This weekend was a whirlwind of work, vacation prep, spending time with Sloane, trying to spend time with my husband (I actually agreed to go golfing, desperate times), and preparing for another week of adulthood. But somewhere in there, I did manage to spend a little time looking for inspiration on the Internet.
This has never felt more true. I was supposed to be on vacation this week, but it will likely be a part-time vacation since the lawyering never stops.
I am so obsessed with the suits at Ann Taylor right now. Even though I wear a suit fewer than 12 times per year now, I still bought this pink one and this pinstripe suit. I feel like pinstripes are about to make a comeback.
It was funny, because when I went to try these suits on, I felt so much like myself wearing them. Like, “Oh, hi, old me.” I’ve genuinely been thinking about dressing up one day per week like a real lawyer. Maybe on the day I have a Zoom check-in with my supervising partner.
If suits are not on your shopping list for fall, I absolutely love this ivory sweater with gold buttons. My TikTok-loving assistant informs me it’s “giving demure.” It’s also 25% off.
Every September my skin dries out like a banana peel left on the counter for too long. This year, I decided to get ahead of the inevitable dehydration with this Laneige Bouncy & Firm Plumping Lip Treatment. I apply it before bed, and wake up with lips that look smoother and more moisturized. This is one of the beauty products that I’ve purchased this year that lives up to the hype.
Remember last month when I bought a henley-style swimsuit that I LOVED? That purchase got me thinking that the henley style might be something I need to wear more often. This $50 shirt from Everlane is utterly sublime. It comes in several colors, and is so soft. I love that I can style it as a crewneck, a v-neck, or a deep v-neck. Amazing.
+ Hill Staff: This Washington Post article (gift article) about what interns wore this summer stopped me in my tracks. One of the young staff is wearing a white, linen mini dress and saying that anything else would have been too dressy. What?!
Is this real? Are pencil skirts dead? Crop tops are fine? Please talk to me in the comments. I need to know whether this is youthful hubris or reality.
+ If you struggle to use chopsticks, this video from @nanning_china is very helpful.
+ Do you love soft chocolate chip cookies? @scientificallysweet uses her science background to teach you how to get the perfect cookie.
+ This toddler calm down trick from @latterdaybaby is something we’re working on with Sloane.
+ @susie.wright is a great follow for middle-aged fashion, and I love her post on how to make an outfit look expensive.
If you came across anything fantastic this weekend, leave it in the comments.
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I understand the “there I am” comment. Recently, on a whim and because they had it in myself I picked out a brillant fuschia pink pantsuit at the Theory outlet and headed to the dressing room before I could change my mind. When I saw myself in the mirror I quite literally cried and cried hard for more than a little bit. Oh yes! There I am!
Would love a full post about who you follow!
I just read the post article. I can’t speak to the Hill, but neither the mini dress nor the cover photo with a one-button closure top would fly at my DC-based law firm! Definitely feeling my age!
Today I wore the Spanx shorts that you posted a couple of times; I bought them on final sale a couple of weeks ago and today was their first outing. To a lunch with my boss at a nicer restaurant. They looked great paired with a nice top and wedges. Thank you!
I’m glad you loved them! They are one of the best things I bought for summer.
Re: the article of what interns are wearing on Capital Hill…I’m but an insurance agent in the Midwest, but I feel that white sundress is in NO way appropriate for any work scenario. That’s for weekend Sunday brunch or a bridal shower. And, with strappy sandals too? I can’t believe that’s OK. For business casual, I’d assume a dark plain denim, with basic stripe or plain tee and a topper of some sort (cardi or blazer) with a sneaker.
I audibly *gasped* reading the intern wardrobe article and seeing the white dress in question. I must be showing my millennial roots because I can’t reconcile that dress as, “appropriate professional attire,” in my mind.
I am clutching my pearls at the length of the intern’s mini dress. How does she sit down?
I don’t work on the Hill but in a non-profit that is almost 100% remote now but…that dress is absolutely NOT ok. Maybe I’m old but if I see you in an article of clothing and immediately worry I’ll see a part of your anatomy that shouldn’t be seen at work, then it’s not an appropriate garment.
I really have to wonder if the woman in the short white dress was set up by the staff in her office. The dress, the story about rejecting what her mom bought, the comment about her “cutesy little internship”, and the note about her becoming the expert and sharing advice with other interns – it’s too much.
It’s too much. I want to find her and ask if she was misquoted.
I had the same reaction as everyone here to the intern in the little white dress. I cannot imagine a planet where that is an appropriate work outfit. For my first big girl job in subtropical DC I had to wear pantyhose every day and distinctly remember getting yelled at for taking off a blazer and having *gasp* a sleeveless shell underneath. I will show myself out now 🙂
Pantyhose. These children do not understand what it’s like to sweat through control top.
I was scratching my head at that article, too, like maybe I missed something? DC has not changed that much. Our legal interns at a government agency wear fashion-forward but office appropriate attire.
