Washable Workwear Wednesday: Print Blouson Sleeve Shirtdress
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I am really loving this dress from Banana Republic Factory. It has a bunch of elements of dresses I’ve recommended here before: collar, button up from the waist, defined waist, interesting sleeves, Kate Middleton vibes. For this particular dress, I also love the pattern on the navy color (reminds me of confetti or ice cream sprinkles), but NOT the white/navy/green version (youch, my retinas!). I also really like the double tiered hem. This dress comes in sizes 0–20, though sizes are selling out fast! It was originally $89.99 but is currently on sale for $53.99. Print Blouson Sleeve Shirtdress
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Sales of note for 2/14/25 (Happy Valentine’s Day!):
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Winter Sale, up to 60% off! 7850 new markdowns for women
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase — and extra 60% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + 15% off (readers love their suiting as well as their silky shirts like this one)
- Boden – 15% off new season styles
- Eloquii – 300+ styles $25 and up
- J.Crew – 40% of your purchase – prices as marked
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off entire site and storewide + extra 50% off clearance
- Rothy’s – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Flash sale ending soon – markdowns starting from $15, extra 70% off all other markdowns (final sale)
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?
Please reassure me that a bunch of medical procedure are not going to mess up my kid’s mental health? She’s only 9 months and she’s already had a couple of x-rays and a couple of blood draws that all involved thrashing and screaming in a way I didn’t know babies could scream, a million times more desperate and intense than her colicky cries as a newborn. The procedures don’t last that long and when it’s over she gets back to normal happy herself fairly quickly, but you hear about how stuff like Cry It Out can cause lifelong psychological trauma (I know that’s controversial but still) and I wonder if her terror during these procedures is doing her lifelong harm. Question prompted by the fact that I had to take her for a blood draw today and she looked at me with this “how could you torture me like this” face while gasping “ma-ma”…”ma-ma” in between blood-curdling scream (her first word-ish, which…yay? But such horrible circumstances).
Talk to me about your baby’s nap routine– trying to figure out if we need to adjust something to deal with the 3-4 mo regression. 15 week old baby usually wakes 7:00, naps 8:30/9 to 10:30/11 (currently requires holding for the 2nd half most of the time), naps from somewhere between 12:15/1 to 2:30/3, then a short nap about 4:40-5:20. Some days it’s 4 shorter naps but ending at the same time. Have been putting him down for bed between 7:15 and 7:45 depending on how he’s doing. Had been reliably sleeping 8-10 hours, now very unpredictable and eating 2-3x at night vs 1x. Seems ridiculously early to stop the 3rd nap (older child kept it, with a 7:45 bedtime, till past 10 mo), but maybe he’s just not tired enough? We’re getting wakeups as early as 9:30-10:30!!
Just diagnosed with Vitamin B12 deficiency. Glad to hopefully find a solution to my chronic fatigue, but I would prefer not to take shots. Anybody have experience with sublingual supplements?
My LOs daycare uses boppy pillows on the floor to position even the youngest infants (on their backs). They are awake and say they never use them for sleeping, obviously, but it still seems weird to me. I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong with it, exactly, and I’m not even sure what would happen since LO isn’t mobile yet, so I don’t feel like I can say anything — but is this a normal thing? It’s a really reputable daycare and they do it all the time, so maybe this is just me being overly paranoid.
I missed the thread on last names yesterday, but wanted to add my views. I always find the argument that taking a husband’s name or giving the kids the father’s name isn’t anti-feminist because a women (generally) got her last name from her father to be a weird argument. How do you change that norm unless women start keeping their last name/giving their last name to their kids? If there is no merit to keeping my last name because it was given to me by a male father, then won’t people always have names given to them by males.
Anyways, I actually have my mom’s not my dad’s last name (for complicated reasons). I plan to give my children my last name. Since I will probably be a single mother by choice, this isn’t actually a question I will likely have to deal with. But if I found someone I wanted to marry and have kids with, one requirement would be that the kids have my last name. So, I have to go back to my grandfather to identify a man who gave me my last name and my kids will have to go back to their great-grandfather. Having said that, I’m very much a you do you person. I just wished that there was more of a movement away from the default assumption that kids will have their father’s last name and that a wife will take her husband’s last name (although I think this assumption is changing in certain social circles).
we have a nanny camera which the nanny knows we have. i haven’t turned it on in a while, honestly i’ve only turned it on like once, but just turned it on and saw the nanny on the phone while my children are awake. i have 7 month old twins, and this was while she was feeding them. we had a contract at the beginning and talked about not using her cellphone while the kids are awake. i have no idea if this is a regular occurrence or a one time thing. she was speaking in spanish, so I do not fully understand what she is talking about. i do know that her mother is currently in the hospital and has been for a while, and will continue to be for a while, so it could be about that. what would you do in this situation? turn the camera on a bit more frequently to see if it happens more regularly? i was actually really surprised because she generally seems very engaged with my kids (she has only been working for us since mid-August).
