by Solange Lopes | Jan 10, 2014 | Career |
r-ucrazy.com
In line with our Being Mary Jane Fashion obsession today, after the chic blazer, one other fashion staple of our favorite TV corporate sister Mary Jane Paul is the sheath dress. We had discussed in one of our earlier posts why we strongly believe that the sheath dress is the new power suit! Well, seems like Mary Jane may agree with us…
Or so the fashionable, chic yet sexy, and oh how perfectly fitted sheath dresses she sports in the BET show demonstrate…
As a petite on the rounder side corporate sister, I love an elegant, well-fitted, fresh sheath dress in all seasons! Perfect to layer under a dressy cardigan cinched with an statement skinny belt a la Michelle Obama, or just to wear alone with a classy pair of slingbacks in the spring or summer (please know your office and pick your wardrobe accordingly), the sheath dress is a must-have!
Plus when you’re chronically late like yours truly, the convenience of throwing on one piece instead of mixing and matching is a plus!
And for all the petites out there, whether you’re pint-size or on the curvier side (hello!), paying extra for a petite size instead of a regular one will make all the difference…
Black Halo “Jackie” Sheath dress – $206.8 – Nordstrom.com
For our coffee chat today, our pick is this classic, Black Halo “Jackie” belted sheath dress from Nordstrom. At $206.80, it is THE can’t-go-wrong sheath dress, and reminds so much of Mary Jane!
Seen a great piece you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jan 10, 2014 | Career
being_mary_jane – Photo: hollywoodreporter.com
So yes, I said it already in my previous review of Being Mary Jane, and I’m saying it again, I love Mary Jane Paul’s character on the BET show “Being Mary Jane”. And as a corporate sister with fashion on my mind, you know I also love Mary’s sense of fashion. One of her fashion staples on the show, which also happens to be one of my favorite, basic go-to’s as part of my corporate wardrobe, is the blazer. Not just when temperatures cool down but also as a standard wardrobe staple!
I actually used to not be much of a fan of blazers. Too old looking! Not hip enough! Borderline boring…until I started looking around and noticing with much fashion delight that gone are the days of the stuffy, boring blazer! The modern blazer is fresh, edgy, and bright, just like this sunny yellow piece Mary Jane is sporting in our picture above. And to boot, the modern blazer is not just a professional wardrobe investment, as it can be recycled with the right pair of jeans on a casual Friday or on the week-end, or merchandised with some serious bling on a night out on the town…
Schoolboy blazer – Jcrew.com – $178
That’s why for our lunch break pick, we are having a “fashion-gasm” on this blue schoolboy blazer from J. Crew. At $178, it may just be the most fashionable, colorful and still professional-looking investment you may make right now…And it’s just calling Spring…
Seen a great piece you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jan 10, 2014 | Career |
Being Mary Jane – Photo: kontrolmag.com
I first named this post “Being Mary Jane: The Perfect Corporate Sister“, then “Being Mary Jane: The Quintessential Corporate Sister”, not really sure at first which post title would be best adapted to what I wanted to say about how I feel about BET’s new Being Mary Jane show…And in the midst of all the back and forth between this post title and that one, it occurred to me that as much as I love the new BET show “Being Mary Jane”, and despite the sheer happiness (and relief) at watching Gabrielle Union portray the under-represented demographic of corporate sisters , Mary Jane Paul’s character is far from being…perfect…or quintessential, or any other big, inflated word that would look great on my post title, but would just not be…real! And honestly,perfection is so overrated, and sooo boring…
Like many of us, Mary Jane works in a hard, unrelenting business. As a sister on the way up in corporate America, the corporate path can be a hard, unrelenting one. Remember when Olivia Pope’s dad in ABC‘s “Scandal” told her that as Black people, and minorities in general, “we have to work twice as hard to have half what “they” have”! Long hours, not getting the credit we deserve, standing out in the professional crowd (and not always in a good way), we can relate to these all too welll…And when you’re a corporate sister on the way up, you know the feeling all too well…
As I was watching the first episode of this season’s “Being Mary Jane” a couple of days ago, I could not take my eyes off the screen, off….myself really! Main character Mary Jane Paul’s family is my family, what with the socio-economic issues and problems that many a Black family can relate to….From her jobless brother, to her pregnant (with no boyfriend) niece demanding to use Mary Jane’s luxurious house to host her baby shower, which interestingly enough would coincide with her “not-real” boyfriend’s real girlfriend’s baby shower day as well…Got it? Well, I do…Because as surreal as some of these stories may be, they are also familiar because they happen in my family, around the neighborhood I grew up in…These are real stories, and as educated, professionally successful and ambitious as I may be, they are also my stories…
And talking about real stories, Mary Jane’s love life alone, is just about the most “real” depiction of many a thriving corporate sister’s love life out there…We may not admit to it, but dating as a Black or minority corporate sister holding one (or two or three) degrees and making the kind of money Mary Jane makes, is bound to put any one of us into hot water (or hot, uncommitted sex for that matter)…Being a successful woman is still not much accepted in today’s society! Being a Black, successful, beautiful and sexual Black woman: barely conceivable, not very acceptable, and definitely challenging, especially when it comes to relationships! So it’s not surprising that like many of my girlfriends, and much like my younger, unmarried self not too long ago, Mary Jane is romantically stuck in that place between loving a “taken”, unavailable man, and sticking to her morals…It’s an all-too familiar scenario for Black professional women, and successful women in general, whose professional achievements somehow, somewhat, seem to almost always stand in the way of their romantic happiness…Hmmm….
