Last month marked my favorite sale of the year – the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.
New fall apparel, footwear and accessories at drastically reduced prices? I’m in! And by the looks of the overflowing parking lot, so were a lot of you.
One pre-sale appointment and a bag of purchases later, I returned home to do what I always do: Try the garments on in front of my own full-length mirror, styled with items I already own – and take photos.
Now, you are probably thinking I must be a complete narcissist. But you would be wrong, because I didn’t keep the photos in an album for posterity to remember how good I looked. No, I did worse. I uploaded the photos to Photobucket.com, and then posted them online at youlookfab.com, a website run by a Seattle-based fashion pro who offers daily advice on increasing your style quotient.
You might now think I am an exhibitionist, or perhaps just a glutton for punishment, because I actually asked the 3,000-plus members of the YouLookFab.com forum, the discussion area of the website, to take a look.
My message went something like this: “Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Haul: Help me choose! What do you think, keep or return?”
I described each item and attached five photos. Within two minutes, responses were coming in:
The first jacket is gorgeous on you! I am lukewarm on the second jacket and tunic. Black dress looks great, but don’t you have something very similar?
Hmm, I may be in the minority here but I do not love the first jacket on you: it seems to me that this huge collar overpowers your slight frame. The tunic is nice color but I do not like the shape. Maybe belted? The next tunic looks like almost a dress on you. I quite like it. Dress looks fine but I think I have seen more interesting dresses on you.
A couple of hours later, fashion pro Angie Cox, who runs the website, weighed in with her professional opinion:
“You look amazing! I have the first jacket myself and if I do say so – KILLER! May I suggest returning the second jacket. Not good enough for you. Killer grey tunic! Love! Killer blue tunic. Perfect. Killer black dress – with hose and boots only, I think. Voila!”
In total, I received 46 generous and wonderful responses. I decided to return two jackets and a dress, size down in another tunic, keep a banded sweater tunic, and order a cream silk tunic shirt that a forum member suggested.
Thanks to my outfit posting experience, I am set for fall and can’t wait to wear my purchases with confidence! Now, do you still think I’m crazy?
