Tag: blast from the past

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 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!)

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 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 September 8 over the years… because we have only ever posted during the workweek, any years where 9/8 fell on a weekend won’t have content.

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

Workwear for September 8th:

2008: Round-Toe Heels

I had a pair of shoes almost identical to this that I wore everywhere because they were so comfortable (except I think mine were wedges, ha). Looking back, why yes, I can see how fug. Commenters at the time (all 3 of them) were bored by the menswear detailing.

(Note that this was also before we started the afternoon post, so we still featured shoes in the morning…)

The price was pretty good, though: they were $75, marked to $13, at La Redoute (which readers were mentioning recently for their bedding, if I remember correctly).

Strappy Office Heels for 2025

2009: Another Mary Jane Pump

Say what you will about my shoe choices (which, admittedly, readers have said a lot over the years) — but I am consistent. (I have narrow heels so I walk out of a lot of regular pumps!)

These Pour la Victoire heels were our pick of the day for Sept. 9, 2009 — and they were $189 at Endless.com, which was a competitor with Zappos (and possibly owned by the Gap family of brands?).

2010: Short Belted Wool Jacket

We featured this Burberry belted wool jacket in 2010, and I still love this one — the color, the shawl collar, the shrunken fit. The belt I’m less excited about, but we belted everything back then. (Remember the trend of wearing multiple skinny belts? Just me? Ok then.)

The sweater was $550, at Burberry.

Sweater Jackets for Work in 2025

2011: Jacquard Pencil Skirt

Awww, my first maternity leave. This pick was from our guest poster, Becki of Shopping’s My Cardio — she was a lawyer at the time, although I think she eventually left the law to pursue other projects.

(I don’t know if this was apparent at the time — half of the guest posters I only knew through their blogs, aside from my good friend Auntie M (who just guest-posted over at CorporetteMoms and I was just texting with this morning). In many cases with the potential guest posters, I reached out cold to ask if they would guest post — and I was thrilled when so many great people said yes.)

(We did another round of guest posters when my second son was born, but ultimately stopped allowing guest posters in general because my email was getting deluged with poorly-disguised efforts from companies who only wanted text links and basically ads-as-content. If any actual readers would be interested in guest posting, we’d love to have you.)

As Becki put it back then:

Not in a million years would I normally suggest Bebe for anything, really, much less work-ready fashion. But this jacquard pencil skirt is exactly what I’m after this season. Printed pants are all the rage, but they’re tricky to pull off, especially at the office. This print is subtle with substance, the silhouette is as classic as it gets, and the navy/black palette can’t help but be closet-friendly. Pair it with mushroom, pink, or a rich emerald green, and you’ll have an unexpected wardrobe workhorse. This is also a great piece to use for your first pattern-mixing attempt. Add a zigzag or a tribal print in the same color family, and you’re instantly a trendsetter. 

Commenters wondered why the model wasn’t wearing a shirt.

Pencil Skirts for Work in 2025

2012: Gathered V-Neck T-shirt

It’s interesting to me that this shirt does kind of have a 2012 vibe about it, although if you asked me I wouldn’t have thought about it as a trend. The Elie Tahari top was on a pretty great sale at Bluefly — it was $98, but was marked down to $23… and it had a matching wool blazer.

I haven’t given Bluefly much thought in years, but they are in the midst of their 27th anniversary sale if you want to check it out.

Fancier, Dressy Work Tops in 2025

2015: Duchess Blazer

I’m not sure if this was our FIRST mention of the Smythe Duchess blazer, but it may have been based on the reader reactions to it (commenter Cher Horowitz professed her love for it but wondered if there was a matching mini skirt). The Duchess blazer is still around, although less omnipresent than it was a few years ago. What say you, readers — classic, or trendy item that’s on its way out?

Shrunken Blazers in 2025

2016: Japanese Oxford Bib Shirt

Back in 2016 I was hesitant that this Everlane shirt would look good on my curvy body type, but in love with the half-placket, wider cuffs, and “the blousy-but-crisp” feel. Funnily enough, these are exactly the details that I still like about the shirt. I would probably also note today that it’s a popover, which can be great if you have problems with gaping buttons.

We were in prime skinny pant days in 2016 — at work you’d see this with tighter-fitting ankle pants.

2017: Long-Sleeved Top

Our Frugal Friday pick for this day in 2017 was this unusual top from H&M, which I think has the same not-trendy and not-classic vibe that it has today and is just an interesting statement piece. If anyone bought it back then, I’d love to hear how long it lasted. The top was machine washable and $35.

The first comment that day was from our friendly local troll Ellen, who commented:

Yay Kat and Kate! You are BOTH to be comended for putting up such a great buy on Fruegel Friday! There’s a great H&M up near Rockefeller Centre for all of the MANHATTAN, NY HIVETTES so we can see this in person and try them on. For $35, I am NOT even goeing to waste time getting the manageing partner’s approval, and will buy for both Rosa and me. The flare is perfect for peeople like me with a tuchus, so because the bottom is NOT tapered, hopefully no one will notice my tuchus! More importantely, it IS Machine Washeable, so my cleaning lady will NOT be abel to destroy them when I put them in the hamper for her to clean!!! YAY!

She (?) is still around every so often, but I’ve gotten annoyed when she comments on real dilemmas posed by commenters, so I do my best to block them. If ever there’s a comment where someone is advising you out of the blue to get a man or that you need to stay svelte to keep a man, an Ellen comment has possibly slipped through. (Readers actually usually do clue me in to when she’s around, so I think people have learned her, ah, style.)

2020: Belted Striped Skirt Midi Dress

Elizabeth picked this very pretty dress in 2020 — if you click through you can see that it had a lovely striped skirt with a bit of a menswear influence, and I love the top and the high waist. I don’t think of either as being “oh so 2020,” but maybe I’m wrong. (I tend to think of 2020 as the Year o’ Sweatpants because of the pandemic, but again, maybe that’s me.)

I’m sorry to see that the brand, Paule Ka, went into receivership in 2024 — do keep an eye out for the brand on thrift sites, they had a lot of nice work clothes.)

Readers, did you purchase any of these work clothes back in the day? Do you wear anything similar now?