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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.

I recently pulled an old Polo Ralph Lauren sweater out of my closet for a casual office day, and one of my younger colleagues told me I was very “on trend.” I didn’t tell her that the sweater in question was nearly as old as she was, and took the compliment with a smile. Preppy is back (did it ever leave?), so we might as well grab some of these comfy cardigans and lean into it.

This cream colored one will go nicely with just about anything this fall. I would wear it to work with a blue oxford and black trousers. 

The sweater is $268 at Nordstrom and comes in sizes XS-XL.

Sales of note for 9/11:

Outfit Details: Ulla Johnson Top, Ulla Johnson Shorts (more sizes here), Ulla Johnson Bag, Ulla Johnson Shoes

I’m always drawn to a look that has a little contrast built into it. Satin, lace, draping and romantic details are all things I naturally gravitate toward, but I like them best when there’s something in the mix that keeps them from feeling too sweet.

Outfit Details: Ulla Johnson Top, Ulla Johnson Shorts (more sizes here), Ulla Johnson Bag, Ulla Johnson Shoes | Ulla Johnson Top, Ulla Johnson Shorts, Ulla Johnson Bag & Ulla Johnson Shoes

Sometimes that comes from the clothes themselves, and sometimes it’s the accessory that changes the whole direction. Leopard against lace, a calf-hair bag with silk pants, pearl-adorned sandals paired with a tee, or a sculptural earring against a drapey top. Texture makes the outfit richer, pattern gives it more bite, and a little shine can shift the mood completely.

I think that contrast is what keeps a feminine look feeling modern and personal. Pretty, but not precious. Polished, but never too proper.

This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

I like the cool, almost organic silver details on this affordable belt from Quince.

The belt is available sizes XS-XL in three colorways: black with silver (pictured), black with gold, and an espresso with gold; it’s $58 at Quince.

(Incidentally! The readers have been discussing whether you should always wear a belt when your pants have belt loops both here and here. For my $.02, I never wear a belt with jeans, but then I almost never tuck… I think the cleaner the tuck, the more the belt loops are on display, and the more it looks like you need a belt. On the flip side, if you’re wearing a sweater, T-shirt, or other untucked top then the belt loops don’t matter much.

I totally agree with the commenters who noted that a belt can interrupt an outfit, as well as be uncomfortable, but I think tailoring is the answer here — if you’re getting your pants tailored well enough that you don’t need a belt, it’s an easy fix to have the belt loops removed.)

Sales of note for 9/11:

For Shaina Rainford, Bask & Lather Co. began with something deeply personal: family, hair loss, and a desire to find a solution that actually worked.

Today, that personal journey has evolved into a rapidly growing haircare company with a devoted community, a major social commerce presence, and a philosophy rooted in a refreshingly simple promise: “Grow It And Keep It Too.”

At the helm is Rainford, Founder and CEO of Bask & Lather Co., who launched the brand in 2020 after experiencing significant hair loss alongside her younger sister. Drawing inspiration from natural remedies and the Scalp Stimulator Hair Growth Oil originally created by her mother, Rainford transformed a family solution into a business centered on helping consumers nurture healthy hair and retain the length they work hard to achieve.

From a Family Remedy to a Growing Beauty Brand

Bask & Lather’s approach is centered on consistency, healthy routines and real results. Rather than treating scalp care as an afterthought, the brand encourages customers to think about the scalp as the foundation of their overall haircare regimen.

That message has resonated with consumers. Through social commerce, creator partnerships and an engaged online community, Bask & Lather has built significant demand and was recognized as a top haircare brand on TikTok Shop U.S. during both the first and second quarters of 2026.

Rainford’s entrepreneurial journey has also garnered recognition beyond beauty. According to her company biography, Bask & Lather achieved 1,400% growth between 2024 and 2025 and scaled without outside investors. Rainford was named to Inc. Magazine’s Female Founders 500 list in 2026, while Bask & Lather was recognized on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies and selected for BeautyMatter’s 2026 FUTURE50 list.

The Bask & Lather Products to Know

At the heart of the brand is its Scalp Stimulator, one of Bask & Lather’s signature products. Made with cold-pressed oils and ingredients including rosemary and mint, hemp seed oil and grapeseed oil, the formula was created to nourish the scalp and support healthy scalp stimulation with regular use.

The Strong Hold Edge Control has also emerged as a bestseller. Formulated with ingredients including argan and castor oils, it was designed to lay and soften edges while delivering a strong hold without leaving behind white streaks. The formula works across hair textures, including natural, relaxed and 4C hair.

