Washable Workwear Wednesday: Fitted Crop Heathered Blazer
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Banana Republic has a line of machine washable suits in a polyester/viscose rayon/spandex blend. A suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning, and I have a few really nice ones that I’d love to put into the rotation more often — but what keeps me from doing so is the annoyance of having to dry clean them if I stain them, or worrying that they’re going to look too rumpled if I wear them too many times between dry cleans. Also, I’ll be honest, picking up and dropping off dry cleaning has become one of the many things that have fallen through the cracks since having a baby. Any extra steps between the train and the daycare, I just can’t suffer. I like gray as a neutral, and I also happen to like three quarter sleeves because then I don’t have to worry about hemming the arms, but I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea. Since it’s from Banana, you can mix and match the pants style (and the product page recommends the Avery Straight-Fit Heathered Pant). The blazer is $178 and comes in regular, tall, and petite sizes. Fitted Crop Heathered Blazer
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.
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Sales of note for 1/16:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Cashmere on sale; AllSaints, Free People, Nike, Tory Burch, and Vince up to 60%; beauty deals up to 25% off
- AllSaints – now up to 60% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Sale now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; extra 50% off all clearance, plus ELOQUII X kate spade new york collab just dropped
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off — reader favorites include their scoop tee, Dream Pant, ReNew Transit backpack, silk blouses and oversized blazers! New markdowns just added
- Hannah Andersson – Up to 30% off all pajamas;
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 50% off cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- L.K. Bennett – Archive sale, almost everything 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Tag sale for a limited time — jardigans and dresses $200, pants $150, tops $95, T-shirts $50
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale – 50% off + extra 20% off, sale on sale, plus free shipping on $150+
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
Random thought re hypnobabies vs medicated delivery above: my first labor was somewhat traumatic, induced, with epidural that wasn’t all that effective. It more or less sucked. I felt a lot of the pain and pressure and was exhausted. Second labor was zenlike, relaxing, and fairly fast because I had a fully effective epidural. I felt about 3 hours of contractions, then got my epidural and felt just some slight pressure during pushing. This meant that I got to take a nap while I dilated from 5 to 10 cms, which was awesome. I also got to engage fully in the birth process by feeling my daughter’s head with my hands as I was pushing her out, looking calmly into my husband’s eyes while I was pushing, and just feeling this strange flow of calm and peace during the delivery. This was absolutely eye-opening for me. I had no idea childbirth could be like this after my first delivery. It was all due to the epidural and a very skilled anesthesiologist who made it work correctly. It was an amazing experience and I would highly recommend the epidural to any woman going forward. I know it’s not for everyone, but it was magical for me.
Re: hypnobabies
I can’t post here from my work computer and can’t reply/thread from my phone (…) but wanted to say thanks for the responses/feedback on hypnobabies and the sugggestions of other programs, which I didn’t realize were out there. I’m on week 3 of hypnobabies and not sure I want to pay for another program, but looking at the blissborn website and some of the other resources was really helpful to see their framing and just decide that I can say “contraction” if I want to and not worry that it will ruin everything.
I’m still pretty frustrated with the program and will definitely talk to my doula and therapist about just doing some basic self-hypnosis techniques instead.
I don’t really need the childbirth education portion of the program as I have plenty of training and background in that, and I’m certainly not opposed to using the medical tools/resources at my disposal – hypnobabies was specifically suggested for dealing with ramifications from a prior birth experience (which was unusual and traumatic in a variety of life-threatening ways, not just “I wanted a “natural” birth and got a c-section” although that is certainly difficult enough to deal with in itself).
Anyway, just wanted to reiterate thanks for the feedback and perspective received – it’s helpful to know at least some of you found the prep work valuable even if you didn’t fully “buy in,” which I am just never going to do.
Husband rant. I made Mother’s Day so easy for him. I told him what I wanted: brunch with the family, IF it wasn’t too much of a pain (e.g., if no one had reservations after 10am or before 3pm, fine not to do it), a gift the kids (3 and 5) picked out — anything as long as it was what they thought I might want (i expected it to be hilarious, and sweet), and to sleep until I woke up, which would likely still be about 7:30am because with small kids, my internal clock is now on early time all the time. On Tuesday, I say “so what’s the plan for brunch?” He claims he thought we had something we were waiting on before nailing down brunch. Nope-o. But once he figures that out, does he scramble to try to get a reservation? Nope. He does…nothing. Friday night he says “so, ,the Mother’s Day planning hasn’t really gotten off the ground.” Okay, so I figure he at least lets me sleep in, and maybe I add in a solo trip to the gym. Saturday, I took the kids out of the house so he could get some work done. Instead he played video games and napped. Then when I got home, he said he thought he’d just go into work Sunday morning early and bang out the work then. Apparently he thought since he hadn’t planned anything, Mother’s Day was just not happening at all, or would happen in some form some other time and so he was free to go to work. Nope, again. Since then, he spent Monday evening in a grouchy mood because he’s stressed at work, and then lashed out at me all of out of proportion to what was really going on. Set his alarm super early this morning, to “get up and get things done,” which woke me up but not him. He proceeded to snooze for another hour, then was annoyed that I was in the bathroom putting on make up when he wanted to shower (I’d been waiting on him to shower, but finally was like eff it). Ugh. He’s apologized about Mother’s Day, and then told me Tuesday that he’d been a jerk on Monday. And agreed I was right to be annoyed this morning. So I’m not angry because we all have rough patches where we’re not our best selves, but man, he has been NOT his best self this week! And it’s only Wednesday.
