The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (NAS for short) is my favourite sale of the year. I’ve been participating for as long as I’ve lived in the US, which is fifteen years. I’ve learned to go in to the sale with a strategy, and to make informed decisions that prioritize purchases within my budget. Some NAS assortments are better than others, and some years I make better choices. This year’s NAS purchases were particularly successful and interesting.

It’s been five months since I brought home my NAS goodies, and I’ve put every item through its paces. I haven’t retuned items, or bought items later when they went back on sale.

Overall, I’m very happy with the quality. All clothing items have been through many laundry cycles and have handled extremely well. The footwear is robust and well made.

Unexpected Workhorses

The white Western shooties were a fun, nostalgic and trendy purchase that I thought I’d wear from time to time. Turns out that they are one of three pairs of shoes I am wearing constantly. They’re more comfortable than I thought they’d be, so much so that I can wear them shopping with a client all day. They add a trendy component to my outfit, which is a handy styling tool. I tried to duplicate, but they’re sold out in white.

The 3.1 Philip Lim skirt was a splurge and one of my best purchases of the year. It feels and moves magically, and is extremely pretty. Its heavier weight and coverage works well in my climate, and it’s smashing with the white Western shooties, hosiery and the body-con Topshop pullover I bought to wear with it. I have worn these items together with all sorts of toppers over and over again. They tick both the pretty-but-not-precious and the dressy-but-relaxed boxes.

Expected Workhorses

I saw the black floral dress in the NAS catalogue and wanted it right away. The length, weight, fit and non-crease fabric are fabulous. The dressy yet playful vibe is versatile, and it packs well too. I can walk at a fast pace because of the flared skirt component. I have worn it over and over again with a variety of toppers, hosiery and footwear, and wish Nordstrom would repeat the style and fabric in another pattern. It’s an excellent Fall & Winter dress.

The navy shirtdress (my birthday dress) is one of my favourite dresses of the year. It’s Modern Retro and a gorgeous classic that works well with pointy toe flats. For me, it’s a Spring and Summer dress, and since I had a long Summer this year I wore it till the end of September. I don’t keep the dress for special occasions — I JUST WEAR IT.

I felt like a million bucks in the navy dress after putting it through its paces in the middle of the NAS, so I repeated the style in a light blue stripe to have a more casual option. I wore the light blue even more than the navy. I LOVE my NAS dresses

I started wearing the cashmere wrap in October, and it’s been around my neck a few times a week. Luxe, warm, and drapes beautifully. The o- trend earth tone is a bonus. Works well with my outerwear, complements my brown and cream footwear, and doubles as a wrap for at home. Sam our Yorkie likes to cosy himself in it too.

Steady Worker Bees

I don’t usually buy very Summery items at the NAS, but now that I live in Salt Lake City part of the time, I wear Summer wardrobe items for longer. I wore the green stripe knit top with my green old green specs into early September and enjoyed it.

The cognac oxfords were a Summer and early Autumn shoe, and I’ve enjoyed them more than I thought I would. I wear them with bare feet, and love them with white jeans. Extremely comfortable, and I have belts to match. They work well for my walking lifestyle and add a casual integrity to my outfits. Gorgeous on-trend earth tone too. I will wear them again in the Spring.

Wild card Success

I prefer streamlined footwear styles without much adornment. That means minimal hardware, buckles, bells and whistles, and preferably more dressy than rugged. Yet I fell for these because of the yummy shade of chocolate, extreme comfort, and insulating high shaft. They were a wild card that worked out well. I reach more for my white and cream footwear but these are worn regularly too. I like them with white jeans. They are fab for city walking, great in rain, and nice with my brown and light blue capsule. As long as I add dressy polish to the rest of my outfit, I feel fab wearing these rugged-for-me boots.

Failed Experiment

This is my first pair of perforated booties, which I thought would be great for Summer or early Autumn. They fit well, look good, are very comfortable, and I adore the colour. I’ve worn them three times and that’s it. I thought I would wear them with hosiery and socks to extend their wear into cooler weather, but that looks too casual for my style. I like to wear them with bare feet which means they are Summer shoes. Thing is, I don’t want to wear cognac booties in the Summer. I would wear white perforated booties in the Summer, so they would have worked if they were white. I’d rather wear my toffee oxfords with cream soles, which is what I reached for instead of these when I wanted brown Summer shoes. So I Iearned that perforated booties are Summer shoes for my style, and they need to be in a traditional Summer colour if I’m going to wear them.