses and try to weasel his way back into a second date. Just tell him you changed your mind and don’t think the two of you area good match.)

    10. Put me in the “move on” pile. Someone who is unable to truthfully state personal facts from the get-go is nothing but trouble.

    11. Trust your gut. I wouldn’t follow some of the advice here to contact or meet with him further, myself, but if you do meet with him, make it a very public place and plan your potential exit in advance. I think that the fact that you went “fact-checking” on him is your gut saying “Nooooooooo……”.

    12. I agree that you should move on, but you obviously don’t want to. You like something about him and it can’t hurt to find out if he really is a liar or not. I’m sure most would disagree, but you have enough interest in him to post about it, and you are going to do what you want regardless of what others say. Also, if you do continue to see him and more red flags are raised, then there will be no uncertainty. Do what you want and have fun, but just be cautious.

    13. If your gut says move on — then there’s your answer.

      To the person who said that most Ivies have low transfer rates — you’re right, he may have transferred involuntarily. My husband got tossed out of college due to excessive drinking. He doesn’t volunteer that fact to people he just met; he simply talks about his year off from college, mentions he switched schools. He’s not a bad person because of this, just someone who was very, very immature when he went to college (at 17, which made it worse).

      As for the lie about the initial schools, I would ask. Maybe in a reply to that initial email that lists Yale instead of Colgate. But that’s the fact-obsessed lawyer in me. ;-)

  12. I am not a fan of this print. Something about prints like this just always bothers me. I can’t quite put my finger on what though.

    1. I agree – I prefer my prints crisper. It sort of looks like a DvF got caught in the rain.

      Loved the graphic print sheath dress that Kate Middleton wore to someone’s wedding the other week!

      1. Haha! That made me laugh. I think you hit the nail on the head, as far as my own impressions of the print go. And I also loved the dress KM wore, and loved that she had worn it in the past and wasn’t afraid to “recycle.”

  13. Sophisticated. Is the fabric opaque and silky enough to be born without a slip? Otherwise, I would prefer it were lined.

    1. Yes, but this girl does not have the wonky eye thing going on (on SD, one eye is higher than the other).

  15. Agreed!! Love this Dress — Bought it a couple of weeks ago to wear to a work brunch and it looked fabulous! Very flattering!

    Lea

  16. I’m on the verge of ordering a suit from Talbots, but I’m torn between a charcoal gray and navy. I currently have 2 black suits, but I don’t really love either one. I’d like to be able to wear whichever one I pick on interviews. I know that navy would be an appropriate choice for interviews, but the navy only has pants while the gray has both pants and a skirt. Either one is from the seasonless wool line. Any advice?

    1. FWIW, I think that the navy and black seasonsless wool from Talbots are almost indistinguishable. I bought a black suit and a navy suit from that line and I was seriously confused as to which was which when I opened the box.

      I’d go with the charcoal because you can pair that nicely with navy accessories (if that’s a concern) and brown and black and (fill in blank…!).

      1. I agree. I own navy and black skirts from Talbots in the seasonless wool line, and I really have to look closely at which one I’m wearing so I make sure my shoes match. In no way is it even a medium navy. It is a dark, almost black navy.

        1. I actually went back and put an “n” on the tag of the navy jacket and skirt in silver sharpie. So confusing. Both suits are gorgeous, sure, but I had no idea which I was wearing.

        2. I see myself eventually getting a navy suit, so thank you for telling me this. I’ll have to remember to choose a different retailer or Talbots line when I do buy one.

          Kellyn, I’m glad you said the suits are gorgeous. I ordered the gray one earlier today and a gorgeous burgundy top and I can’t wait for them to get here! Online shopping isn’t great for instant gratification.

    2. I’d go for the three-piece option if you can. It will give you a lot more versatility and I think both navy and charcoal gray are equally appropriate for interviews.

    3. Gray is totally fine for formal occasions like interviews. Go for the gray with both pants and skirt.

    4. Go with the gray 3 piece. It’s as conservative as navy and it will probably be easier for you to wear the shirts that you use with your black suits.

  17. The sewed-down situation for the bottom part of the dress should take care of the problem we’ve identified with true wraps: they sometimes blow up in the wind. This has happened to me! So good call on the designer’s part, I think.

    I’m asking for tips without much hope, but…has anyone found a way to pack bras in a suitcase without risking their cups getting folded/damaged during transport? The only thing I have thought of is to fold them inward and stuff small fabric items between the cups, like bikini pieces, but even this doesn’t necessarily prevent knocking the cups out of shape, especially if they are hitting against harder items like shoes or books (even when clothes are packed in between as a buffer). TIA!

    1. I normally just fold them in half, and then pop one cup inside-out so it sits nestled inside the other cup. Then, I stack my bras and put them inside a hat. I find that they fit very well inside of a hat, with the added bonus that they protect the hat from getting crushed just as the hat protects the bras.

