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Whether your office is business casual or you’re commuting in 95° heat, the best summer work pants for hot weather are breathable, wrinkle-resistant, and polished enough to wear with what I’ll call a “structured piece” — a blazer, a lady jacket, or even a more tailored blouse. But… this can be difficult to find! So today, we’re rounding up the best summer work pants for women.

Outfit Details: Wiggy Kit Dress, Janessa Leone Hat, Loewe Sunglasses, Miu Miu Flats (similar here and here), Wiggy Kit Dress, Retrosuperfuture Sunglasses, Similar Tote Here

One of my favorite parts of traveling is discovering new restaurants. Not just for the food, but for the way the room comes together through color, table settings, and the menus. Before we head to a reservation, I almost always look up the restaurant first, partly to get excited, but also so I have a sense of the vibe I want to dress for.

For me, the perfect lunch look is a colorful daytime dress, dressed up ever so slightly with a bag that has some ruffles or raffia texture. A stripe that plays off the room, embroidery, sunglasses that add to the look instead of hiding behind them. Small choices, but they make lunch feel like the kind of thing you got dressed for.

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.

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

I’d love to tell you this is the last shirtdress that is going to catch my eye this summer, but that would probably be a lie. This perfectly elegant dress from Tuckernuck comes in five other colorways, but this light blue is just a stunner. If you need a topper for a chilly office, I would add a navy blazer or a navy sweater tied over your shoulders.

Add some fun shoes and you have an outfit for any summer office occasion. 

The dress is $298 at Tuckernuck and comes in sizes XXS-XXXL. 

A couple of more affordable options are available at Nordstrom from Mango (lucky sizes, $59.99 on sale) and Caslon (XXS-XXL, $109).

Sales of note for 7/19:

• Nordstrom – The Anniversary Sale has started! Here’s our big roundup of the best workwear, as well as everything we’ve selected thus far.
• Ann Taylor – Semi-annual sale, 60% off sale and 40% off everything — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it’s a great separate)
• Banana Republic – Summer sale up to 60% off sale styles + extra 20% off
• The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns
• J.Crew – 50% off select cashmere
• J.Crew Factory – 60% off clearance
• Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
• Lululemon – Summer sale!
• Me & Em – Sale! Up to 60% off (new lines just added)
• M.M.LaFleur – 25% off jardigans (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
• Nordstrom Rack – Clear the rack, extra 25% off clearance! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work dresses from Calvin Klein, Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
• Talbots – Red Door Sale! Prices start at $15
• Theory – End of season sale is on!

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.

Yes, I went back in to take a look at shoes and bags in the NAS so you don’t have to… I may have gotten carried away! I think there’s a lot to like if you’re on the hunt for new shoes, or need a new pair of something from before (for example, knee high boots are back in a big way this year, with lots of sleek low/flat options in the sale).

One note: I haven’t done a roundup of beauty in the sale, but this year they’re doing one-day only beauty deals… so today you can get 30% off select haircare. This was new to me so I did some investigating — are these just featured deals? Additional percentages off something in the sale? Or day-only additions to the sale? I looked up one of the products that would clearly be included in today’s hair deals (JVN) and can confidently say: they were on the site full price, not marked down or marked as being part of the sale, at ALL yesterday… so these truly are one-day only deals as far as I can tell. (There is a lot of Drybar in the sale today, though, so I regret not looking that up yesterday to compare and contrast.) Today I’m going to take advantage of the deals to try some Rizos curl stuff, I’m also seeing a lot of JVN, R+Co, Living Proof, and Verb in today’s sale.

The Best Bags in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

General Notes on Bags

Great Work Backpacks

Nice Work Totes

The Best Handbags in the Sale

Not pictured, but: I love these minimal COS bags, and if you need a stadium-friendly clear purse, this one looks great for $30.

The Best Shoes to Get in the 2026 Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

General Notes on Shoes in the 2026 NAS

• Waterproof options from Blondo, Aquatalia, and La Canadienne
• Budget deals from Naturalizer (including this reader favorite low pump) and Lifestride
• Splurge on finds from Stuart Weitzman, Veronica Beard, and Vince
• Comfort brands in the sale: Vionic, Sofft, Børn, Naturalizer, Paul Green, and Munro (as well as Stuart Weitzman, one of our favorites in our recently updated roundup of the best brands for comfortable heels)
• Trend report: Knee high boots are back! Loafers are still in. Slingbacks are plentiful in the sale, also. There are less lug soles than a few years ago but still a number (know your office).

Sleek Flats for Work

Heels

Tall Boots

Great Booties

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’ve recently rediscovered this incredibly hydrating lipstick from Lancôme in my travel bag, and I’m loving it. It goes on like a thick gloss, but isn’t sticky at all — but the color payoff is all lipstick. I find that I don’t need a mirror to apply it, but it helps!

The lipstick is $32 at Sephora and other stores. Lip Idôle Squalane-12 Butterglow™ Hydrating Lip Balm

Sales of note for 7/19:

• Nordstrom – The Anniversary Sale has started! Here’s our big roundup of the best workwear, as well as everything we’ve selected thus far.
• Ann Taylor – Semi-annual sale, 60% off sale and 40% off everything — readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it’s a great separate)
• Banana Republic – Summer sale up to 60% off sale styles + extra 20% off
• The Fold – Up to 50% off, further markdowns
• J.Crew – 50% off select cashmere
• J.Crew Factory – 60% off clearance
• Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
• Lululemon – Summer sale!
• Me & Em – Sale! Up to 60% off (new lines just added)
• M.M.LaFleur – 25% off jardigans (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
• Nordstrom Rack – Clear the rack, extra 25% off clearance! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work dresses from Calvin Klein, Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
• Talbots – Red Door Sale! Prices start at $15
• Theory – End of season sale is on!

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 had dinner with a friend last week, and she was talking about something that caught me off guard. For the first time in her career, she doesn’t want the next logical promotion.

She’s happy where she is.

Up until now, she’d always known what came next: the title to pursue, the company to target, the interview to prepare for. But now? She likes her job. She likes her team. And she isn’t sure she wants to keep climbing simply because that’s what she’s always done.

Sometimes, of course, you can take this too far, though! For example, when I was a young lawyer, I actually had a ridiculous flow chart mapping out all of my possible career paths. I was trying to plan the next 30 years before I’d even figured out whether I liked practicing law. In hindsight, I probably would have been better off focusing on the next good decision instead of trying to optimize an entire career.

The other side of this is focusing on which skill or experience you want to acquire next — my friends who took that approach within a big company or firm have had much more stable careers because they were constantly growing and changing.

As my friend is finding out, though — and as we’ve disussed before — being happy in your job might be superior to striving for the next thing.

It made me wonder whether we’ve been asking ourselves the wrong career question. Instead of “What’s my next promotion?” maybe the better questions are “Am I still learning?” and “Am I actually happy?”

So some questions for today:

• Have you generally known what your next career move would be — whether that meant a promotion, a new employer, or something else entirely? Or have the best opportunities surprised you?
• How do you think about career growth now? Are you focused on titles, building new skills, finding work you genuinely enjoy… or something else?

Psst… in the past we’ve discussed whether your job is right for you, how your career affects your happiness, and how to handle a midlife career crisis. We’ve also discussed career coaches, and whether to salary or title is more important in choosing a job.