Lunch Break: Peplum Pencil Skirt

Peplum Pencil Skirt - $35.97 - The Limited

Peplum Pencil Skirt – $35.97 – The Limited

For our lunch break today, we fell in fashion awe, corporate style, for this peplum pencil skirt from The Limited. With an asymmetrical pleated peplum waist, and a great graphic pattern, it has a great look for the office. The peplum pattern is also slimming to boast. It’s currently on sale for $35.97, down from $59.95 (use online code LONGWKND).

Per the reviews, it appears to be a great buy, yet just runs a tad small, so select the appropriate size.

Psst: The Limited‘s semi- annual sale event is still on, with discounts as deep as 70% off; and the MLK Week-end sale is also on with 40% off full-price items and 50% off markdowns! For additional sales, please check out our earlier post on MLK Sales!

Seen a great, work-appropriate piece you’d like to recommend? Please post a comment below, or email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!

The Corporate Sister.

 

Sales Alert!

sale

vibevixen.com

Happy MLK Day! Hope everyone is commemorating this great holiday! As we’re celebrating, there are also great sale out there we wanted to share with you:

  • Ann Taylor is offering 60% off all sales and 50% off all regular prices (use online code: ANNFLASH);
  • LOFT is also having its flash sale (psst!, it ends this morning at 10am EST) with 50% off select full-price items (use online code: FORYOU). It’s also offering 40% off full prices and 60% off sales prices;
  • White House Black Market is offering 25% off already marked-down prices (use online code: 17675);
  • Athleta is having 20% off its sales prices (use online code: ATHLETA20): please note this sale ends today as well, so hurry!;
  • Piperlime is offering 25-40% off denim (enter online code: DENIM);
  • Vera Bradley is offering 60% off select colors and styles;
  • Target is offering 30% off sales on furniture, so take advantage of the great deals:
  • New York & Co. is still having its 5-day MLK Week-end sale (today is the last day), with special doorbusters, plus offers of $100 off any $200 purchase (Code 9533) and $50 off any $100 purchase (code 9532), AND free shipping…I mean! ;
  • The Limited‘s semi- annual sale event is still on, with discounts as deep as 70% off; and the MLK Week-end sale is also on with 40% off full-price items and 50% off markdowns!

Happy MLK Day!

The Corporate Sister.

Dread Going to Work?

madamenoire.com

madamenoire.com

So it’s the end of the week-end, and before you know it, you’ll be back at…work! And frankly, you dread it! You dread everything about it, from putting up with annoying co-workers to tackling your next big project…And as hard-working, dedicated and ambitious as you may be, there are just those days when going to work sounds just dreadful…

Make sure you get enough Zzzz’s: nothing like a good night’s sleep to take your mind off that big presentation at work in the morning. The longer you overthink and dread your next day at work, the more anxious you tend to become. Whenever I have a big deadline looming near, a huge presentation on the horizon, or just a difficult day ahead, the only way I know to shut my mind is…to go to bed! So make it a practice to hit the sack early, get your zzz’s, and let time do its thing…

But rise early! The world really belongs to those who rise early, so get a step ahead! Rising early on the day of a major presentation or challenging day at work allows me enough time to look my best, and gather my spirits to feel my best! And you may even have some leftover time to jot down a few pointers, like “stop fidgeting” or “breathe”…

Last but not least, trick your mind! Fear, like confidence, are acquired. We are not born fearful. And while some people appear naturally confident, it’s a skill that can also be acquired. The trick is to trick our minds into believing that we can surmount challenges coming our way. So as you prepare to face a challenging day at work, trick your mind into thinking that you’ve already succeeded!

Dreading going to work?

The Corporate Sister

The 411: What We’re Reading this Week

news reading

aabnetwor.org

Enjoy our posts? Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Pinterest!

Hope everyone had a great week! For the 411 on our Sunday news pow-wow, here is what we’re reading this week…

Happy Sunday, and happy reading!

The Corporate Sister.

