Fall Wardrobe Picks Archives - Northern California Style

Hello friends. Our summer is in a bit of a lull here and I have been dealing with a few things .. Someone is raising turkeys in our neighborhood. The people aren’t even regular neighbors, but family staying with an elderly neighbor and their kid is in 4H, but he’s not caring for the turkeys and guess what happened? The entire neighborhood has become inundated with flies like you would not believe. They are everywhere.The parents claim they are telling the son to clean it more regularly, but when flies are waiting to get in your home at every door, and making one neighbor unable to even go in her yard anymore, or hang out her laundry, and they are all over me while I work in the garden -it’s ruining summer! I’m one of those people who will try to listen and mitigate, but it’s getting worse if that’s possible…

In better news, I hope your summer is enjoyable and you’ve had time to make a summer bucket list! One of my list items, a San Francisco trip, happened last Saturday. We had a late afternoon high tea at a cute spot called Lovejoy’s Tea Room in Noe Valley. It was something my husband sweetly found for me as I was dreaming about travel and tea rooms..

We loved it ! They have vintage mismatched china and excellent cucumber sandwiches and scones and desserts. Across the street is their Lovejoy’s Attic shop with hats, tea and china and antiques to purchase. We had a good trek around the darling neighborhood of Noe Valley, which has some cute shops and homes and restaurants. We discovered the fantastic Noe Valley Bakery and took home a wheat bread and a seeded levain bread that was so good I had probably eight sandwiches this week. I love discovering new neighborhoods when we go to the city. Parking and getting out there on foot is such a great way to know an area better.

Now about the Nordstrom Sale. Honestly it’s pushed so hard by everyone, I am sometimes a bit reticent to even mention it, but as a former Nordstrom employee I know there are some good things to be had. It’s changed a lot over the years. It was originally begun as a way to sell things during the dog days of summer when retail was VERRRY slow, and people wen’t shopping all the time, as they seem to now.

My personal tips for the Nordstrom Anniversary sale..

–Look first at what your wardrobe and if you can clean it out during summer and see what is missing – And what you keep buying that you need to stop buying!Think about it a bit and you shop smarter.

-If you can get to the store even better. They have a lot that is never listed on the sale. They also have most of the summer stuff marked down and on sale racks.

-It’s the middle of summer, but do you need another pair of booties? If you’ve put them away for the summer, maybe pull out the boots. You may have forgotten what you own. Last year I bought two pairs of booties only to realize I had two similar pairs. Take stock before you buy.

–My top things to buy at this sale are outerwear, jackets and jeans.

–Underwear is a good buy, but the bras I’ve bought always seem to be off. I’ve repeatedly bought my favorite bras on the sale, only to have them arrive and fit and cut seem off. It makes me wonder if the ‘sale’ versions are seconds. I can’t recommend the bras from my own experience.

–Cosmetics can be a good if you need a new regimen or a great gift sets.

-Ask yourself before you buy anything- would you buy this if it was not on sale?

Below are my choices of some chic classics from the sale that every closet can use..

Top of my list are this blazer by Zadig & Voltaire – a cool classic piece with a bit of rock & roll to it with the stars on the shoulder, (also this one with a skull on the back ), these Rag & Bone Boyfriend jeans -which can work for summer too and booties later, with the crop hem, this Bernardo wool coat, this Vince Chunky Wool Blend Sweater, this quilted double-breasted Ralph Lauren coat, this Claire V. Simple Tote ( I bought one at last year’s sale in green leopard), this Gorjana Coin Pendant necklace, the Simplehuman 5x Sensor Mirror (I bought this last year and I don’t know how I lived without it ), this classic and understated pebbled crossbody wallet bag from Tory Burch, and this convertible one, this cute Kurt Geiger Straw Tote is a great buy at $89, these Blondo Waterproof Slip-ons will be wonderful for winter in house and out, and I always get a few of my favorite Natori Bliss Perfection underwear.

And all the beauty special deals here– so much this year!

I plan on doing a big closet purge next week so I’ll post about it soon, and my skincare favorites I’ve been using this summer.