Definitely housecleaning. We only do it 2x/month but I am able to let go of so much stress knowing it will get done.
What are your other pain points? Do you hate doing laundry? Packing lunches? Making dinner? I would look at what chores/tasks you dread and then see if you can throw some money at those first.
Hi all
I am starting a new job in a month, with a significant raise ($35K). I, of course, need to up my contributions to my retirement plans and to our savings (we have about 4 months of living in an emergency fund, but our other “savings” for car emergencies etc. could use some beefing up), but other than that I want to use this money to buy time with my family.
What would you recommend to buy “time”? We don’t really have much yard, but I’d like regular cleaning and laundry service. Any other recs? There’s a lot of competition for grocery delivery in my area so it’s not that expensive, and it’s already something we utilize on occasion.
This is the first time I’ve had the financial flexibility to responsibly “outsource”, so I’m hoping you all can share what you’ve done and which services are “worth it” to you!
I didn’t see the post yesterday but want to weigh in on Hypnobabies as birth prep. I did the full, instructor-led course with my first and really liked it. Did it work like magic when the time came? No, but I felt very prepared, confident, and informed. Compared to friends who prepared in other ways, I feel like I had much more information about my options and choices both leading up to and during the birth.
The course was also really beneficial for my husband. It gave him a very active role in the preparation process and also gave us focused time to be together to think about and prepare for the birth which was great for both of us.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Wondering if anyone saw this? I am the light sleeper (though I snore with allergies/cold) and my husband snores, jerks, and is just generally kind of disruptive to my sleep. I would LOVE a separate bed to myself. Sigh, one day.
https://www.refinery29.com/sleep-divorce
Per recs from this site I got the spectra pump. I ended up delivering early bc i developed preeclampsia and gave birth to two premies. One is home with me, one in nicu. I did not have the chance to play around with the pump in advance and i am SO confused about the diff buttons and cycle vs volume levels. Any tips or best practices?
Hi all-
I wanted to share that someone here recommended Ann Taylor Infinite Style to me a few months ago and I’ve given it a shot and LOVE it.
I may reconsider the monthly cost in the future, but for now (post-partum) it has been totally worth it. I have 13 more pounds to lose, so I don’t want to buy new work clothes just yet, but it’s been nice to have something that feels “new” to put on for work. Multiple people have commented that I look “too put-together” to have a 10-week-old baby at home. I’ve also been selecting dresses, so it’s been easier to throw a dress on and get out the door than consider an entire outfit. I’ve also elected to keep two pieces at a greatly discounted price (one of the dresses I have for this week I’m going to keep, I love it and it’s only $17.50 if I keep it!)
Anyway, thanks to whoever recommended it! I’m about to have a month between jobs and I will say I wish they had better options for “weekend” clothes, since I don’t want to buy jeans until my weight stabilizes either.
Any recommendations for good water bottles for summer camp that will actually keep drinks cold for more than 30 minutes? Would prefer not to spend a ton, because he’ll need several and chances are he’ll lose it at some point!
I don’t know if I need advice or just a pep talk, but how do your babies do with daycare dropoff? My 6 month old has never really been a huge fan of daycare, but lately she bawls when I hand her off in the morning. Possibly exacerbating the problem is that the teacher tries to get her settled on the floor or in a jumper right away where my instinct would be to hold her for a bit and talk to get her settled (she does cry even when the teacher holds her when I leave though so it isn’t an easy fix).
Will she outgrow this? Is it just part of daycare? Should I worry that this is a sign that there is a problem with the situation and I need a new provider? Like I mentioned, baby is not a huge fan but I don’t know if it’s that she wouldn’t like any care that isn’t me or if it’s provider specific.
B/c you can confine them and push if they are too tired (plus use stroller to schlep stuff). Not ideal, but good to have the option (my older kid was a runner and does not pay attention on busy streets in a way that puts the fear of g-d in me; was fine with one kid/ dodgy if you have a moment of 2:1 with a floppy-headed baby in an ergo).
I’m friendly with coworkers, but I wouldn’t call them true friends. I am real friends with a former boss, but we didn’t start doing friend things outside of work until she left the organization. And, that friendship wouldn’t have happened at all if we didn’t have a lot of common, non-work interests.
In my husband’s office, there are a lot of younger women who mix work and friendships, even going as far as traveling together for fun, not work. It gets messy, especially when any sort of work conflict arises, and has created a very cliquey environment. People have left because of that. I interviewed for a job there (dream job scenario) and now I’m grateful I didn’t get the position, because I wouldn’t have fit into the social scene at all. I think his coworkers knew it, too, and sometimes wonder if that factored into the hiring decision.
Has anyone tried the new Uppababy Minu??
This morning Marketplace had an interview with a Wharton professor on work friendships, specifically the downsides (link to follow). It made me curious: how many of you working moms have work friends? I am friendly with my coworkers, but I have a 45 minute commute and my littlest goes to bed very early, so I never hang out after work or come back to town on the weekends.
Related, how do you feel about the term “work wife/ husband?”