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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Sales of note for 10.10.24
- Nordstrom – Extra 25% off clearance (through 10/14); there's a lot from reader favorites like Boss, FARM Rio, Marc Fisher LTD, AGL, and more. Plus: free 2-day shipping, and cardmembers earn 6x points per dollar (3X the points on beauty).
- Ann Taylor – Extra 50% off sale (ends 10/12)
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything plus extra 25% off your $125+ purchase
- Boden – 10% off new styles with code; free shipping over $75
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off a lot of sale items, with code
- J.Crew – 40% off sitewide
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off entire site, plus extra 25% off orders $150+
- Lo & Sons – Fall Sale, up to 35% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Neiman Marcus – Sale on sale, up to 85% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 50% off 2+ markdowns
- Target – Circle week, deals on 1000s of items
- White House Black Market – Buy one, get one – 50% off full price styles
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…
KJ
It’s not just her stance that is making the sleeves look like that. The Nordstrom site describes them as “gently puffed” and with the zoom you can see that the same “ribbons” used on the horizontal bands are tucked into the shoulder seam. It also appears there is one down the outside of the sleeve and that the edges of the sleeves are scalloped. Also – depending on the size of your bosom, those two “ribbons” at that level could be pretty deadly.
This is basically a sheath dress. I think there are similar dresses out there that have been embellished in ways I like better. This seems a little cheap (like not a $140 dress), especially since horizontal layering seems to be so trendy right now. I liked the trend at first (but mostly for off-time clothes), but it’s been overdone now IMO.
eplawyer
Anyone with hips should not wear horizontal stripes of any kind. A straight line right across your hips just makes them look wider.
Kate
Seriously?
E
Obviously the horizontal embellishments won’t flatter everybody, but if you can get away with it this could be a lovely piece. The model clearly has hips but still looks great. I have a very similar grey dress with puffed sleeves but interesting trim – it probably is “almost too boring”!
E
but *no* interesting trim, that is. Sorry.
jcb
I like it – sleeves and all. Thanks!
anon
I wouldn’t look good in this dress at all (I’m too busty), but I think it’s gorgeous all the same.
RoadWarriorette
I agree. A very cute dress, but not one that I would be able to wear.
Lawgirl
Needs a wide belt, I think, which would make it look more polished. I think you could find something like this at Target or Kohl’s for $30-40.
L
I like it – would only wear it if I were a size smaller though.
Anonymous
I would probably buy this one if it were slightly longer (just covering knees). Anyone have good suggestions for sheath dresses that fall to just below the knee?
E
I like it on the model; it’s one of those dresses though that you could look awesome or horrible in, depending on the minute differences in your shape versus the dress’s construction. Definitely would try on if at Nordstrom though.
Jay
I’ve been trying a bunch of dresses from Nordstrom over the past month or so, including some by Suzy Chin, and none of them are working for me. Too low in the front, too low in the back (very odd), cheap-looking belts, bizarre sizing issues (some run HUGE, some are way small)…..I just make sure I order enough to get free shipping, and then return what doesn’t work over lunch.
Anyway, given my past Suzy Chin experience, I think this would be very form-fitting yet tasteful as long as it’s in the appropriate size.
Finally, it’s not Nordstrom’s. It’s just Nordstrom.
DH
“Boring” dresses are a great excuse to show off a great pair of shoes. I have a pair of canary yellow kitten heels that are too much with almost anything, but I could pull them off with a dress like this. Good find.
Kathryn
A dress that comes in visually at the hem–b/c it falls straight down, is probably not a good idea for a “woman of hips,” and I’d be wary of the crew-ish neckline. That said, it could be wonderful for the right figure. The ruffling is sort of diagonal, which could prove flattering.
Ponte knit can be wonderful or cheap–it doesn’t sag or cling, but can pill or nap up. Depends. It is actually machine washable, no matter what they say.
Anne Vohl
This is not work-appropriate where I live and work. Ruffled lettuce trim is okay for work in very small doses. I recently bought a cute suit at Ann Taylor that had ruffled lettuce trim and I removed some of the trim before I wore the suit. This worked well.
newassociate
While perusing the Nordstrom sale area, I came across this dress somewhat like TPS today, but without horizontal stripe issues. More boring, but easier to wear, I suspect.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3034235/0~2376788~6002242~6007533~6025464?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6025464&P=2
Kathryn
Says it’s no longer available. I like it better though–and it’s accessory and jacket friendly.