Clutch Crush: Rebecca Minkoff “Coco” Clutch

Rebecca Minkoff "Coco" Clutch - $122  bluefly.com

Rebecca Minkoff “Coco” Clutch – $122 bluefly.com

We’ve got a clutch crush on on this Rebecca Minkoff’s cherry leather studded flip lock “Coco” clutch. Perfect for a date tonight; or a night out with the girls to release the week’s stress. We love the bright cherry color, which poses a nice contrast to the studded pattern. Colorful and edgy! I can see this clutch paired with nice jeans and an elegant top on week-ends. And for day-to-night outfit transitions at work, it will just add the right touch of color and funk to a traditional black, brown or navy corporate suit or ensemble.

It’s on sale at Bluefly for $122.39, down from $325.

Seen a great accessory you’d like to recommend? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!

The Corporate Sister.

Week-end Fashion Inspiration: Cashmere Drape-Front Sweater

Cashmere Sweater - $53.40 - Bloomingdale's

Cashmere Sweater – $53.40 – Bloomingdale’s

So after our Neiman Marcus cashmere dress pick earlier last week, our pick for the week-end is this Aqua Cashmere sweater with drape front from Bloomingdale’s. Love love its deconstructed, yet very feminine look. It can easily be sported on week-ends with a nice pair of jeans or leggings, or paired with elegant trousers from 9-to-5.

Plus it’s on sale for $53.40, down from $89.

PS: Bloomingdale’s is having a 65% off sale this entire week-end, so take advantage of the savings!

 

Seen a great, work-appropriate piece you’d like to recommend? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!

 

The Corporate Sister.

Work or High School? One and the Same…

black-corporate-woman2

zora-alice.com

In a recent post, we discussed whether we should be in or opt out of the corporate group. Well, about that…In my years in the corporate environment, if there’s one thing I learnt, is that high school never really is over…Not even when you graduate out of college and get your first real job. Not when you spend upwards of 10 hours at work interacting (or not) with your co-workers, bosses and management. Not when you ponder over what to do to belong to the corporate group instead of feeling constantly excluded…Because this is high school all over again, except we’re older, better dressed, and we all have cars..

click

click

You either click, or you don’t! No matter where you work, or what type of office environment you are or will be called to professionally evolve in, groups and group-think are still the norm. Just like in high school, you either belong to the group, or you don’t. And if you don’t happen to belong to the group, you’re potentially in professional danger; so you either have to try to find ways to belong, or ways to get out…all in one piece! Sounds scary? Yup, but it’s true…and for women, especially minority women, the reality is even bleaker. Faced with a leadership that is largely male and non-racially diverse, getting in to the group, and by the group, I mean the leadership group, is a real challenge! So no wonder many of us opt for getting out, most times to our own detriment…

 

lonerwolf.com

lonerwolf.com

It’s all a facade! My sister is a clinical psychologist, and every time I recount to her some unfortunate “corporate” stories, she reminds me that in corporate as in many professional environments, it’s all a facade! We have our true personalities, and we have our work personalities. While these may naturally intersect for the most authentic among us, for the rest, they do not meet anywhere between the hours of 9 and 5. Translation: most people are pretending at work! Pretending to care, pretending to be genuine, heck, pretending to be at work for that matter! Just like in high school, some of us pretend to be cool so we can hang out with the cool kids, and not be associated with the geeky loner (except when we need help with homework of course)! So what are we to do with all this pretense? Just like in high school, we learn to spot it, adjust to it, and make it work to our advantage, not by emulating it, but by not being fooled by it…

_8608319 (1)It’s the survival of the (mentally) fittest! If high school is a jungle, the corporate world is its bigger, meaner, better dressed big sister! You know, the one who smiles in your face as you walk by in your Manolos just to better trip you? Yup, that one…And if you could at least see an end to your high school dilemmas, now that you’re immersed into the corporate way of earning your livelihood, the light at the end of the tunnel can look pretty…dim, to say the least! And rightfully so…Now that you have to survive in the midst of all the economic crisis, the raging unemployment, not mentioning the slew of natural disasters, your career may look more like a marathon than the rapid sprint past the glass ceiling. Meanwhile, as your brain is being bombarded on the daily with life’s incessant noise, you still need to be a top performer in a challenging corporate space. And this is where mental endurance comes into play, as you pick your battles, re-focus daily on your goals, shut out the noise around you and keep moving along. Just like in high school, when you didn’t quite make it into the “Popular Girls” club but kept persevering and working those grades, and 10 years later, guess who’s working for you? Yup, the entire “Popular girls” club…

The Corporate Sister.