For additional moisture, the Stimulating Scalp & Hair Balm combines mango butter, shea butter, beeswax, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, peppermint, rosemary, lemongrass, vitamin E and dried lavender in a targeted scalp and hair treatment.

Meanwhile, the lightweight Hair Elixir Oil focuses on sealing in moisture, helping prevent breakage and supporting length retention with Jamaican black castor oil, apricot kernel oil, jojoba oil, lavender essential oil and vitamins B, C and E.

Introducing the Scalp Therapy System

Bask & Lather is taking its scalp-first philosophy even further with its new Scalp Therapy System, bringing dedicated scalp care into every stage of wash day.

The four-step collection includes a Scalp Soothing Pre-Shampoo to soothe and detangle; a Scalp Balancing Shampoo to gently remove buildup; a Scalp Restoring Conditioner to soften and detangle; and a Scalp Moisturizing Leave-In Treatment created to provide moisture while supporting length retention.

Across the collection, formulas incorporate ingredients such as aloe vera, mint, niacinamide, babassu oil, agave extract, rosemary, biotin and silk peptides.

It’s an expansion that feels particularly aligned with what Rainford has built from the beginning. Bask & Lather isn’t simply selling the idea of longer hair; the brand is encouraging consumers to develop the routines and scalp-care practices that can help them maintain healthy hair over time.

Shaina Rainford Is Building With Purpose

What makes Rainford’s story particularly compelling is the evolution from solving a problem within her own family to creating products now used by a much larger community.

As Bask & Lather continues to expand, Rainford remains closely connected to the brand’s original mission: real people, real routines and real results.

From a mother’s homemade hair oil to a nationally recognized beauty business, Bask & Lather’s trajectory demonstrates what can happen when personal experience, community and entrepreneurship intersect.

And with its newest collection placing even greater emphasis on scalp health, the brand’s message remains consistent: growing your hair is only part of the journey. Keeping it healthy is just as important.

Learn more and shop Bask & Lather: Bask & Lather Co.

This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The WSJ recently had a helpful article, How to Press Your Case When Your Airplane Seat Gets Downgraded [gift link]. I thought it might be interesting to discuss here and share other business travel hacks!

Have you ever had your airplane seat downgraded, either when traveling for work or for fun? How did you handle it? More broadly, what are your best travel hacks for when things go wrong — delayed or canceled flights, lost luggage, missed connections, hotel problems, and other travel emergencies?

First, the WSJ’s advice –

What’s a traveler to do? Stay on top of your reservation and know your rights, whether you get advance notice of seat changes or find out at the airport, like Prati. Don’t just take it as another travel unpleasantry and move on. You might not get all you’re hoping for, or anything in some cases, but you should make your case.

The first step is to try to get ahead of any plane swaps and resulting seat downgrades when you find out in advance rather than at the last minute.

They quote one woman who says she checks her booked flights weekly and contacts the airline as soon as she notices a seat switch.

The WSJ also notes that you are entitled to a refund if your seat is downgraded through no fault of your own… but the rules are different and more complicated when you get downgraded from one cabin to another, and different rules apply depending on whether you’re leaving from the US (in which case murky DOT rules apply) or leaving from Europe or the UK (with clearer, more robust rules).

Readers, have you ever had that happen to you? How did you handle it?

Psst: We’ve discussed readers’ favorite items for business travel, tips for packing for a one-day business trip, and shared great gift ideas for people who travel often — as well as discussed top tips for frequent work travel over on CorporetteMoms.

Stock photo via Pexels / Gustavo Fring.

IAMISIGO, HAWII, HERTUNBA, DIMEJI ILORI, PEPPER ROW, Y’WANDE, EKI KERE, ORANGE CULTURE, TORLOWEI, TIFFANY AMBER and KILENTAR

At Hertunba, Image Credit Hertunba on Instagram

Image Credit Brands on Instagram

Remember when African fashion was mostly seen as a source of inspiration for big luxury houses in Europe? Yeah, those days are done. It’s not that African design stopped being inspiring – far from it. It’s just that the spotlight has shifted. Actually, it’s flipped entirely.

African fashion has grown into a confident, powerful industry of trendsetters – one that’s now reshaping the global market rather than the other way around. A new generation of designers, from South Africa to Nigeria, Ivory Coast to Namibia, Morocco to Ghana, are building bold, awe-inspiring brands on their own terms. They’re not looking to Europe for validation anymore.