KJ
Change o’topic here:
Interesting ‘review’ of Ann Taylor in today’s NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22CRITIC.html?ref=fashion
anon
That article is too difficult to read with the “quotations” and obscure metaphors. I gave up midway.
peg
Agree, it was really hard to read and after it all, not sure I even get what her point was.
RoadWarriorette
I feel vaguely offended by all the stereotypes in this review. I also think it’s interesting that the reviewer’s opinion seems to be in direct contradiction to most opinions here.
anon
youlookfab.com, which seems to cater to non-corporate types, was also a big fan of Ann Taylor’s revamped style. Interesting division, I think.
Mel
Wow- that was not a good article. I don’t mind Ann Taylor’s revamped style, but I didn’t mind it originally either. I just felt like the stereotypes were unnecessary. For a lot of women, the workplace offerings are pretty slim, so yeah, they’re going to go to Ann Taylor.
AIMS
I dont think that the point of the article was to suggest that workplace offerings aren’t “slim” or that there are necessarily lots of better places to shop for clothes to wear to relatively conservative offices. But it does have to be acknowledged that most office clothes are boring! I have shopped at AT and will probably do so again soon, but only for work clothes — and I do not kid myself that my work wardrobe reflects how I would actually chose to dress if given the option. Especially in conservative settings, personality in clothing (especially for the young) tends to be frowned upon — whereas, in fashion and journalism, personality is encouraged, which is why the writer was not a fan of the store to begin with.
Prior to law school & especially prior to post-law school employment, I used to think of stores like AT, LOFT, etc., as where women’s stylistic ambitions go to die. I think a lot of non-law/non-corporate types feel that way and I completely understand why!
AT has its function, but expressing yourself in an interesting way is not what it’s for.
Mel
I am in FL, where workplaces are not very conservative generally. However, most stores tend to go so far into the casual realm that AT/BR (not even Loft for part of the year) are the only places that you can even find business casual clothes suitable for any workplace. Even in creative offices, you can’t go in wearing cargo capris, skimpy tanks or shorts, and that’s what most stores seem to want to offer in the summer. It may be that other areas have more fun, reasonably priced shopping options, but this area is not one of them.
I worked in other fields before law and still ended up shopping at those places because everywhere else was too casual.
Lawgirl
Incredibly snobbish article. Is she a trust fund baby? Excess is so gaudy, tacky, and touche. Me and my Ivy League corporettes were at an awards gala and laughed at the clueless unemployed Goldman Sach’s attorney, dripping in diamonds, dressed in Chloe, and carrying a Chanel chain purse. Broke as a joke. Bwahhhh :-)
Kathryn
It’s over-written in fashionista-speak, of course. They are usually trust fund types–how else could they afford to work for so little money and spend so much?
The points are good, though, that the fabric and styling have changed. The styling has become more “fashionable,” love it or hate it, and the fabric is “nicer.” According to y’all, though, the fabrication –the sewing maybe isn’t so hot?
Amber
I love AT’s new stuff, but that article made me feel sad inside.
AIMS
Why would you attack “trust fund types” just because some fashion writer thinks the clothes you wear are boring? I am (sadly) not amongst the trust fund contingent but from what I recall of law school, the majority of students came from relatively well to do families (despite what they themselves thought . . . just look at some census stats for a reality check).
Is it really necessary to resent others and to be so petty? This woman works in fashion. You work in law. Your wardrobe requirements different. There’s no need to be so personal, especially when you know nothing about the writer and are working off baseless stereotypes.
AIMS
Sorry this was meant to respond to Lawgirl, Kathryn and anyone voicing similar sentiments.
Amber – I agree with your comment wholeheartedly.
Sharon
Nothing wrong with the trust fund; the writer just didn’t seem like a very nice person. Snobby about AT being for the Little People. Made sure we all knew that the AT salesperson called her tiny.
