How to (Best) Shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

Every year at the end of July, I start to wish for fall. (She ducks while summer-starved Seattleites throw shoes at the screen.) I dream of cozy sweaters, fall leaves and football, but the biggest reason I eagerly await autumn? I cannot wait to wear whatever I scored at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, that glorious annual treat when our hometown favorite put all the fall goods out early at discounted prices. The sale starts tomorrow and runs through August 5th, so start your shopping engines and take note of these sale tips:

1. Get in Line

The downtown and Bellevue Nordstrom stores open their doors at 8 a.m. tomorrow and yes, there will be a line and yes, those ladies are also headed straight for the shoe department. The good news: The Bellevue Nordstrom is holding a pre-sale “tailgate party” from 7-9 a.m. with coffee, pastries and makeup refreshers from the beauty team.

2. Pick your Department

Given the different layouts of area stores, true Nordstrom-ites shop different stores depending on what they are looking for (or at least I do). If you are on the hunt for a specific style genre, here are my recommendations:

Shoes: Toss-up between Downtown and Bellevue, I’d given the edge to Bellevue

Cocktail attire: Downtown

B.P. Dept: I like Northgate, not as big, but not quite as crowded

Beauty: Bellevue

Bags: Downtown

Men’s: The Downtown store men’s department just got a major revamp

T.B.D/Savvy: Downtown

Point of View: Bellevue

Athletic gear: Tukwila/Southcenter

3. Serious Style

In anticipation of the season, Nordstrom also debuted their designer wear collections at the Nordstrom Designer Preview last Thursday evening. Whether these are in the budget or not, look out for lots of mixed textures, green and blue tones, plus ladylike details on the racks this fall. Take some visual inspiration from these and happy shopping; you can find me in the Bellevue shoe department first thing Saturday morning.

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