    2. If you’re not confident that packing the heavy items and the bras at completely different ends of the suitcase is protection enough, just throw them in a gladlock container or similar hard case. I don’t think you can get perfect protection and perfect space-saving in the same suitcase.

    3. I do the same as Yogurt Lover, fold the cups into one another, but then I put the convex end pointing into the suitcase’s corner, then I stuff the concave side with socks or whatever. Minimizes movement and potential for crushing.

    4. So I’m very confused by this thread. Bras getting folded/damaged/crushed? Maybe I’m ignorant because I’m small of chest, but I’ve always just folded my bras in half, put them into the same fabric zippered bag that holds my underwear (in the hopes that, if TSA has to go through my suitcase, my unmentionables won’t be on display for the entire line to see), and I’ve never had a problem.

      Am I missing something?

      1. It depends on the bra style (size as well as other characteristics) … underwire bras that are made from stiffer material or larger cups that may have padding can definitely get crushed. They’ll recover, but if you’re spending $50-60 on a bra – some good bras certainly cost that much – you want to minimize damage. Not to mention lace and ribbon and whatever else might be involved ..

        More straightforward bras with no padding, no wires, and thinner, lighter fabric are a different story.

      2. Ha! This just happened to me. I have expensive DD bras. When I packed recently I just laid them on the top of all my other luggage and zippered up the case. Then I got pulled aside and my bag was hand searched. My pink lacy (huge) bras were right on top smiling at the world as they walked by. So many men gave me a head nod as they walked by me. I just laughed and smiled. Thank God I wasn’t traveling on business with coworkers – though I probably still would have just laughed and smiled. What else can you do!

      3. I’m baffled as well so I just assume I am either too small or don’t spend enough on bras for this to be a problem. Maybe both.

    5. I usually do exactly what you describe, and I find that as long as I unpack relatively quickly, everything springs back into shape. One thing I also do is I pack all my bras and underwear together and then put them into a larger cloth bag (think something along the lines of a shoe bag), that way everything is together and sort of forms a big crush-proof mass. I place this on top of all my other stuff in the suitcase to prevent smooshing.

      I suppose you could try packing the bras in a “bra bag” (like the kind you use for laundry) for extra protection, but I am not sure how well that would work given that the bags are soft construction. If there’s a particular bra or two you are just really concerned about, you could also always get a small plastic container for them (check the container store, they have every conceivable size) and pack them that way. It would certainly take up a bit more space but it would take care of the problem.

    6. I don’t stress about it too much, but usually pack them by first putting in a stack of clothes, then nestling a bra in, with the cups facing the top of the suitcase (when I’m rolling it around), laid out so that each cup is partly filled by the corners of the stack of clothes. The lower part of the cups faces “up” when rolling, and the upper part of the cups is then kept in place by the next folded item. Definitely helps keep it in place, and I’ve never emerged with a scrunched up bra.

    7. You can usually maneuver the bra so that both cups will face outward (making a circle). I find that not all materials look that great when you try to fold one inside out. Then I place them around the outside of the suitcase (typically near the top with the lighter stuff), which tends to lock them into place so they don’t get crushed by anything.

      1. My sister gave me a bra case for my birthday- takes up a bit of space in suitcases, but is very good for large-ish expensive bras you don’t want to get crushed. No idea where she found it though!

        1. Ladies, problem solved! The Bra Bags are available on my site (www.justcantresist.com) and are FABULOUS! They are available in two sizes (regular and buxom) and in seven designs. Each design has its own personality (they range from sexy to sophisticated!). They all have a matching panty pak, so you can really travel in style!

  18. Hello friends,

    I’m trying to make the switch from a law firm (semi-conservative) to a non-profit clothing wise and it’s a bit hard. I dont’ want to look too fancy but I fear that I risk coming across as too casual. It’s hard to find a middle ground. Also not helping: the fact that I’ve put on about 5 lbs and none of my pants fit!

    Any suggestions for ways to dress down a conservative wardrobe or dress up a casual one? I’m a junior attorney so I’d like to look more professional than the average person in my office, but not so much so that I look like I’ve got “corporate” written on my forehead.

    Thanks!

    1. I would keep your core pieces (pants, skirts, etc) and switch in some fun tops and accessories. Some ideas:
      – Switch blazers for cardigans, and keep the blazers to wear over a dress, or with non-matching pants/top, rather than as part of a suit
      – Buy tops with more colour, prints, etc
      – Switch your shoes for more fun, colourful ones
      – Same with accessories — add more casual colourful jewelry and scarves on top of your conservative clothing pieces

      That way you’re keeping the basic outfits (staying professional, also saving money by not buying a whole new wardrobe) and just moderating it with some more fun and casual pieces to show you’re not stuffy and corporate.

