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- Racked looks at fashion investment purchases and quality vs. quantity.
- The Consumerist reports that Jones New York is closing all of its stores and its wholesale business, while sister brand Anne Klein recently closed the e-commerce section of its website (after a period when customers' questions on the Facebook page were answered with vague replies about a “refreshed new look”). Racked takes a look at all the recent additions to the retail graveyard (headline NSFW).
- Lifehacker has advice on reading people's body language when you're considering whether to join a conversation in progress, while Women 2.0 has tips on tailoring your style to networking situations.
- This New Republic piece on motherhood and women's career paths has been making the rounds on social media. Here's a line from the article, about maternity leave: “Eighty-eight percent of American women do not get paid for a single day or a single hour after they give birth.” Meanwhile, New York magazine has an essay written by a woman in her late 30s who's considering becoming a single mom by choice.
- About Careers shares a profile of one of Kat's old law school friends.
- McSweeney's lists several reasons — TOTALLY unrelated to the fact that you're a woman, of course — to explain why you didn't get that promotion. For a Laugh of the Week of a less ironic variety, check out this recent Tonight Show skit that's especially for '90s kids (YouTube; autoplay video).
On CorporetteMoms Recently…
- We talked about long daycare waiting lists.
- Kat shared some picks for moms and non-moms alike.
Did we miss anything? Add 'em here, or send them to news@corporette.com. Thank you! Also: Are you a mom or mom-to-be? Don't miss this week's news update at CorporetteMoms.
tesyaa
Wow, JNY has been around forever (loved it in the 80s and 90s), but it makes sense: it was getting to be a bit of a dinosaur.
Baby Shame
Wow, that NY Magazine article. I feel like I could’ve written this:
“In between relationships, I developed a lot of baby shame. I convinced myself that wanting kids continually ruined everything; that I was luring these men in with promises of romance and recklessness, then sucker punching them with some whiny wannabe-housewife whom they didn’t recognize and couldn’t wait to shed. I hated her; she scared them all away. Although, I never figured out why — in their eyes — I wasn’t allowed to have sensuality, joie de vivre, AND ovaries and a biological clock. But it seemed like I had to choose: Be the girl who fucks or be the girl who breeds.”
Anon
I may be a bit of an eighth grader still, but I look at pregnant people and all I see is people who *you know* put out.
Or, as they said on Raising Arizona: you’ve been up to the Devil’s work.
Signed,
Someone who told her parents she was pregnant, thinking (OMG, they know too much about me now; I know they assume what I do with my husband, but yikes)
Anonymama
Did you really just use “doing it”? This is weird, do you have a Puritan background or did your parents and friends just never talk about that kind if thing? I feel like today the default assumption for adults who have been dating for more than a few months is that they have had sex, and if they haven’t that’s weird. Like assuming most adult women have periods, it’s just normal. Or, in 8th grade speak, “no duh, of course your parents knew you had sex before you got pregnant.”
Baby Shame
I think you missed the point.
Wildkitten
Yup.
Anon
You can have my amazing soon-to-be ex-husband. I could have written those words, in reverse, about career. I’ve felt so ashamed over the past 8 years of our marriage for wanting a career more than anything and not wanting children. And so now we’re 33 and getting a divorce and I’ve never been more relieved in my life. I feel free to finally be who I am. I’ve spent years trying to convince myself that I wanted children, forcing myself to believe the messaging that every woman should want children. I’m so grateful for the freedom from impending mommyhood that I cry from joy of having the pressure taken off me. (And I can’t tell you how deeply happy it makes me to walk into my new bachelorette apartment every day with its white upholstery and fine antiques – nothing practical or childproof here!)
My STB ex-husband’s the greatest guy in the world. He cooks, he cleans, he volunteers to babysit our friends’ kids, he makes six figures, he’ll watch chick flicks with you, he sends random love notes, everyone on earth just thinks he’s the nicest guy they’ve ever met…he wants four kids and to move to his tiny hometown where his kids can use dusk as their call to dinner. It’s perfectly idyllic…for someone other than me.
