Maternity Workwear Hall of Fame: Isabella Oliver Maternity Blazer
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I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I think I wore almost all of my regular blazers until I was about 38 or 39 weeks pregnant. But everybody gains weight differently during their pregnancies, and if on the off chance you really want to buy a maternity blazer, this one from Isabella Oliver (at Macy’s) looks gorgeous. If you want something more traditional, there’s one on sale at Isabella Oliver, but it’s almost sold out. (May the odds be ever in your favor!) The pictured blazer comes in sizes 1–5 (Isabella Oliver’s maternity sizes). Isabella Oliver Maternity Blazer
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Building a maternity wardrobe for work? Check out our page with more suggestions along both classic and trendy/seasonal lines.
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
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?
Shorten the morning routine as much as you can. Pick out clothing the night before for kiddo and pack up the daycare bag. In the morning, let kiddo sleep as long as possible. Eat breakfast in the car, or at daycare. If you must eat at home, set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer beeps, kiddo is done. Keep kiddo’s shoes in the car and put them on when you arrive at daycare.
And, I feel like it bears repeating during this very challenging stage, but pick your battles. Three-year-olds are a total handful (I have one myself), but do not engage in the whining and arguing back and forth. Do not try to reason with a mad toddler; that’s not the time for teaching and learning. I like the suggestion of a sticker chart for the morning routine. I still use one with my elementary-aged kid who easily loses track of time, and it helps a lot.
Another travel question. Do airlines require a car seat for toddlers (over 2) who have their own seat? Do they all allow the CARES harness instead of a car seat? Does anyone know about Southwest in particular? If the CARES harness is allowed, does anyone want to share their thoughts and experience on it?
We’ll be traveling with our almost-3-year-old to visit my parents in a couple of weeks. They have a car seat and will pick us up from the airport, so we won’t need a car seat once we arrive. It would be great not to have to take a car seat with us at all. I don’t mind purchasing the CARES harness, but I want to make sure it’ll be accepted. I’ve looked on Southwest’s website, but it’s not very clear for toddlers over 2. I’ve asked DH to call the airline, but he probably won’t until it’s too late to order the CARES harness, and I don’t want to.
Ideas for short term hacks/ways to reframe my thinking? 3 year old is in a very challenging phase (aggression, moodiness, etc). I am almost 5 mo pregnant and utterly exhausted. I must handle mornings by myself and have a challenging month or two if work coming up, starting today. I am using up all my physical and emotional energy by 7:45 am . (And need to get out the door earlier for the next month to boot.). Our backup care providers (family) are not available for the next few weeks and I don’t think we have time to hire a mother’s helper, nor honestly the funds. Any ideas to make mornings easier, either routine hacks or just reset my thinking? Hard to do when wrestling a nearly 40 lb hunk of screaming child at 6:45 am.
Just found out we’re having a girl last week (4.5 months in). Spent last week on a babymoon and DH and I brainstormed baby names. We found one we both really like (a little quirky but still a traditional name) and nothing else came close (obviously were still going to think about it). Found out today that a former friend of mine had a baby yesterday and named her the same name. We still have a lot of friends in common. Would that deter you from choosing the name?
For Long Sleeve Tees—the Light Jersey Scoopneck by Splendid is loose but not sloppy and is half-tuckable.
Looking for potty training tips. Did 3 day potty training method with my daughter last weekend. She did okay and on firsts day back at daycare (last Tuesday) she went the whole morning with no accidents but then had 3 or 4 accidents in the afternoon. Since then she’s had a lot 3-5 accidents a day at daycare. This weekend she was accident free Saturday and had two accidents Sunday. Today daycare called around 12 and said she’s already had 3 accidents and her shoes and back up shoes are wet so she’s shoeless. I feel like this is not going well and i feel bad if she is just peeing herself all day at daycare. Should we keep going? She is on the young side but showed a lot of interest and I think she gets it but doesn’t have the hang of asking to go every time yet. Any tips?
DH and I are taking our four month old to Miami next week. I am trying so hard not to travel with the carseat, but it seems inevitable. I found a company that will rent us a carseat and will bring everything to the hotel, which seems perfect. Except I have no way to get baby from airport to hotel. Hotel shuttle does not have carseats, Miami Uber does not have carseats, and I can’t think of any other way around it. Am I missing something? Please help me not have to lug this thing across the country….