Digby
For what it’s worth, the author’s schtick is to be outrageous. Her review of JC Penney garnered a lot of flak, and she ultimately issued an apology (I think on her own website, not necessarily on the NYT site). She also did an outrageous review of Thom Browne’s women’s collection last year, full of innuendoes and asides about Mr. Browne. In many reviews, she injects comments about her tiny frame and hard-edged personal fashion style, so this review is nothing out of the ordinary for her. In fact, it’s highly complimentary by her standards…
Lawgirl
This says it all… I don’t want to marry a tax attorney; hell I wear AT and *am* a tax attorney :0/
__________________________
I took a dim view of Ann Taylor while loitering around Washington, where the label is so ubiquitous it might as well be tattooed on the C7 vertebrae of every woman under 60. The line has always offered tasteful middle-management office classics in wool with just enough spandex to vaguely suggest a Sarah Palin strip-o-gram. My shorthand for the look was always “capitalist burqa” or “corporate office submissive”: cubicle-wear of so-so quality for the single girl in her late 20s whose self-esteem has been almost beaten to death by the beauty industrial complex and whose decent education has been punished with a thanklessly demanding office job. She’s a can-do Cinderella who has always had to change the oil in her own pumpkin and is too overworked to have a healthy social life outside the workplace. Her outfits must therefore be corporate-respectable, yet body-conscious enough to attract a nice tax attorney husband.
Lawgirl
This says it all… I don’t want to marry a tax attorney; hell I wear AT and *am* a tax attorney :0/
__________________________
I took a dim view of Ann Taylor while loitering around Washington, where the label is so ubiquitous it might as well be tattooed on the C7 vertebrae of every woman under 60. The line has always offered tasteful middle-management office classics in wool with just enough spandex to vaguely suggest a Sarah Palin strip-o-gram. My shorthand for the look was always “capitalist burqa” or “corporate office submissive”: cubicle-wear of so-so quality for the single girl in her late 20s whose self-esteem has been almost beaten to death by the beauty industrial complex and whose decent education has been punished with a thanklessly demanding office job. She’s a can-do Cinderella who has always had to change the oil in her own pumpkin and is too overworked to have a healthy social life outside the workplace. Her outfits must therefore be corporate-respectable, yet body-conscious enough to attract a nice tax attorney husband.
Cat
Definitely a need-to-try-on type of dress, but I think it has good potential. The waist looks a little high for me, unfortunately (my husband has 8 inches on me standing, but we’re the same height seated…).
@Anne – I am getting very curious about your work environment – you seem to always need very plain/conservative attire!
Mel
I’m curious too. The neckline/sleeves are conservative, the dress isn’t too tight, the color is neutral, and the skirt could be a tiny bit longer but should be fine if you aren’t that tall or have ultra-long legs.
I have the same waist issues, so sheath styles are hard to fit. This one looks to be fairly short waisted in the picture, so I don’t think it would work.
RF
I like the dress. You all have been inspiring me to branch out beyond my pant suits and show a little leg once in awhile but at 5’11” its hard to find dresses that aren’t too mini.
Anne Vohl
I have an AT story. Years ao I was representing a tiny wealthy woman in a divorce case who only ever wore jeans and tee shirts. I told her, “We are going to court and you must wear a skirt”. She asked me should she buy a suit, and I said fine. So she went to AT and bought a nifty but very severe black wool suit, and came to court looking like a mid-level exec. The judge was so impressed with her “capabilities” that he gave her vey little, assuming she would be a major success in the biz world. So….
Emilie
I hate ponte knit. It makes me look about 20 lbs heavier than I am – clings in all the wrong places. Is it just me? I’ve tried on many pieces, always with the same result.
Mel
I sometimes make the mistake of trying ponte knit on and get depressed every time. Unless it’s a much more structured design, it accentuates my lumps and bumps, rides up, and otherwise looks really unattractive. I don’t think this dress even looks that great on the model.
lawdiva
Mel,
Spanx or Flexees does wonders in terms of hiding the lumps, if you haven’t already tried that option. I could normally never wear a dress like this, but with my Flexees, these types of dresses become an option for hip-py girls like me. :)
Mel
I have a long torso and do have Spanx-style undergarments for pencil skirts, but since I have a longer torso the ponte knit dress is out of the question. The widest part of the skirt is usually above my hips. In terms of sheath dresses, more structured fabrics with a belt tend to work a lot better.