A Trench Coat Felt Like A Big Commitment Until I Started Wearing Mine Every Week

I built a whole spreadsheet the year I almost bought a trench coat. Not a metaphorical spreadsheet, an actual one, cost per wear projected against a Boston winter that’s really…

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Nobody Can Define Smart Casual, So I Tried A Maxi Dress Anyway

My brother texted me a photo of an invite that said “smart casual” and just wrote “what does this mean.” I sent back three paragraphs and none of them were…

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A Blazer Alone Might Not Be Doing The Smart Casual Job People Think It Does

I bought a blazer specifically for one wedding rehearsal dinner in Franklin, secondhand, structured shoulder, the kind of navy that photographs as black in bad lighting. Paid forty two dollars…

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A Maxi Dress Felt Like Too Much Fabric For A Job Interview, So I Reconsidered

I laid the maxi dress out on my bed at 7:40am, next to a blazer, and stood there having a full argument with myself about yardage. That’s the actual word…

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Whether A Cardigan Counts As Smart Casual Depends Entirely On The Cardigan

I told a colleague once that I was wearing “smart casual” to a client dinner, and she looked at my cardigan the way you’d look at a stain you couldn’t…

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The Blazer Requirement For Business Casual Might Be Outdated Advice

I kept a navy blazer on the back of my office chair for three straight years in the early 2000s. Never wore it once that I can actually remember, just…

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The Blazer To A Wedding Rule Might Just Be An Assumption Nobody Checked

I built a whole cost benefit case for a navy blazer two Aprils ago, the way I build cases for everything, cost per wear, versatility across three separate weddings that…

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The Bottom Button Rule Followed My Cardigan Home From My Blazer, Apparently

I buttoned a cardigan on a client three weeks ago exactly the way I’d button a blazer. Top hole first, working down, skip the bottom one on instinct, like my…

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Blazers Have The Same Hidden Stitch As Trench Coats And I Never Noticed Either

I wore my brother Sam’s old blazer to a client dinner in March, sat down at the table, and felt it pull weird across the back like the fabric was…

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A Blazer That Doesnt Cover Your Bum Is Apparently A Whole Category Of Wrong

A client texted me a photo from a dressing room last month, blazer on, one hand on her hip, the other holding her phone at that angle we all use…

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