Sales, Sales Everywhere and Not a Thing to Buy
Sale exhaustion is real.
As per usual, my headline is a little dramatic. Of course, there’s always something to buy when there are 10 different sales going on if you try hard enough and believe in yourself, but the Nordstrom Sale specifically feels like a barren wasteland.
My mom has been a Nordstrom card holder since 1986 and, because she instilled the love of shopping in both my sister and myself so early on, Allie and I are both members via her account. All this to say that the Golden girls have worked as a collective whole over the past however many years to build up points and gain status at Nordy’s.
Back in high school, the Anniversary Sale was such a big deal among us. Their website was nowhere near as vast and organized as it is today, so we would wait patiently for the actual, physical catalogue that showcased that year’s NSale items to arrive in the mail. We’d each take turns pouring over the pages, circling things we loved and dog-earring whole sections. Every year, we went in person and made a day of it. Everyone got their turn to try on clothes and present a fashion show (fashion show, fashion show at lunch!). There were fights, the Nordstrom coffee bar’s version of a Frappuccino to keep us pumped full of sugar, and the inevitable lunch break. We always walked away feeling accomplished and nearly beside ourselves with the cute new fall clothes we were going to sport back to school in the fall.
But then came social media and, with it, bloggers who evolved into influencers, and as their popularity rose, the NSale started to slowly deteriorate. Items that you once felt original for “finding” were now wildly popular. Items that you’d never look at twice were being shilled by influencers and making you rethink your gut intuition. But the worst part? The worst part was the new trend that by the time the “public” could shop the sale, everything was sold out.
Now, listen. I know I claim to be a part-time influencer. I have good friends who are real and full-time influencers. This isn’t about US. It’s about them. You know the ones. The ones who buy (or at least make it seem like they buy) every single sale item and post selfies with CVS-level receipts at Nordstrom. The ones who leave no item unlinked, whether or not they genuinely love the piece; the ones who more than likely return 50-75% of what they buy. Those are the troublemakers. And I am not that, and neither are my friends.
(And yes, I know that at the end of the day, it’s just clothes. It’s shopping. It doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of life. But humor me for a few minutes and let’s pretend it matters more than it does for the sake of this letter.)
This sort of marketing behavior paired with the tiered access of the NSale has made this event that I once so much looked forward to a joke in my eyes. Not only has the quality of the product diminished, but by the time the majority of shoppers who are considered “public access” get to shop, EVERYTHING IS SOLD OUT. And it’s downright not fair.
Yeah, the Golden girls get early access but honestly? I’m not even excited about the few things I got this year. That excitement has been eclipsed by my aggravation for my fellow shopper who has been carefully curating their wish list only to discover that NOTHING IS AVAILABLE ANYMORE. Sure, I benefit from the tiered access model, but I don’t agree with it and it makes me not want to shop the sale at all.
Point in case: I went into Nordstrom on Wednesday evening ready to try on the entire store. I brought a banana, a water bottle, and a good attitude. What I was greeted with was a bunch of waspy-looking shoppers treating the salespeople like shit, and a store layout that made no sense. Everything felt very disheveled and unorganized, which is no fault of the employees there; they don’t decide where sale items go or how to configure it all. It was confusing at best, but I managed to grab a small pile of clothes that piqued my interest and made my way into the dressing room.
I was impressed with so little, losing excitement piece after piece. When I saw and overheard a Dallas influencer setting up a boomerang/reel/content shot in the dressing room, I lost all steam. “What am I doing?” I wondered to myself as I stood there topless in-between try-ons. “Do I actually need any of this stuff or am I just trying to do what the Romans do?”
I had invited Zac to come join me post-work so we could look at the men’s section then grab some dinner, but upon leaving the dressing room, texted him “Just go to the restaurant.” After a delicious margarita, I resolved to just go home, order the few things I had liked in-store online and call it a day. I honestly couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
TLDR: The NSale was once an event for my mom, my sister, and me and is now overrun by greedy influencers with sort of shitty taste, and it’s just not worth it anymore.
Of course, I’ll show you the five things I ordered but two of them are sold out, which is so stupid. I’ll also say that my two good friends, Merritt Beck and Amy Jackson, both had the same sort of approach to the sale this year and kept their choices very focused and classic if you want to check out what they got.
WHAT I ENDED UP WITH
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d write those three words in relation to something I bought. However, these are pretty fucking stellar. BUT—I got a much lighter color that’s sort of oatmeal which is now SOLD OUT, and it’s really annoying (see below). The green are awesome, too, but I love the color I got more. If you’re interested, though, they’re by All Saints, run big (so size down one), and feel really incredible on the body. The material is heavy and light at once, and I’m always looking for alternatives to jeans, so these did the trick.
I’ve been wondering about the Rib Cage jeans for a while, but never tried them on. Levi’s run small in my opinion, so I always go a size up for reference. I loved these and felt really good in them. They also seem to be pretty stocked up, which is a relief.
I love wrap sweaters and dresses because they accentuate my boobs while taking attention off my stomach. I did NOT get a picture while wearing this, so I apologize for the lack of visual. But I can tell you that I took a medium and got the oatmeal color, and it’s really lovely!
SOLD OUT. Like, what the fuck, man. Sigh. These came in both gold and silver and, while I’m usually all gold everything, I got a wild hair and ordered the silver. I have like 10 variations of gold hoops, so felt I needed a change. Honestly, these ones by Mejuri are the same price point and available, so.
Veronica Beard is usually not a brand I glance at because it’s well past my budget, however. As I was exiting Nordstrom, I spotted these loafers. The sample size was a 7 (my size), so I slipped them on and fell in love. I love the braided detailing across the top, and the suede is so gorgeous and rich. They are more than $100 off their typical price, so I jumped.
Now, before I end this letter, I DO want to also share that Madewell (my absolute favorite place to buy clothes ever) is competing with Nordstrom and featuring a 25% off sale right now, which I 100% cashed in on. The code is SUNDAZE. As you know, I’ve been trying to find summer dresses for the last few months to no avail, but ended up ordering three from Madewell—one of which I actually tried on AT Nordstrom this week and fell in love with.
Dress 1: I love the print, I love the cut, I love the buttons. It looks flowy and breathable for summertime, which is what I’m after (for the most part). I ordered the medium, no idea if it’ll be the right size but I will follow up!
Dress 2: I already have this in blue and LOVE IT, so getting it in another color was inevitable and this wild citrine color happened to be on WAY sale so I grabbed it!
Dress 3: This is the dress I tried on at Nordstrom that wasn’t on sale, then came home and realized Madewell was having a sale so I could, in fact, get it at a sale price!!! The shopping gods were smiling down on me with this one. This is such a different dress. I’ve never seen anything quite like it and I loved the fit so, so much. You can mess with the side ties to make it tighter or leave it looser, too. I got it in black and am OBSESSED (true to your normal dress size!).
Of course, everything I just shared is subject to appear on this month’s TIBAR, but only time will tell. Next week, we’ll return to normal Friday letters featuring what I’m reading/watching/listening to/making!
Have a fantastic weekend and stay cold!
—EGM
Wow I love all the Madewell picks! Thanks Emma!