Wednesday’s Workwear Report: Floral-Square Belted Shirtdress
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I’m always touting the virtues of the perfect shirtdress — and here’s another one from Ann Taylor I’d love to add to my collection.
This tailored dress’s midi silhouette is accentuated by a matching self-tie belt. It has short sleeves, a unique square floral print, and front slit that works for both the office and dinner. This cheery dress truly embodies the “May flowers” that follow “April showers.” Add a cozy cardigan for cool evenings or aggressive A/C.
This dress is $169 (but check for frequent sales). It comes in sizes 00–18 as well as petites.
Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.
Sales of note for 3/21/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Spring sale, up to 50% off: Free People, AllSaints, AG, and more
- Ann Taylor – 25% off suiting + 25% off tops & sweaters + extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 40% off everything + 20% off
- Eloquii – 50% off elevated essentials + extra 50% off sale
- J.Crew – 25% off select linen & cashmere + up to 50% off select styles + extra 40% off sale
- J.Crew Factory – Friends & Family Sale: Extra 15% off your purchase + extra 50% off clearance + 50-60% off spring faves
- M.M.LaFleur – Flash Sale: Get the Ultimate Jardigan for $198 on sale; use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Buy 1 get 1 50% off everything, includes markdowns
Spinoff of the PIP thread above: what is the purpose of a PIP? My perspective is that you don’t put an employee on a PIP unless you want them gone; it’s a signal that they should leave voluntarily and a way to CYA when you eventually fire them if they don’t leave on their own. If there are fixable issues and you want to keep the employee then you coach them without a formal PIP. Other managers in my organization claim that a PIP is a good way to discipline employees and encourage their “development” and that a PIP does not signal that we want them out. Who’s right?
Kindergarten reading… I can’t get my 6 year old to practice and I don’t think he’s getting enough support from his teacher. He knows all the letters and their sounds, he knows some sight words but I rarely can get him to practice sounding out words. He’s in aftercare until 5 or so most days so our time together is limited but maybe advice on things we can work on this summer? I have sight word flash cards, bob books, etc. We read together almost every night and he loves stories but gets irritated if I ask him to participate instead of listen. Any ideas? please don’t tell me your kid taught themselves to read because that’s not going to happen here.
I am spiraling so please be kind. I started a work project this week. I’ve been out of the work force for 2.5 years. I fully accept that this is my fault, but the work was billed as data entry. It is a project management job, for which I am fully responsible for the project planning and execution. This is so not what I was expecting and also not what I want. I should talk to my boss and ask to be reassigned, right? There’s a lot of office politics involved (I’m on loan from one business unit to another) so asking to be reassigned would, at best, make me look really bad and potentially make my boss look bad. But I really want to quit outright, which is even worse. We’re at the beginning of the project so it might be best to bow out now, but if I do that and then end up quitting anyway, I feel like I’m going to blacklist myself from this industry.
Can any employment lawyers or HR people weigh in on whether you’d put an employee with a “meets expectations” evaluation on a PIP? The short version of a long story is that I have a big boss who’s been gunning for me since 2020, for reasons I believe are discriminatory and related to my gender, parental status (although I’m not in a state where parents are a protected class) and use of FMLA leave for a child’s medical appointments. I’ve had a couple of unfair evaluations where I was rated as not meeting expectations (2.8-2.9 on a 5.0 scale; 3.0 is meets expectations). This year I worked with my new-ish manager, who appears to have my back more than others did, to document all the ways I’ve objectively met my performance goals and I got an overall rating of 3.2 and received a minimum of a 3 in every category, which I think is fair. I’m not a superstar, but I do meet expectations. However my manager confidentially shared (orally, not in writing of course) that Big Boss keeps asking him to put me on a PIP, including as recently as a few weeks ago, which was obviously terrible to hear. I would think that having your most recent evaluation be unsatisfactory is a pre-requisite for a PIP, but perhaps I’m being naive?
Also any guidance on how to respond to the written evaluation? The PIP isn’t mentioned of course, but there are some comments that upper management is unhappy with my productivity, which is demonstrably higher than pre-pandemic when I received a 3.7 (from a different manager). It would be a mistake to allude to discriminatory treatment before I’ve talked to a lawyer, right? I don’t think I’m ready to engage a lawyer yet because it seems like it would just backfire and tick off my manager who at this point appears to be in my corner.
And yes, I’m job-hunting but I’m tied to a small city for family reasons and there isn’t much remote work in my field so I don’t have a ton of options. In the last year or so I’ve only found maybe a half dozen suitable things to apply to and I didn’t get any interviews.
Long time reader/lurker but first time poster here. Recently pregnant first time mom and just found out yesterday that it’s twins!!!
Any advice?? I’m freaking out (nervous and excited). My spouse is surprisingly calm.
Has anyone seen girl’s pokemon pajamas, other than what I found on Amazon or the ones at Hannah Andersson that are $45? She’s about a size 7.
how do you fit in more complicated reading time for older kids when there are younger siblings? our kids are about to be 4 and 6 at end of this month.
I want my older one to have audiobook time but I don’t want to force it on the weekend – she’d always rather color, work on a puzzle etc at quiet time on weekends. audiobooks are also hard in car because she can do much more advanced books than my 3 year old and someone is complaining or talking in car with a book.
I want to encourage a love of reading but beyond 15 mins or so of joint reading time at bedtime, I’m not sure how else to do this. all tips appreciated!
Has anyone gone through the ‘fair play’ exercise in your house? how did it go? has implementation been successful?
I am probably getting way ahead of myself, but I am a finalist for a position with a target start in July. If I am offered the position, I would like to negotiate a start at the end of that month due to some already planned vacation travel, and then potentially having the rest of month off with my young kids (we can cancel current day camp plans). My question is around health insurance – is this what COBRA is for? Or is that only when you’re fired? My husband is self-employed so I’ve always carried our family coverage. I’m ok with risking it (we have the $ for emergencies) but wondering if I am missing something that should make me rethink my plan.
The daycare has let me know that my kid’s started peeing in the potty they have there. Does this mean we need to start potty training at home? What are some good resources/tips?
How much would a 4 year old use a play house (and for how many years to come)? Thinking of one of those Step 2 or Fisher Price plastic ones for the back yard. I remember having a wooden playhouse as a kid that was basically a musty, spidery shed so I never used it, but I think the plastic ones look friendlier and let light in.