One other thing I wanted to share is a great recipe for making your own falafel. Max did it last weekend and it was so delicious. It was worth the extra work- making them from scratch. The key is not using can chickpeas and soaking them overnight. The falafels were amazing with fresh cucumber from my dad’s garden and tomatoes from our farmer’s market. Recipe here from Once Upon a Chef. Jenn’s recipes are always so good!

I’m hoping to do a day trip to Carmel this weekend – another summer bucket list item, in between swatting flies.

Happy Weekend!

Kim

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Another lifetime ago, I worked at Nordstrom. It began as a college job and was lucrative enough that I kept it a few years after graduating. Nordstrom was a wonderful company to begin working for and I have only good memories of how well I was paid and the Nordstrom family who believed in treating customers and employees very well. As a young person their values really stuck with me. We worked hard, but they also believed in excellent compensation and more holidays than any other retailer had.

Back in those days one of the most exciting times was when the Anniversary Sale came. It was the brainchild of the Nordstroms to counteract what used to be the very dead mid-summer. They asked their best vendors to come up with special pre-fall items priced lower just for a few weeks, exclusively for them. They eventually did the same with the beauty companies. It worked wonderfully as people came from all over to get to this once a year exclusive sale. I remember customers even flying in from Texas just for the sale! The sale has been copied by many other retailers, but still no one does it like Nordys. I eventually moved on to a job in advertising, but never forgot what I learned working for the Nordstroms (yes we did get to meet the family and often), and I also never miss a chance to check out the Anniversary Sale either.

My past week was crazy as we had college orientation for my oldest, but I got over to Nordstrom at Stanford (my favorite location) today and did some investigative shopping just for you all! There’s so much to choose from, but I thought I’d share a few things that might be a good addition to the wardrobe, and not so trendy. The thing is, this sale is a good place to get a nicer item you might not normally spring for. In the past I’ve bought a Burberry trench, good boots and many nice bags as well as stocked up on my favorite bras and beauty items.

Some of the goodies I saw today…

Love this big ALLSAINTS tote. It’s very lightweight and has the prettiest leather and can be worn snapped closed or open. For me this is a great everyday bag as I like to carry purchases and bottles of water along with my usual stuff. I also like the size of the strap which will easily fit on a shoulder when winter comes and we are wearing coats and bulkier items. Some of the hobos just don’t have enough clearance for a coat and that makes me nuts.

There are a zillion cute booties and shoes at this sale. I was looking for something I’d wear a lot and would be new to my closet. I immediately liked these Reyanne shoes by Sam Edelman with their studs on the heel. A good selection of colors, but I love this berry color as a nice pop with fall neutrals and jeans. I have so many black and taupe winter shoes and sometimes it’s nice to have a little color. Best thing about these shoes are they are very comfortable! They feel well made. I test drove them!

Who doesn’t need another pair of black leggings especially nice ones? I love the quality of Zella, Nordstrom’s house brand leggings and also their tennis skirts. Their ‘Live-in Leggings’ are full-length, high-waisted and great for working out, or just running about with a long sweater. These don’t creep down and feel secure and comfy. A good buy you’ll be glad to have in the closet come cooler weather. The cropped ones with a sheer back calf are also cute.

This Current/Elliott Military Jacket is a good transitional piece into fall and is a stylish closet staple you can wear for many years. Love the quality of this brand and the details on this jacket as well as the color. I can see it with a cream sweater as well as a burgundy scarf or black jeans.

Lastly, I love these Kendra Scott Elle Earrings! I have these and the stones ( a bit more neutral in real life, less peachy), seem to pick up any color you wear them with. They aren’t too big, but add a little sparkle to a day or night look. I have the gold, but they are also in silver and a cool gunmetal. The Kendra Scott long tassel necklaces are my favorites and my go to daytime accessory. Those were not on the sale, but are a nice wardrobe addition.

Have you found any great pieces at this sale you want to share? I know many friends stock up on jeans for fall and always boots as well as the terrific beauty buys. All these pieces go back to full price on August 8th!

Kim