Washable Workwear Wednesday: Houndstooth Blouson Flare Dress
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Houndstooth is one of my favorite fall prints and I’m always on the hunt for new pieces each season.
This midi-flowy dress from Ann Taylor might be what I’m looking for. I love how the fluid drape softens this traditional print. The “plum-rose” color is also a fun, distinctive twist. This dress features a mock neck, cap sleeves, and shoulder pleats. And unlike most machine-washable dresses, it’s lined!
I’d pair it with a pair of tall boots as pictured and a boucle jacket for some contrasting texture.
Ann Taylor’s Houndstooth Blouson Flare Dress is $149 (but be on the lookout for sales) and available in regular sizes 00–8 (with larger sizes sold out) and petite sizes 00–12.
This Calvin Klein dress (2–16; $89.98) and this Jessica London dress (12–28; $38.70–$51.33) are two lower-priced options in houndstooth.
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 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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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?
Question of the day – are you/your spouse getting life insurance, and how much?
My company is returning to in-person starting in early November. Our required first week back I will be 18 weeks pregnant. I have not yet told my company that I am pregnant, and ideally if we were still WFH I would wait until 20 weeks (after the anatomy scan). I do not think that I can hide it for that extra two weeks, judging from the “congrats! it’s so obvious!” reactions we’ve been getting from friends. Is it unprofessional to tell right before returning in person? Do I need to give some sort of buffer in advance of returning in person, and if so, how far in advance? (I am not asking for any special accommodations).
Is anyone willing to share some anecdotes about how your gardening life has changed over various periods of your life? Over the past 5 years, I’ve done 3 rounds of ivf, had two miscarriages, delivered two babies, and done a year of breastfeeding each of them. My husband pushed hard for a third baby, I would have stopped at 2. I’m now 20 weeks, and am well out of what was a rough first trimester, but I still have very little interest and am still so tired.
Before this pregnancy we were probably averaging about once a week, which I thought was pretty good! Now it’s probably once a month. Is that so wildly out of line with what’s normal? He’s pretty clearly not happy about it, and I’m a little resentful that I’m dealing with the brunt of the physical changes of a third baby that he really pushed for and this pressure on top.
I am about a year PP and my size has changed a decent amount. I can still fit into some looser tops and wide leg pants but would like to buy some new clothes. Problem is that as a mom to a little kid, I am ALWAYS getting dirty so I don’t want to buy *nice* clothes that are a pain to take care of but also don’t want to buy cheap things that have a lifespan of 10 washes. I have always preferred buying fewer items of higher quality that I can keep for a longer time, but is this impractical with small kids? What is the answer here?
For instance, I’d prefer to buy one or two nice wool and cashmere sweaters for the winter, but this seems laughable because my child’s snot will end up on my shirt in less than 1 min.
I don’t have time to go thrifting or consignment store shopping like I did pre kid, and poshmark is kind of difficult for me since I am short with weird proportions. Surely someone here has an answer!
A couple years ago, I went from the high stress job that had no work life balance (but which I loved the work and was good at it) to a similar job in a lower key setting. The big appeal is that I could still move forward (slower, but forward) while being more present for my kids.
Fast forward and a lot of promised prior motions haven’t worked out. Not only that, the promotion I was working for I ended up not being ‘eligible’ to be interviewed for and it went to somebody who I helped train in my old job. He’s a good dude and a friend… but I don’t want to work for him.
Not only that, but because of weak staff, I’m working my butt off doing other people’s jobs. Most days, I accept that everything has trade offs, but today I’m frustrated that I am feeling so ‘stuck’. Realistically, I think I need to wait a year leave, but that’s mostly to keep my reputation as an amazing ‘fixer’ who rebuilds departments and makes sense of chaos.
I posted this on the main s!te too:
Family-friendly places to stay in Puerto Rico for five nights? There’s five of us (me, spouse, kids ages 6, 9, and 12) and I’d prefer a hotel over an AirBNB. Kids’ club is not important to us — we want a pool, beach access, and good food nearby. Anywhere you recommend in PR is great — we’ve never been. Thanks!
Against objective logistical judgment but for Reasons, we are enrolling our 2 year old in a daycare with a nine-month school schedule. They do not have a summer care option. Has anyone done anything similar, and if so, what have you done for the summer? I don’t know if there are summer camps for toddlers, so maybe we just find a student babysitter?
Daycare question – at the 2yo phase, how long on average do you keep your LO home for a mild/normal cold (no fever)? Trying to assess my daycare’s policies/estimate how many days I’m going to have to expect to be off at this rate. (Side rant: for the past two months, my kids have gone to an average of 3 days of daycare before getting sick again, despite our daycare’s extremely strict policies on sick time. Very frustrating.)
My husband and I are adopting a baby in a few weeks and it’s obviously an exciting time for us. We feel as prepared as we can be (whatever that means). However, the one nagging fear that won’t go away is about our relationship. I somehow lucked out with a great husband and we are still happily married after a decade. We’ve been through illnesses, job changes, family deaths, etc. I know a baby is a different story and I’m terrified our relationship will suffer despite our best efforts. My family is distant and not super supportive so my relationship with my husband is a bright spot in my life. Did anyone make the transition to kids and keep a good relationship with your spouse?
I don’t.
I feel like I’m just looking for encouragement here, but do you EVER sleep again when you have small kids? I feel the only thing keeping me going with my 4.5 month old (who slept through the night for a week but fell apart after one weekend with the in laws feeding her every 2 hours overnight) is the hope that one day she will sleep consistently, but I keep seeing messages on this board from people whose 1, 2, 3 and even 4 year olds won’t let them get a full night’s sleep. I’m a lawyer up for partner next year and I just can’t imagine this being the new normal. Genuinely asking, how did those of you with more than one ever decide that you could handle another? Does it just get that much better/easier? Again, I feel like I constantly see comments here saying that the toddler years are even worse… which makes me feel like there’s just no hope and the motto that “it’s all so worth it in the end” is just a huge conspiracy.
I did struggle with PPD earlier in postpartum, but sought help and don’t feel I’m in the throes of that anymore. I love my daughter, but I feel like I still struggle daily with the fear that I ruined a life that I really enjoyed before. Relationship with DH is great and he gets up to do night wakings, comes home for bathtime/bedtime, etc., even though he has a longer commute than me and I can work remotely so that’s not part of the problem here.
Have you had braces as an adult? About six years ago I did Invisalign: long story short my teeth kept moving around. Last year I started Smile Direct but hated it (the liners chipped one of my teeth). A new dentist mentioned Invisalign but one of my teeth is rotating so I’m not sure how much it will help. I’m hesitant to visit an orthodontist because I feel like he will say “yes of course you need braces.” I never had orthodontitia as a kid. Help me navigate this?