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

This shift is embodied by figures like Imane Ayissi, the first sub-Saharan African designer to be officially listed on the Paris Haute Couture calendar, and Thebe Magugu, the South African LVMH Prize winner whose work is stocked by major international retailers. IAMISIGO, led by Bubu Ogisi, has already gained international recognition as a semi-finalist for the 2026 LVMH Prize and winner of the 2025 Zalando Visionary Award for her innovative use of indigenous textiles like bark cloth and banana fibers. Ivorian designers such as Loza Maleombho and Ibrahim Fernandez have dressed global superstars like Beyoncé and Aya Nakamura, demonstrating that African brands can achieve international visibility while remaining rooted in their home cities. Designers like Yoshita 1967 (LVMH semi-finalist), Imprint South Africa (Afro-futurist aesthetic), Maxhosa Africa (South African designer with extraordinary patterned knits sold all over the globe) and La Maison Kanty’s (Ivorian savoir-faire) are also making waves.

At Y’Wande, Image Credit Y’Wande on Instagram

Africa is a huge continent with so many different cultures, but there’s a common thread that ties African fashion together. Above all, it’s the sheer, unrestrained joy of creating something beautiful – the explosion of colour, the fearless patterns, the tactility and textures of the clothes, the celebration of every body type, and the incredible craftsmanship rooted in ancient African heritage and culture.

Being under a brilliant African sun is an added bonus: it simply makes everything look bolder, more colourful and far more exhilarating!

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

Today, African fashion brands are rightfully demanding authorship and economic participation. Designers are pushing back against the old pattern where African aesthetics – mud cloth, indigo dyeing, kente weaving, the caftan silhouettes – got absorbed into European luxury collections with no credit or compensation for the people who originated them. As the industry rallies around stronger intellectual property protections and intra-African supply chains, African fashion is moving from simply being referenced to becoming a central, self-determining force in the global fashion economy.

At Tiffany Amber, Image Credit Tiffany Amber on Instagram

When these brands show at Fashion Weeks in European capitals – and plenty of them do – African design is without a shadow of a doubt more than able to its own. You can feel the joy in it. African fashion has indeed earned its place as a respected player on the international stage.

One of the most exciting hotspots for fashion today is Nigeria. We’ve homed in on a few of the innumerable inspiring fashion brands such as IAMISIGO, Hertunba, Dimeji Ilori, Torlowei, Kilentar, Pepper Row and Orange Culture as well as an outstanding Ethiopian brand, Hawii. Join us on a little journey of sun, colour, pattern and JOY!

At Hawii, Image Credit Hawii on Instagram

HERTUNBA

@hertunba

Founded in 2020 by Florentina Agu, Hertunba is a luxury Nigerian fashion label rooted in empowering the modern African woman (hence the “Her” in the title) with their tongue-in-cheek motifs, brilliant use of colour blocking and a celebration of all shapes and sizes.

The brand beautifully marries ancestral textiles like Akwete and Aso Oke with contemporary silhouettes. Production is via small-batches, upcycling, and collaboration with local artisans. This brand is a favourite of world celebrities, the likes of South African TV personality Bonang Matheba,

At Hertunba, Image Credit Hertunba on Instagram

At Hertunba, Image Credit Hertunba on Instagram

At Hertunba, Image Credit Hertunba on Instagram

At Hertunba, Image Credit Hertunba on Instagram

At Hertunba, Image Credit Hertunba on Instagram

HAWII

@_hawii_

Hawi is an Ethiopian brand that operates between Addis Ababa and Paris, exploring identity, emotion, and self-expression through their clothing, which is characterised by fluid, avant-garde silhouettes and graphic, tactile accents.

The brand gained international visibility through presentations in New York and Paris, and in 2025, Hawi was named African Fashion Up Winner for both Best Female Entrepreneur and Best Designer.

At Hawii, Image Credit Hawii on Instagram

At Hawii, Image Credit Hawii on Instagram

At Hawii, Image Credit Hawii on Instagram

DIMEJI ILORI

@dimejiilori

Founded in Lagos in 2021, Dimeji Ilori is part of an exciting new generation of Nigerian designers reshaping African luxury combining the art of ancient craftsmanship and storytelling. Exaggerated shapes, texture and colour all serve to explore identity, spirituality and collective memory.

Dimeji Ilori’s fashion truly is “wearable art; its “Afrowaste” philosophy transforms discarded and deadstock materials into elevated, one-of-a-kind luxury pieces.

At Dimeji IloriImage, Credit Dimeji Ilori on Instagram

At Dimeji IloriImage, Credit Dimeji Ilori on Instagram

At Dimeji IloriImage, Credit Dimeji Ilori on Instagram

At Dimeji Ilori, Image Credit Dimeji Ilori on Instagram

At Dimeji Ilori, Image Credit Dimeji Ilori on Instagram

PEPPER ROW

@pepperrow

Pepper Row is a luxe sustainable brand founded by Omafume Niemogha in 2018, based in Lagos – and one of the highlights of the fabulous bi-annual Lagos Fashion Week.

