Blast from the Past: February 2

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I was thinking, how I’m always amused to stumble on older pieces that we’ve featured here on Corporette® … sometimes they still look good, or I remember liking them. Other times, the styling or the featured piece of clothing is just… fug.

Anyway, I started thinking… it might be fun to share some previously featured pictures with you guys, and discuss — would you wear these items today? If so, how would you style them in 2025? If you’ve replaced items like this in your closet, what are you wearing instead of them?

First up, some of the things we featured on February 2 over the years…

What We Wore to Work in February (Over the Years)

2009: A Kimono Dress from Aquascutum

I feel like there were a lot of “kimono dresses” around this time period — there was a specific one the readers loved that I’m totally blanking on. Hmmn. (Maybe this one from ASOS?)

Anyway: we featured this gorgeous dress from Aquascutum was at NET-A-PORTER for $1115. Maybe it’s me but I still think it’s absolutely gorgeous, and unique enough that it wouldn’t be overly dated.

Aw, there were exactly 7 comments on the Splurge TPS report. Early days for the blog!

Similar Dresses with Cool Structural Details

2010: Eileen Fisher Stand Collar Jacket

This was an early sweater jacket — made from lambswool and cashmere, with that regular blazer shape. Sweater jackets had been a bit shrunken in the previous years (I had one from Iisli that I loved so much I took engagement pictures in it — similar to this one), so this longer length one was a bit different so we featured it. (I blame Wedding Bee for the weird poses.)

Similar Sweater Blazers for 2026

I usually stick to the morning workwear reports for these (originally called TPS reports because there was an obscure reference to the movie Office Space, then we went with “The Personal Shopper,” and then we dropped all of it for “Workwear Report”) — ANYWAY this brown leather bag was featured somehow on a Pin or something and, for years, we would get traffic back to the blog because of this tote. (The good old days!) It’s still really gorgeous…

Similar North/South Leather Totes

We rounded up north/south totes a while ago — if you’re looking for something extremely similar, check out this affordable leather bag or this Amazon seller.

Some of our favorite north-south totes for work in 2026 include options from Madewell, Cuyana, BÉIS, MZ Wallace, Tumi, and Everlane — this convertible north-south tote from Bellroy looks great also.

2012: Cardigan From Charles Tyrwhitt

Aw, I haven’t thought about Charles Tyrwhitt in years, and a quick check tells me they’ve stopped making women’s wear entirely. For a while though they were sort of a competitor to Brooks Brothers for button-front shirts and the like. This merino cardigan was on a great sale, $200 to $60.

Cardigans We Love in 2026

2015: Narcisso Rodriguez Blazer

Hmmn… I’m not a fan of this one. I suppose it is unusual, though. The blazer was $2195 at Nordstrom, as we noted in the post.

2016: Pintuck Dress from Reiss

I loved this Reiss dress then and I still love it now. It actually reminds me of a super old Calvin Klein dress that had a similar starburst pattern and was around for years. (It’s still at Amazon in lucky sizes!)

2017: Hideous Ponte Blazer

Yeah… I’m not sure what I was thinking with this one, because there are much better blazers to be found for under $50. I do like the color here, and I suppose it was trendy at the time…. This was an LC Lauren Conrad Ponte Blazer at Kohl’s.

Affordable Blazers Under $50

2018: Satin Shell from Loft

Gosh… I’m not in love with this one either. The buttons seem out of place, and as far as sleeveless tops go I really don’t like it. But: it was Loft, and was Frugal Friday, so there you go. (Interestingly, in the post we mentioned that Loft Plus was coming soon, with sizes up to 26 — I had completely forgotten they had plus sizes for a hot second.)

I’ll post some of our preferred sleeveless shells below, but do note that we also just rounded up shirts with interesting collars late last year.

Sleeveless Shells in 2026

2021: Sheath Dress from Of Mercer (RIP)

Of Mercer has unfortunately gone out of business, but this dress reminds me a lot of what they did right — interesting details but still appropriate for work. If memory serves they offered sizes up to 22 at least, and the occasional maternity dress. You can still find the brand on the resale sites… we featured it in 2021, when Elizabeth was still frequently working from home.

Asymmetrical Power Dresses in 2026

One of the classic asymmetrical power dresses is the Black Halo Jackie dress; this affordable option at Nordstrom Rack also works. Stay tuned for a roundup of more!

2022: Athleta Pants

Comfort was the name of the game in 2022 as people returned to the office (well, some did)… these Eastside pants from Athleta were popular among readers.

For 2026, I’ve heard more chatter about these Athleta pants or these…

More Pull-On Comfortable Work Pants

Any favorites you remember from February workwear reports, readers?

(Psst: you can see previous installments of this occasional series here!)