I am an alumna advisor for my sorority with formal meetings and I am appalled at what is considered “professional dress” from this generation. (I’m 37. I’m old, but not that old.) The white dress in the article is not appropriate for any office/professional setting. We’ve had several discussions with our members about professional dress, but it’s not sinking in. Social media is not helping this… at all.
I think I still have pinstripe suits from the last time they were in style. Whether they still fit me, however …
I haven’t had the “there you are” moment with clothes per se, but I have had it with a hobby. I recently started taking ballet classes again (I took from ages 4-21) as a full-time working mom of 2 and I cried during the first class because it was the first time I felt wholly like *me* in 16 years. That class time is now sacrosanct.
Wear the suit, whether it’s to the home office or the office building. If we can wear athletic wear when we have no intention of working out, we can also wear suits just because we love the way they make us feel!
Hot.
Abra, I get the temptation to lawyer all the time. I’ve always practiced in high stress areas of the law with clients with high needs. I was always told to take the vacation time for real and dismissed. I’ve learned how to just start prepping clients early, check for deadlines in and around and prep them, leave stuff for my paralegal, turn off notifications and go. Most clients are happy for me! I still check my email once a day or two. I am not perfect 🙂 but really do try to do it, the work will be there. Colleagues can cover. It will be ok.
That’s it! Time to get Abra on Tik Tok. 19 year old Lexi looked to CapHillStyle for how to dress as an intern 15+ years ago. And now the girls are looking to TikTok?! We need to get you in there to straighten things up ASAP! lol!
“Your Chief of Staff Auntie.”
As someone who has worked on the Hill for the last 15 years, I can confirm the interns current dressing style is out of control. I cringe when I walk through the halls. I have had to have many conversations with interns in my office about what is and isn’t appropriate. I can’t imagine trying to get a job on the Hill after some of the outfits I see, dress for the job you want, not have,
Or maybe just dress for the job you have in this case.
I got a Henley from J Crew last year that has a bit of a ruffle by the buttons. This year they have one at J Crew Factory in the same style. Love when a style surprises you in a good way!
Any “news” article or program today, whether online/in print/electronic media seemingly ‘must’ contain something outrageous, wild, controversial, sometimes just plain untrue to stimulate readership or viewers.
All about grabbing the attention just to stay alive.
We are sadly a nation of TV ignoramuses–few of us read enough or have an extensive educational background enabling us to research or check facts.
That white dress is a shirt. And the linen outfit on the first photo….I should not be able to tell if you’re wearing a bra. So inappropriate. When I worked on the Hill, we once had to photoshop a photo of one of our Congressional Art Competition winners because she was wearing a bustier that showed too much skin (after giving her a cardigan to wear). That was tame compared to some of these outfits. I also can’t with all the dirty sneakers. Here I am feeling super self-conscious that the soles of the white sneakers I’m wearing (solely because of swollen pregnant feet) in my casual business casual federal office are a bit dirty, while interns are wearing shoes more fitting for fifth graders who just came back in from recess. What kind of message do they think that sends people? I keep waiting for the pendulum to swing the other way, to classic, conservative, etc. Thought it would come after COVID….still waiting….
I work in a very casual office and have seen zero crop tops this summer. I have seen some of the intern men wearing what are basically sweatpants, but the non-intern men wear those to work as well. So nothing to report here.
OHMYGOD I am so so glad you saw the Washington Post intern article and had the same reaction. I saw it weeks ago, and can’t stop thinking about it. The girl in the mini-dress? I kept looking at the photo, thinking that I needed to make an eye appointment, because there was no way it was as short as it appeared in the photo. I just feel less alone that someone else had as strong of a reaction to it as I did. Thank you!
Can you do a post talking about how you found an assistant, how you work together, pricing, etc? Very interested in that for myself…
I knew my assistant for several years before we came to an arrangement about working together. Pay is dependent upon job description, so I’m not very helpful that way. Thanks to COVID our work is virtual. If you’re looking for one, try UpWork.
Can anyone do a gift link to the WaPo article? I NEED to see this white linen dress now.
Also, in 2009, I was once given a talking to by my Leg Director in my Capitol Hill office for wearing a lace-topped camisole under a cardigan (which I paired with a knee-length pencil skirt, and in my defense, to this day I think it was fine for work!). I can’t believe what people think is appropriate now. If you’re worried your outfit is too revealing, it probably is. Nothing should be see-through. Wear real shoes to work (feel free to commute in something more comfortable!). Oh the humanity!!
Changed it to a gift article. https://wapo.st/4fTXBC9
Delayed reaction, but that white dress is too short for the office, but I wouldn’t blink at any of the other outfits in the article. White sneakers, appropriate length sundress, and sweater is a pretty common outfit combo for me as a twenty something attorney for a DC federal agency. I have suits for if I have a meeting with a political, but they don’t come out often (which is tragic because I too have been eyeing some of those AT suits).