For those of you who have been through BigLaw mergers, how do staff layoffs typically go down? I’m specifically interested in Marketing Departments. I’ve heard of firms taking everyone from the smaller firm, with the expectation that some won’t like the new firm and leave voluntarily. Is there a common practice, timing-wise, for reducing staff? Six months after the merger? I’m concerned about my own job security, obviously, and would love to hear antecdotes.
The reality that I will not be back to my pre-pregnancy size before heading back to work from maternity leave is setting in. I’m still hopeful that my old clothes will fit me again one day, but I realize I need to buy a few new outfits. I think what I’m looking for may be impossible to find, but does anyone have suggestions for clothes, particularly pants or skirts, that will still look good as I (hopefully) shrink back a size or so? I’m thinking maybe ponte is my friend here? I don’t want to buy a whole new wardrobe, but I’ll need a few go-tos for a few months at least. (Yes, I realize I may never get back to the same size as before, but I did after previous pregnancies (just more quickly!), so I want to be conservative with buying new stuff!)
I am in need of advice regarding an awkward situation at work: My colleague Jane applied for but was not chosen as the new boss of our office. Jane is resentful and angry. New boss is not quite up to speed but is trying to get there. Jane and I are close, and Jane has confided that she does not have much confidence in our new boss (and I share that sentiment to an extent), that she feels embarrassed for being passed over and judged harshly by our new boss. New boss has come to me and questioned Jane’s judgment, asked for my take on Jane and her work and relayed negative critiques about Jane. In other words, I am stuck in the middle, and I don’t want to be. I am concerned about being burned by this situation, and I need advice about how to extricate myself from the middle. Any thoughts?
Dear friends lost their dog unexpectedly over the weekend. They also have two young kids, one who is old enough to know that the dog is no longer there. We would like to send them something. Has anyone ever gone through this and received a thoughtful gift?
[sorry if this posted twice]
A question for the group, simply out of curiosity. If the grandparents are too physically infirm to adequately care for your kiddos, especially alone, how did you tell them so? My question is not whether to leave kiddos with them, but rather, if you KNOW that’s never going to happen, did you burst their bubbles, indulge the fantasy (“yeah! when they’re older!”), or just deflect/distract?
In my case, FIL lives nearby. He is not a safe caregiver for so many reasons, including his physical limitations. Yet he seems to think he’s going to be spending weekends alone with toddler and baby in the near future. Always nagging us to leave kiddos with him alone. No. It will never, ever happen. So far I’ve been deflecting and indulging, but wonder if a firm bubble-bursting convo is in order.
Same goes for my mom, who lives a flight away. She is always asking to fly up and stay with the kiddos while we take a trip alone. If it weren’t’ for the fact that she’s in pain when she lifts anything more than 5 lbs, has trouble walking, sitting, standing, MOVING in general, then fine. But how on earth does she expect to care for a toddler and baby ALONE in a city she knows nothing about?
For what it’s worth, dad and MIL are similarly physically limited but are realistic about what they can and can’t do. The fact that FIL and mom harbor these fantasies despite their physical realities is sad but also infuriating, but like I said, I’m not sure if I should just entertain their fantasies or bring everyone back down to reality.
(Warning: sleep issues ahead). My 4.5 year old has been sleeping in his own bedroom since he was 4 months old. In the past month, he’s developed a habit of waking up at 2 am and coming into our bed. He is a restless sleeper and him being in our bed means I lose 3+ hours of sleep, so I would really like him to go back to staying in his own bed. Please share any strategies you have used in similar situations! I took him back to his own bedroom and tucked him back in 8 times last night and he didn’t stay there until I lay down and fell asleep next to him.
I’m 3 weeks postpartum and suddenly feeling the urge to pee all the time. It doesn’t feel great when I do although it feels more like my bladder is spasming than like a burning sensation. My pee is cloudy (but I’m still having discharge so it could be that). The internet suggests these are UTI symptoms but friends who have had them (I never have) have told me the pain would be a lot worse. I’ve had these symptoms for maybe 4 or 5 days and it doesn’t seem to be getting any worse which suggests to me it’s not a bacterial infection. Are these also symptoms that could be triggered by delivery? I’ve read a lot about postpartum incontinence but I’m not leaking as far as I can tell, just feeling like I have to go all the time.
I was gifted a maternity blazer from MM and I wear it post-partum. A blazer with a little more fabric to it that is meant to look good open is not a bad thing, especially if bf-ing so needing something a little larger up top.