These 5 Popular Amazon Sweater Dresses Are Under $40

These 5 Popular Amazon Sweater Dresses Are Under $40 - PEOPLE

Posted: 25 Sep 2020 12:00 AM PDT

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Sweater dresses are popping up on Amazon's list of Customer-Loved Styles and its best-sellers chart, two hubs that reveal what shoppers are loving and buying in droves from the retailer. With tons of knit dresses that are as comfortable as they are cute — and available for $40 or less — it's no wonder they're so sought-after. And among the many affordable finds, there are five that stand out thanks to their impressive ratings.

Five of Amazon's most popular sweater dresses for women come with thousands of rave-filled reviews from shoppers. They're all incredibly easy to style with sneakers, heeled booties, or over-the-knee boots for added warmth. And each one is soft, stretchy, and uber comfy, making them perfect for hanging out or working at home.

The most reviewed style, a $34 roomy turtleneck pullover from the little-known brand Pink Queen, has racked up over 2,600 five-star ratings and was highlighted by Instagram influencer Rachel Parcell this week. The oversized sweater can be worn on its own, layered over skinny jeans, or paired with stockings, making it a great piece to wear now through winter.

Buy It! Pink Queen Loose Oversize Turtleneck Sweater Dress, $33.99; amazon.com

Shoppers are also gravitating towards knit dresses that highlight curves and cinch at the waist. Both the Lionstill pull-on and R.Vivimos number feature a tie waist and voluminous sleeves, making them a bit more interesting than other basic dresses. The "bodycon" shape makes them more fitted than some of the other looser styles, but the stretchy material ensures they're just as comfortable.

Select colors and sizes of some sweater dresses are already backordered, making now the time to grab your favorites before they run out of stock or sell out completely. If you're ready to fill your closet with a collection of knits, shop these top-rated options below, or browse even more shopper favorites through Amazon's Customer-Loved Styles page and best-sellers charts.

Buy It! Pink Queen Loose Oversize Turtleneck Sweater Dress, $33.99; amazon.com

Buy It! Liny Xin Oversized Pullover Sweater Dress, $39.97; amazon.com

Buy It! Lionstill Long Sleeve Tie Waist Sweater Dress, $23.39 (orig. $25.99); amazon.com

Buy It! R.Vivimos Long Sleeve Bodycon Tie Waist Sweater Dress, $24.99; amazon.com

Buy It! Blencot Knit Pullover Turtleneck with Pockets, $35.99; amazon.com

Arctic Expedition’s Dress Code Raises Concerns About Sexism in Science - The New York Times

Posted: 05 Oct 2020 10:43 AM PDT

LONDON — The dress-code policy of a prominent polar research institute in Germany has provoked criticism and outrage after it was recently made public, with some experts saying it underscored the problem of sexism in the sciences.

The policy, set by leaders aboard the Akademik Fedorov, a Russian icebreaker and research vessel, prohibited passengers from wearing "thermal underwear" because it was a "safety issue," said Chelsea Harvey, a journalist who was on the ship and whose story about the policy raised awareness of it last month.

The science institute leading the expedition, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, denied in a statement that it had applied a dress code to a specific sex. It said that all of the participants on the trip were made aware of its policies at the beginning of the expedition, and that the dress code was raised again because of "repeated violations" of it and other rules.

"Sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination, in any way, shape or form and regardless of when and where, are not tolerated by us or anyone acting on our behalf," the statement said.

The Fedorov was contracted by the institute to carry extra supplies and instruments for the Polarstern, the institute's flagship vessel, which last year embarked on the largest and most ambitious climate-change research expedition ever in the Arctic. The Polarstern, which left Norway in September 2019 and has spent the last year drifting through the Arctic Ocean, is scheduled back in Bremerhaven, Germany, later this month.

About two weeks into a six-week mission, leaders aboard the Fedorov brought up a strict dress-code policy to journalists, students and scientists on board, Ms. Harvey said. The next day, she said, in a smaller meeting with other journalists, it was explained that, as a "safety issue," leggings, very tightfitting clothing, short shorts and crop tops were not permitted.

The woman holding the meeting was "careful not to come right out and connect the dots," Ms. Harvey said. "She did not say, 'We are concerned that the men on board this ship will harass you if you dress a certain way,' but she pointed out repeatedly there were a lot of men aboard this ship."

"The immediate reaction to our meeting was sort of shock and disbelief," Ms. Harvey said, adding that there was widespread resentment and some alarm on the ship. After the meetings, women on the ship changed the way they dressed, she said, choosing to wear jeans and other loosefitting clothing.

"The implication that many people took from those meetings was that women should change the way they dress in order to manage the behavior of men aboard the ship," she said. She later discovered in her own reporting that there was an incident of sexual harassment on the ship, she said.

The institute said in its statement that some of its regulations prohibited wearing work or "sport clothing" in public areas. Such rules were intended to ensure people adhered to hygiene and safety standards in public areas like the mess halls and the ship's bridge, it said. The dress code was discussed again in the context of other rules, the institute said, adding that there was no connection between harassment and "repeated admonitions to adhere to the dress code."

The institute added, "Women and men participate in our polar expeditions as equals, and are equally supported in their work by the ship's crews and aircraft crews that we employ."

As Ms. Harvey's account spread on social media, it drew outrage among scientists and science journalists, who said it fit with a broader, longstanding pattern of unequal treatment.

Although the inequities faced by women in science-related fields are widely recognized, there is not much research on the topic. A 2019 study on how gender bias affects women in science by the American Society for Microbiology found that, in 2015, women made up half of the college-educated U.S. work force in science but held 28 percent of jobs in those occupations.

A 2014 survey of academic field experiences published in Plos One, a peer-reviewed open access journal, found that, of the more than 500 women who participated, 71 percent had been sexually harassed and 26 percent had been sexually assaulted. Female trainees were the primary targets, the survey said, and perpetrators were usually senior to them within a research team. Not many participants were aware of how to report such episodes, it said, and most who did report episodes were unsatisfied with the outcome.

Erin Pettit, a glaciologist at Oregon State University, said she was "flabbergasted" after hearing about the dress-code policy aboard the Fedorov. "Normally, the kind of dress code that's a safety issue is not wearing scarves that would catch in something, not wearing loose clothing, having your hair down instead of your hair up," she said. "Things that will cause physical damage to you when they get caught in a winch or something like that."

Women in science are often battling microaggressions from their peers, Dr. Pettit said. "It's exhausting to have to put out the extra energy to make sure you're not forgotten as a co-author on a paper or make sure you're getting a voice at the table, making sure you're not passed over."

Pat Shipman, a retired adjunct professor of anthropology at Penn State and a researcher on sexism in science, said the fear of retaliation for making a complaint was very real, and it could influence women to not make formal complaints.

"Leaders in all sorts of fields need to make overtly clear that harassment of junior colleagues will not be tolerated, and to follow through by putting in place mechanisms for reporting and disciplining those who attempt to exploit differential power and status for sexual gain," Professor Shipman said.

Senior women should be the protectors of younger, less experienced women, she said, adding, "Open discussions are embarrassing and difficult for all of us, but driving away the talented younger generation is a recipe for failure."

Dr. Pettit said that organizations could hold trainings on sex discrimination and race to help. "In the big picture, it takes purposeful effort to start to counter the hundreds of years of science being dominated by men," she said.