After a fabulous encounter with a SA at my downtown San Francisco Nordstrom (Jeanette O) a few months ago, I decided to reach out to her to see if she had any appointments for NAS. I was thrilled that she squeezed me in at 10am today and had pulled a room full of things for me which meant I spent little time looking and was able to try on a HUGE amount of merchandise in under an hour.
My purchases skewed heavily towards the office setting--I'm a lawyer for a hospital system and wear a blazer (though not a full suit) almost daily.
My approach was to buy everything that fit well, with the intention of trying on at home tonight at a more leisurely pace, while checking my closet and soliciting my husband's input (he's VERY opinionated about fashion).

I splurged on: the Vince scuba suede jacket (my SA said this is the last year Vince is doing the scuba, though I'm a bit on the fence about how much I'll actually wear it), a St. John tweedy dress (a SA pick that reads dowdy on the hanger but is cute on) and a quilted red Burberry jacket.

I did well with the Boss dresses which my SA paired with these cute cropped Boss cardigan knit toppers that I would NEVER have picked out on my own but ended up loving.

I got some basicl black Citizen jeans as well as the oxblood Rag & Bone slim boyfriends and a few sweaters (Vince and Theory).

I always grab a make-up set during NAS and am loving the Laura Mercier offering this year.

When I have more time, I'll add in links or pics but wanted to get my initial assessment up. I have been disappointed in NAS in prior years and working with a SA this year was a HUGE help. She was not remotely pushy but since I snuck away from the office to shop, I loved the efficiency of someone having pulled for me. I can shop online at my leisure and my SA was able to already know what things are working for people vs. what isn't just based on yesterday's purchases by Level IV members. Also, at my Nordstrom, they consolidated the 2nd floor NAS items into a single tent which I liked SO much better than the various tents from last year--again, much more efficient.
I was pleased by how the vast office-appropriate selection. Shoes were a bust for me, but I'll keep looking online, and I never even made it to lingerie and housewares, but this was a very successful initial pass!!