So yes, I love Mary Jane Paul, because if I ever wanted a reminder of what it means to be a hard-working, thriving Black corporate sister, she does give it to me…But most importantly, she reminds me that not only is it ok to not be perfect, but that all this imperfection business, from compromising our morals in the name of love to struggling to carry the weight of the world on our tired shoulders, all of that is better than perfect, it’s REAL! And for once, we needed to have that reality, that crazy, overachieving, out of this world reality in our face…And the hot sex scenes do not hurt either!
Do you think Mary Jane Paul is the real corporate sister?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jan 9, 2014 | Career
TheLimited.com
In our after-hours chat today, we discuss the tucking question! Yup, should you tuck your white button-down or blouse in your pants or skirt, or just let them loose over your bottoms? While some of us feel more comfortable letting a nice button-down shirt or an elegant blouse just fall nicely over our clothes, the rest feels like tucking in gives your waist a bit more definition while allowing you to showcase a dressy pair of pants or skirt.
I personally err on the side of tucking in. Being larger in the bust area and petite, it’s easy for my frame to get engulfed. So, unless I’m wearing a top that falls just right and hugs both my large bust and waist in a flattering way, I’m tucking…
Besides, if you enjoy a nice, skinny belt, nothing like elegantly tucking your button-down or blouse in to showcase it!
What are your thoughts? Would you rather tuck in your shirt or let it loose over your pants or skirt?
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jan 9, 2014 | Career |
Remember that New York & Co. Audrey Tweed dress we fell in frugal love with yesterday? Well, looks like we found the perfect winter jacket for it, or anything else in our corporate wardrobe at this point… This GROA boiled wool winter jacket has us holding our breaths! In breathtaking winter white, with a waist-cinching silhouette and long sleeves to boot, it’s a winter dream! The ruffling at the lapels is both sophisticated and original, what with the slightly longer hem to the side that gives it an asymmetrical feel.
Love, love the way this jacket looks and fits! And for the curviest among us, it showcases all the right curves at the right place, in a work-appropriate yet oh so fashionable way. We found it on Polyvore.com, and at $140, it may just remain a staple in your winter wardrobe…
Seen a great piece you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Jan 8, 2014 | Career
evernote.com
We were talking earlier about how it’s January (yup, change your calendar), and we really, I mean really, need to get organized, like…yesterday! And since it’s always better to do anything with a little bit of help here and there , we wanted to give a shout out to one of the best apps out there for the super-organized and organization-deficient alike: Evernote!
Not only can you organize your notes, paperwork, type in your to-do lists (all 20 of them, no kidding, with checkboxes and the whole gamut), you can also scan documents, add videos and pics into your notes!
Added bonus on top of all this organization powerhouse: you can even sync up all your notes, documents and to-do’s between your smartphone (Blackberry, I-Phone, Android, Apple and Windows), and store everything online! And for those of us who want to upload their entire families plus the Joneses across the street and still keep your offline access, you can get the world at your fingertips for $5 a month or $45 for the year….Just sayin’….
Now if after this, you’re still disorganized…you gotta call somebody, for real…
by Solange Lopes | Jan 8, 2014 | Career
Audrey Tweed Dress – nyandcompany.com
For our lunch break today, we’re having a frugal crush on the Audrey Tweed dress from the Eva Mendes collection at New York & Co. This tweed boucle dress, which by the way is so well adapted to the season, is both elegant and work-appropriate! With a ballet neck and full skirt, it is also universally flattering, especially for the larger busts and wider hips among us, including yours truly! Add a slim belt and an elegant jacket to it, and voila!
It’s on sale for $23.95 (yup, you read right), down 70% from its original price! And at this price point, it is definitely one of our most frugal crushes of the season! Can you say be-au-ti-ful deal?
Seen a great, work-appropriate piece you’d like to share? Please email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
