Budget Thursday: Pencil Skirt in Double-Serge Cotton
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Readers were recently complaining about J.Crew — their inventory, the fact that they’re getting rid of suiting, and their website — but as much as J.Crew may have some issues right now, J.Crew Factory has a lot of reliable workwear basics, including this double-serge cotton skirt. I love the raspberry color that we’re picturing here, and in general it looks like a great basic for an affordable price — $39.99 to $41.50. It comes in regular and petite in four colors in sizes 00–20. They also have the schoolboy blazer, if you’re a fan, and a bunch of other old J.Crew classics. Pencil Skirt in Double-Serge Cotton
Here’s a plus-size option.
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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?
My 2.5-year-old would be most excited about playing with play-doh and going for a walk.
We have memberships to the zoo, aquarium, and Children’s Museum. We also occasionally take him to an indoor gym/playground and to an indoor pool. He enjoys all of them, but they’re mostly an excuse for us to get out of the house.
Babysitting my 2.5 year old niece solo this weekend. Any suggestions for activities or outings that may be special and exciting for her? I have some go-tos but something new would be fun.
Really struggling lately with 3yo’s bedtime. We aim for an 8pm bedtime, which I gather is on the late side for 3yos, but he regularly stays awake til after 9. He tosses and turns; reads books; sings; and also requests multiple potty trips and visits by mom/dad. I feel like the usual advice is always an earlier bedtime is better, but afraid he’ll just end up lying there awake (and calling for us) even longer. As a condition locating factor, he shares a room with his baby sister, so we usually respond quickly when he yells for us to avoid him waking the baby. We’re not ready to drop his nap. Would it make sense to push bedtime back (say, to 8:30) until he drops nap, and then move it up earlier again?
Ugh. Yesterday I had a really stressful day – two separate home emergencies I needed to leave work to meet people for, piano lesson for stepdaughter, started my day at work 2 hours earlier than usual for an early meeting, my husband is out of town so no splitting daycare or other toddler duties. I was hoping to pop out before 5 to pick up my son from daycare before the plumber arrived, and my boss walked in and reminded me of a priority she wanted me to take care of – at 4:45. So I did a quick start on that and finished it up this morning.
Then she walked in and pointed out I had done it in the wrong order. (Think something that needed to be done by priority group, and did it alphabetically, therefore doing some first that should have been later.) I don’t think it will matter in the long run, but it might, and this is an important project and feel hella stupid. THEN five minutes later she emailed me a response to something I sent earlier and forgot an attachment.
And I have to leave early today for my son’s doctor appointment, which I feel like is a bad scene after having to leave yesterday for an appointment in the middle of the day (see aforementioned home emergency). I wanted to come in early today but only made it in a half hour early instead of an hour (getting kids ready solo took longer than I thought). I’m so tired I have the twitchies in both eyelids. And I just feel like a big idiot for making a mistake that was clearly because I was not paying attention to details. UGH. Please tell me I’m not going to lose my job for being an idiot who has to leave work a lot this week. (And I was out sick Monday with a non-negotiable migraine that wasn’t responding to my rx.)
My husband has been deceptive about some things and I don’t know what steps to take. We have two toddlers, and he is a wonderful, very doting father and husband. He does more than half the housework, spends virtually every evening and the entire weekend with us, and by all accounts is happy. But–
A few months ago I found out my husband spent $1,000 on a painting. It was something he never discussed with me. He’d paid for it with a credit card. We haven’t yet received it and I don’t know how he would have explained it away to me – possibly would have lied about how much it costed. I found out after having seen that the payments to his credit card from our shared bank account were more and more, and I made him show me his statements. We are in our early forties and have a ton of grad school debt, childcare for two, and don’t even own our own place, and wouldn’t have a fighting chance of owning until our kids are out of daycare.
I also saw he bought some weird devices for pot. We’d done some drugs when we were much younger – I’m talking college and in our twenties – but that stopped about 15 years ago. He still smokes pot very occasionally – perhaps every couple months- and I’m okay with that. I still wasn’t a fan of his making these purchases.
Yesterday an email popped up on our shared computer. I can’t believe I’m typing something so ridiculous, but — my husband ordered psilocybin mushrooms, from some company in Canada. To be delivered to our home.
I asked him about it. I said where on earth were you getting this delivered, WHY are you doing this. WHEN would you even do this? He looked shamefaced but also said, basically, what’s the big deal.
I don’t feel like I know him. It is such a violation. Illegal, expensive – and worst off, we have kids. On top of everything else – I’m a lawyer. I can’t imagine the consequences if it was discovered that illegal substances were delivered to our home.
I’m honestly in shock right now. Any words of wisdom or advice would be so appreciated.
Please help me deal with having 2 kids. I adore both of my children (3 and 5) and am glad to have two BUT when they both want attention at the same time I have no idea how to cope. Bedtime is especially challenging. #1 is trying to tell me something while #2 needs help in the bath. I don’t meet either need, they both get upset and end up crying/yelling/etc. It’s awful. Give me your best strategies! We do “special time” at bedtime which is 5-10 minutes 1:1 with each kid talking about their day, so I am trying to give each of them dedicated attention that they can expect…but maybe they need more than that. Help?
Anyone have a favorite model, or one to definitely avoid? Are they worth registering for before you know what type bottle / nipple you will be using? Thanks!
Talk to me about bedtime routines. My three-year-old went to bed at 11pm last night! She is usually tired by 8:30 but fights it till around 10pm. 11pm was an all-new low. We have had a hard three months with lots of travel, illnesses, and a new baby so our night time routine has totally slipped. How do I get back to our normal? I was thinking of talking with her about our night time routine and creating a chart, so that we can all be on the same page. I run into trouble at the end of the night when she asks for one more book (or equivalent), because saying No really triggers a fight in her. I try to redirect instead of saying no, but that only works with moderate success.
These cotton pencil skirts wrinkle like crazy. I’d never buy one again. It’s a shame because they fit well and look great until you sit down.
Working mamas with husbands who travel or are in the military – Tell me I can do the next two weeks with DD (10 months old) on my own! I was totally telling myself “I got this” but then last night she was up for 2 hours (which she never does, of course) and I started getting panicky that I’m going to be at my wits end by the end of these two weeks. We’ve done many weekends with just the two of us so that’s OK, but I need some reassurance.