    2. I work for a non-profit. I’d just leave the jacket off of your outfits, and feel free to wear more color, patterns, flowier skirts, more comfortable shoes, etc.

  19. *sigh* My coloring is very similar to that of the model, and I just don’t think black and white is very flattering for it. That said, I love this dress! I’ll be hunting for something similar in a better-for-me color. Any recommendations?

  20. This may seem trivial, but it’s driving me nuts.

    I met this guy recently (in a course) and we’ve hung out a couple of times. We seemed to hit it off and it was fun. Since then, he’s bailed on plans FOUR times. He leaves everything up in the air to as to create the impression that nothing was set in stone, but when we plan to hang out on a Thursday, and then you go “well now I’m not sure, I have work to do, I don’t know what time the event starts, it might be late”, etc., etc., and keep giving vague excuses, that is bailing to me.

    I’m frustrated because social etiquette means I’m not allowed to say, “I don’t appreciate you flaking out on me four times. I’m not going to bother trying to make plans with you again if you do this.” (that’s harsh, obviously), but then again I don’t like having to just accept it and walk away and just ignore his plans to meet up in the future.

    Any suggestions?? It’s driving me nuts!!

    1. Is this real? Obviously don’t go out with him, should he ever (unlikely) ever decide he actually wants to go out with you. What in the world are you getting out of this? Triple obviously, no. You don’t have to say anything and breech your etiquette code. Just stop talking to him about none-class things. Don’t make a deal out of something that never was one.

    2. Wait, since when does social etiquette mean you can’t say that it bothers you that he keeps flaking? I would say it–politely–just say that you don’t have a lot of free time and that you’d rather make a plan that he can commit to rather than make lots of flaked-upon plans. Or if you’d rather be less direct, next time he flakes, say something like “well, let me know when you’ve got time to hang out b/c clearly you’ve got a lot going on right now.”

      I really believe that you have to teach people how you want to be treated. That said, I had a very flaky guy that I was seeing who learned to be better once I made it clear that I wasn’t cool with it–of course that only lasted for a year or so but we had a nice long 3.5 year relationship (complete with fights about flakiness) to boot.

      1. Ballerina girl, I agree with you. Jerky people get to be like this because whenever you call someone out on it, they get offended and say “wow I *cannot believe* she said that to me!” when they are the ones who are being rude in the first place!

        Just walking away from it is what I’ve done in every other situation I’ve faced, and all that happens is the person is clueless and thinks they did nothing wrong. It may sound silly, but that bothers me to a degree. Flakiness is a massive pet peeve of mine and it seems to be the norm for my generation. It’s especially annoying since HE is the one who is making the plans! I just follow along, and I usually assumed he would flake, but after enough chat about how we are going to meet up on X day, I finally start to think “ok wow he won’t bail” then BAM he bails 2 hours after I convince myself it’s okay to believe the plans will happen.

    3. Act like he doesn’t exist. Literally.

      You don’t have to accept it. You can tell him – no, I’m not interested in meeting up with you. It’s totally up to you. Or you can engage him in the same behavior. But really, it won’t bother him as much as it bothers you.

      I find that acting like a man isn’t alive always makes him reappear. At which point I act surprised and tell him I’m uninterested. Inevitably, I AM uninterested by then. Social etiquette? All is fair in love and war.

      1. Next time he asks you somewhere, just nicely say that you will have to decline because the last four times you’ve made plans with him, he has bailed last minute and it’s put you in a bind and then invite him to reach out to you once his life and schedule has settled down.

      1. This is exactly what I was thinking while reading the OP. If he wanted to spend time with you, he’d make time to spend with you. Harsh perhaps, but it’s his loss.

    6. Why does social etiquette say you can’t call him on it? I certainly would. I’ve also been “no longer available” when a date has shown up 45 minutes late without explanation. Are we not allowed to have some basic standards?

      1. I was wondering the same thing. I have friends with this same issue and you can bet that after this happens a few time, I do rip them a new one. Friend or not, this behavior is not acceptable. They seem to think that they’re the only ones with lives that matter and we clearly would have nothing better to do but be with them, so it does not matter if/when they cancel. Usually when someone is that late, I leave or if they text/call to ask if we’re still on, I simply won’t respond.

    7. This is someone you’re interested in dating? My conclusion is that he’s just not into you.

  21. Isn’t that book, He’s Just Not That Into You (never read it, but assume the premise is as advertised) designed for situations like this?

    Just move on and quit even thinking about it/him. He’s not into you. No offense, I’m sure you’ve got better things to do and think about.

      1. It’s not that I think he’s into me in that sense (I meant we got along, hit it off, as in, we had fun hanging on, not like I was trying to pursue a relationship). I can figure that out. I just mean, generally, it’s not nice to bail on people constantly, and I had been giving him the benefit of the doubt for too long, clearly.