Has anyone purchased an MZ Wallace bag in the color Boysenberry? I am wondering if it is more purple or navy. I would like to get the Kate as an office bag (color wouldn’t matter) and also to take to court/meetings occasionally. But if the color is too purple I don’t think it could go to court/meetings.
Btw, this would be my second Kate (it’s an awesome bag), but my first is a dark pink color so I need more a neutral.
How did you handle grandparent/family visits the first year of the baby’s life? We live a 3 hour flight away (1 hour time zone difference) or an 18 hour drive. We live in a very small apartment and will until it is 6 months old so every time someone has to visit us they need to stay in an Airbnb or a hotel.
How many did you try to have? How long did they stay? How often did you go visit them? Did you attempt even visits with both sides of the family?
What should I be considering here.
Good for you! I am a big proponent of buying less stuff. I wouldn’t get a used breast pump or tubing. For used sleeping receptacles, like cribs, swings, bassinets, I would check everything to make sure it hasn’t been recalled and is up to current safety standards.
Any baby/new mom things you wouldn’t get used? I am the lucky recipient of many hand me downs, have access to parents swap groups and resell places. I love the idea of not creating more waste in the world by getting more use out of previously used items but just want to make sure there isn’t anything that new is best for. So far I have car seat, helmets (obviously for when the kid is older), and pacifiers.
Hello! Does anyone have an American Girl promo code? I’m about to order a few Christmas gifts. Thanks in advance!
You Guys. I finally admitted that the last bit of baby weight is here to stay (“baby” is almost 5 … ) so over the Holiday I went shopping and finally bought some clothes in the next size up. It’s amazing! I’m so comfortable and feel more confident now that I’m not constantly worrying that my pants are going to split every time I sit down. I wish I’d done this years ago.
Yay for baby being here! Here’s my pumping supply logistics plan – am I missing something?
Spectra 2 – leave pump at work. (Have old Ameda Purely yours which will be my weekend/at home pump.)
Pump in private office with locked door and shades drawn 3 times daily.
Use Bravado hands free bra during work pumping sessions. Leave at work in pumping bag and wash if needed on weekends? (Wear nursing bra daily.)
Store pump parts and milk in private mini fridge during day, bring milk home in bottles in Cooler in normal work tote daily. Wash all parts at work and leave at work in office to dry on Boon Lawn (is this realistic??)
According to my calculations, I’ll probably need 3 sets of bottles (6 total) if i’m getting 3-4 oz per side/session.
I have 32 oz frozen right now, trying to get to 64 oz by the time I go back.
Sort of sleep deprived with 6 week old, so any comments/help/gentle critiques are great. thx!
Ok, y’all, I need your wise advice on an issue you helped me with last year. My kids go to a small in-home daycare that is Montessori-inspired and generally lovely. We’ve been there for 3 years. Last year my 4-year old starting talking about Jesus, and I learned that one of the two teachers was pretty regularly teaching the kids Christian stories, especially around Christmas, which was not ok for me for a number of reasons including that it is not supposed to be a religious school (I’ll link to the original thread in case anyone wants a refresh).
This board helped me to come up with a way to talk to the teacher about it, highlighting that we preferred to handle religious instruction at home, and that we did not want any of our little friends (present or future) to be made to feel othered by centering the (white) christian tradition– especially considering that we live in a majority white christian part of the country and leaving it to a 3-year old to speak up or puzzle out which story is “true” is just too much.
The owner was receptive and very apologetic that her program would make anyone feel unwelcome. Fast forward to this year: they are planning a month-long “cultural traditions” unit, and have invited any parent to come in or send in a book or craft or recipe highlighting a cultural tradition.
Okay. So, I feel like this just puts the burden right back on the 2 families who are not white-christian. What I want is for them to just leave religion out entirely, not clunkily scrap together a unit that pays lipservice to other traditions and allows them to center christianity again, which can be the only result since that is what they know. Why oh why are they leaning into this? Can’t they just make snowflakes and read The Mitten? Any advice is appreciated.
When you drop pumping and transition to morning/night nursing only, do you feed from both sides or just one? Right now I’m feeding from one right after she wakes up and then another one about an hour later (she’s not hungry for the second right away) but that really drags out my morning routine and I’ve been getting to work pretty late (I have a flex schedule, so it’s not a big deal in the short-term, but long-term I need to get in earlier to get my stuff done). I know if I drop to just doing one side, supply will diminish in the side I’m not using, but then will my boobs look super lopsided?