Don’t know why I felt called to put this here. I’m in therapy now and it feels good just to say out loud, “I really REALLY don’t want children. I want a career. And that’s ok.” I guess all women have a tough road; it’s just tough in different ways that we may never know about each other.
aBcDash
I’m glad you are able to feel free and thrive now. In the past I have dated men who want children (while I do not) and it’s always a tense situation when that discussion comes up.
CPA Lady
On the quality vs. quantity article– I wouldn’t mind paying some “crazy” amount of money for something of actual quality. But can anyone tell me what is of actual quality right now? Is the construction on, for example, a Burberry trench coat manufactured in 2015 really so amazing that it’ll be worth me just buying one as my “forever” coat? I get that a Burberry from 20 years ago might have been made like a tank, but is the Burberry of today? Or has quality gone down hill on luxury items just like it has at all the higher end fast fashion mall stores like BR and J Crew? I just get so frustrated that I have a 12 year old Old Navy sweater that is better than anything I could buy at Banana Republic today.
I’m not asking to be snarky, I am genuinely wondering what is worth the money these days?
Anon
I honestly don’t know.
But with a piece that is pricey that I might have forever, I am so skittish about my ability to ruin things (so: out the $ and having a 10-year hole in my wardrobe to plug), that I don’t see the point. THAT level of quality (Chanel bag, pricey heels) would stay in the closet if it ever got past my door. But medium pricey (and bought on sale) items are my investment pieces that I wear all the time (and still hold up OK). And I’m relaxed and not all long-tailed-cat-in-a-room-of-rocking-chairs.
Baconpancakes
Probably not, unfortunately. My mother has a London Fog trench coat from the 1980’s that is still perfect, and I bought one last year that looks pretty good, none of the warmth or poor stitching issues I’ve heard from people who own J.Crew or Asos trenches, but definitely doesn’t look perfect.
However, on second thought, this might have more to do with how hard I am on my clothes than the quality of them.
Medium-pricey or sky-high-pricey handmade (bespoke Italian suits, cobbled-to-order shoes, hand-spun and hand-knit artisan-made sweaters) are probably the way to go. There IS a quality difference between H&M and BR, and more boring brands like Lands End and Talbots are my go-to for quality, boring, staple pieces that I want to wear for a long time.
Anon
Baby shame, it wouldn’t let me reply to you, but you can have my amazing soon-to-be ex-husband. I could have written those words, in reverse, about career. I’ve felt so ashamed over the past 8 years of our marriage for wanting a career more than anything and not wanting children. And so now we’re 33 and getting a divorce and I’ve never been more relieved in my life. I feel free to finally be who I am. I’ve spent years trying to convince myself that I wanted children, forcing myself to believe the messaging that every woman should want children. I’m so grateful for the freedom from impending mommyhood that I cry from joy of having the pressure taken off me. (And I can’t tell you how deeply happy it makes me to walk into my new bachelorette apartment every day with its white upholstery and fine antiques – nothing practical or childproof here!)
My STB ex-husband’s the greatest guy in the world. He cooks, he cleans, he volunteers to babysit our friends’ kids, he makes six figures, he’ll watch chick flicks with you, he sends random love notes, everyone on earth just thinks he’s the nicest guy they’ve ever met…he wants four kids and to move to his tiny hometown where his kids can use dusk as their call to dinner. It’s perfectly idyllic…for someone other than me.
Don’t know why I felt called to put this here. I’m in therapy now and it feels good just to say out loud, “I really REALLY don’t want children. I want a career. And that’s ok.” I guess all women have a tough road; it’s just tough in different ways that we may never know about each other.
Ekaterin Nile
Yup. I’m 41, married for 12 years, have never wanted children. My sister is 39, single, desperately wants kids, and is looking into freezing her eggs. It’s funny how things work out.
It’s ok to not want children. I’m just really thankful that I live in a country where I can control my own fertility.