        I guess what I mean is, if this was a girl, I’d feel the same way. It has nothing to do with romantic feelings.

        1. Oh I thought you were romantically interested in him. Sorry about that. (I’m glad you’re not!)

          If you want to teach him a lesson, teach him a lesson. “Hi Brian – would be great to see you on Tuesday, but you’ve cancelled on me four times since May. Not sure if it’s your schedule or what, but let’s not plan anything else unless you’re actually going to make it, OK? Thanks! Jane”

          And be ready for him to maybe disappear after that, because most people don’t react well to having their flaws pointed out to them.

          1. Amazing. Thank you. This is the advice I hoped to hear. It makes me feel SO much better to have more control and be able to say something (if I choose to) instead of just passively letting it go and resenting him silently.

            Corporetters rock!!!

          2. But know he’ll think you’re into him and tell people (false-humbly-perplexed-afraid but actually boastingly) that you’re obsessed with him and crazy. The male-thinking-on-female-behavior analogue to he’s just not that into you is ‘that girl is crazy.’ Applies to all female behavior or lack thereof.

          3. hm, i don’t know if i agree with that (the idea that he, “brian”, will think springtime is into her) – after all she’s basically turning down his theoretical invitation to hang out unless he can show some respect.

            you are right though that some guys read any vaguely assertive behavior by women as crazy … if this is the case, maybe better to know so you can cut off communication anyway. some people ARE crazy, but a lot of people also just refuse to be honest about their own behavior and blame everything on others.

        2. Oops. I guess I thought you were romantically interested in him as well. Apologies for my above response made according to that assumption!

          1. No problem! I was trying to convey that we get along and it’s not an issue of him “trying to let me down gently/secretly doesn’t like me and doesn’t know how to say no.”

            I swear I live in a city where flakiness is a genetic predisposition. I used to live other places and never had this problem. Everyone here likes to pretend they are sooo busy, sooo important, and I think a large part of it is that people are afraid to put themselves out there and admit they like someone (romantically or not). People back off very quickly if someone is “clingy” when really they are just showing interest (this is my observations from what people tell me, and from what has happened to me). Thus dating is next to impossible (people just exist in these sorta relationships and refuse to commit) and making new friends can be just as hard.

            It’s one of the major reasons why I want to move!!

          2. There’s nothing wrong with calling this guy out on the behavior. I had a female friend once who did this to me – would make plans and then flake at the last minute – and after the third time, I just kind of quit making plans with her – would return her calls and emails, but when she wanted to make plans to “do something” would just say “wow, I am so super busy, can’t plan anything right now.” Eventually we fell out of touch, which wasn’t a big loss. But people like this need to learn to either shape up or lose friends. Flaking out repeatedly is not a good life skill for anyone.

        3. I also assumed you wanted to date him! Well, if not, then I think it’s fair to tell him that you don’t want to make plans because of his repeated bailing (which is unfair and insulting to you) and to call you when he can actually keep plans.

        4. The truth is, either way, he’s not treating you as valuable, whether as a potential date or a potential friend.

    2. Ugh, I hated that book. It’s chocked full of generalities and doesn’t really acknowledge that people are complex creatures. I firmly believe in “don’t put up with crap from a guy” and “teach people how you want to be treated” but the whole “he didn’t call, he’s just not that into you” thing is kind of silly–some people are just flakes.

  22. PSA: LOFT has 40% off everything through the weekend. I haven’t been impressed with their quality lately, but giving them another try…

    1. Loft has gotten ultra casual. It used to be my go to store for work clothes but now everything there just seems so casual.

    2. Same deal with Ann Taylor. At last years 4th of July sale, I picked up a pair of black kitten heels ($36), blush open toe pumps ($60), crepe pencil skirt ($30), and a pair of slacks ($20). I would have purchased a lot more if I hadn’t been a broke law student. Hopefully there won’t be any good sales this year to tempt me since I’m an even poorer bar studier :-)

    3. PSA to the PSA: if you’re shopping the Loft or AT sale today, don’t use Firefox. I had some uber frustrating checkout trouble (super slow, then it looked like went through but didn’t give me a confirmation number and had not, in fact, gone through) that required a call to Customer Service. IE worked fine.

    4. I got a TON of stuff there recently–definitely not the best quality, but not bad if you get it on sale. Most of it isn’t appropriate for a formal/business casual office, but some is if matched with the right things. That said, the cotton shirts/skirts/etc that I’ve gotten there have become my weekend staples–so many flattering summer cuts!

  23. NOT impressed with Loft quality at all. Spent $500 at the beginning of the summer on skirts and cute tees and nearly all of them look worn after being worn just a few times. Will not be going back!

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