The brand merges Africa’s cultural heritage, arts, and craftsmanship – hand-painting, hand-dying, hand-weaving, wood-carving and using readily available materials – with modern influences, working with artisans in small communities.

At Pepper Row, Image Credit Pepper Row on Instagram

At Pepper Row, Image Credit Pepper Row on Instagram

At Pepper Row, Image Credit Pepper Row on Instagram

At Pepper Row, Image Credit Pepper Row on Instagram

IAMISIGO

@IAMISIGO

IAMISIGO, led by Bubu Ogisi, is without a shadow of a doubt on of the most exciting world brands today. IAMISIGO has already gained international recognition as a semi-finalist for the 2026 LVMH Prize and winner of the 2025 Zalando Visionary Award for her innovative use of indigenous textiles like bark cloth and banana fibers.

The brand’s aesthetic is visionary and transcends gender norms. The ingenious tactility, the clever use of volume, line and shape, the sheer magic of the creations is awe-inspiring – little the world all wants a piece of IAMISIGO today.

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

At IAMISIGO, Image Credit IAMISIGO on Instagram

EKI KERE

@eki_kere

Founded by Abasiekeme Ukanireh in 2020, Eki Kere is a Nigerian brand centred on sustainability and ethical practices. The brand’s core material is raffia, abundant in the founder’s hometown, and it partners with local artisans and craft cooperatives to preserve traditional techniques.

Fluid shapes, quirky cut-outs, a celebration of texture and colour and hand-dying methods all characterise this brand that simply makes one jump for joy.

At Eki Kere, Image Credit Eki Kere on Instagram

At Eki Kere, Image Credit Eki Kere on Instagram

At Eki Kere, Image Credit Eki Kere on Instagram

At Eki Kere, Image Credit Eki Kere on Instagram

At Eki Kere, Image Credit Eki Kere on Instagram

At Eki Kere, Image Credit Eki Kere on Instagram

ORANGE CULTURE

@orangecultureng

Founded by Adebayo Oke-Lawal in 2011, Orange Culture is a Lagos-born luxe brand. Orange Culture effortlessly blends sculptural tailoring with bold patterning, hand-painting techniques and age-old African heritage wear.

The label also focuses on storytelling – the result is a brand that is not only striking but also very thought-provoking. And definitely infinitely covetable.

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

At Orange Culture, Image Credit Orange Culture on Instagram

TIFFANY AMBER

@tiffanyamberng

Nigerian designer Tiffany Amber, founded by Folake Coker in 1998, is a luxury fashion house that blends rich West African aesthetics with contemporary silhouettes.

The brand holds the distinction of being the first ready-to-wear label in Nigeria, and Folake Coker made history as the first Africa-based designer to showcase twice at New York Fashion Week. Known for its elegant, tactile and wearable occasion wear, Tiffany Amber is coveted by publications like Vogue and Vanity Fair.

At Tiffany Amber, Image Credit Tiffany Amber on Instagram

At Tiffany Amber, Image Credit Tiffany Amber on Instagram

At Tiffany Amber, Image Credit Tiffany Amber on Instagram

TORLOWEI

@torloweiworld

Founded in 2017 by Patience Torlowei, Torlowei is a Lagos-based label with the most strikingly feminine separates and delicate nightwear and lingerie. Romantic fabrics like silk, lace, crepe and chiffon are used to create most memorable pieces.

In 2014, a Torlowei dress named “Esther”, a stunning hand-painted gold silk dress named after her late mother, became the first piece of modern designer fashion to enter the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. More recently a Torlowei kaftan worn by the late André Leon Talley was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and featured in its 2025 Costume Institute exhibition, further cementing the brand’s place in global fashion history.

At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

The “Esther” gown. At Torlowei, Image Credit Torlowei on Instagram

KILENTAR

@kilentar

Kílẹ́ntàr is a Nigerian brand founded in 2020 by British-Nigerian designer Michelle Adepoju,

The brand magically blends traditional West African craftsmanship with contemporary design, working closely with female weavers in Burkina Faso and tie-dyers in Nigeria to create hand-woven and hand-dyed pieces using age-old techniques like Aso Oke weaving and Adiré tie-dye.

At Kilentar, Image Credit Kilentar on Instagram

At Kilentar, Image Credit Kilentar on Instagram

At Kilentar, Image Credit Kilentar on Instagram

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