Outfit Details: Henne Tank, Chan Luu Pants, L’Agence Belt, Loeffler Randall Heels, Alex Mill Sweater (last seen here), Arielle Ratner Necklace

A Western reference works best when there’s only one of it. Not the full head-to-toe interpretation, just a single object with enough conviction to shift the whole outfit around it. One concho belt against pink taffeta is enough. A fringe bag with a denim short does the same thing, giving the look more direction without announcing itself.

Outfit Details: Henne Tank, Chan Luu Pants, L’Agence Belt, Loeffler Randall Heels, Alex Mill Sweater (last seen here), Arielle Ratner Necklace | Kallmeyer Shorts, Chanel Belt, Vanessa Bruno Bag, Herbert Levine Mules

Suede, deeper browns, heavier denim, and hardware all feel abundant around this time of year, which makes the reference easy to reach for now. What I like is placing those rugged textures beside pieces with a more refined finish. The character comes through in the details, and they just need something polished to push against.

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For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional. Also: we just updated our big roundup for the best women’s suits of 2026!

This “Colonial blue” suit from Brooks Brothers is such a pretty color. (Why is it “Colonial blue”? No idea. Do they have Oppressor Orange too?)

In any event: I like the three button blazer — it feels classic but also more modern (buttonpalooza). I like it best with the pants, but there’s also a matching skirt and shirtdress.

The pieces are $168-$348 in sizes 00-16, at Brooks Brothers.

Sales of note for 9/11:

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Here’s a hopefully fun question for today — what do you happily pay someone else to do? Have you rotated through a few different “someones” enough to offer advice on what you like or don’t like? Have you ever made the opposite decision and STOPPED paying someone else to do something?

We’ve talked a lot about this in the context of things like upgrading personal services, using a personal assistant, hiring a cleaning service — as well as discussions over on CorporetteMoms about leveling up your childcare and even hiring a housemanager.

What I Outsource

The big ones for me are home cleaning, grocery shopping, and tax preparation, but I’ve considered meal prep services. I haven’t had good experiences with travel planners thus far, but it’s the kind of thing I’d consider if a friend had a great recommendation.

Home cleaning – I have gone through a few “someones” here; we’ve worked with maybe six different services over the years… and there’s absolutely an element of fit there. There was the woman who unloaded the dishwasher without knowing where anything went, and then made weird choices like putting knives, pointy-side-up, with the spatulas. There was a service that weirded me out by walking around taking pictures… after their first clean. I could see it making sense to do with the homeowner, like “I like it when this pillow goes here…” but otherwise it creeped me out. (Maybe she had taken “before” pictures also, and that was her goal? I don’t think it was that bad, but what do I know…) There were amazing ones also, including a one-woman show where we trusted her so much we would have let her organize our closets.

Grocery shopping – I’ve used this off and on over the years, but I’ve been steadily using it for about five years now. I like being able to build my grocery list casually in the app, and then have someone else who actually knows where things are run around to find things… we also tend to make good use of prepared food from the grocery store like pre-portioned, sliced apples, mirepoix, and (sometimes) pulled rotisserie chicken.

Tax prep – Hey, I went to law school, I know that the Tax Code is extensive (and mysterious and important!)… and ever since then I’ve decided to let someone else know all that stuff! I’ve only had two accountants. The first one was a lovely old man a friend had recommended, but when he nearly missed a huge thing (a first time home buyer’s tax credit that I don’t think is available any longer), that was our last visit to him. We’ve been with our second guy for 15+ years now and I really like and trust him. (Hmmn, did I take Tax Law with Marty Ginsburg? I’m going to have to check my transcript, I truly do not remember.)

Readers, what’s on your list — what do you happily pay someone else for? Have you rotated through a few different “someones” enough to offer advice on what you like or don’t like? Have you ever made the opposite decision and STOPPED paying someone else to do something?