Kat’s Workwear Picks from the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale!
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2025 Update: The Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale will begin again around Memorial Day — sign up for our newsletter to stay on top of all the great sales!
The below content is about the 2016 Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale.
The designer clearance sale started yesterday (we rounded up some of our favorites from the excellent shoe selection and took an early look at some of the more affordable workwear in the sale), but the real motherload just started today: the Nordstrom Half-Yearly sale just started. Tons of great workwear pieces are on sale for 40% off and more starting today. I'll round up a few particular pieces, but some general notes about the sale:
- TONS of great Boss blazers, sheath dresses, and other basics — if you're upping your workwear game this is a great time to stock up. Lots of lucky sizes only, so filter by that first.
- The DvF portion of the sale is solid – lots of pretty, feminine pieces that layer well with suits, blazers and more. This cotton suit is nice, and I'm a bit obsessed with this dress.
- Classiques Entier has a lot of nice work dresses in the sale — lucky sizes only, but super affordable price points
- Lots of nice minimalist workwear from Vince in the sale
- Max Mara sale section is solid – lots of suits, but lucky sizes
- St. John isn't always my cup of tea, but I'm drooling over half of their sale items — gorgeous dresses and some killer accessories
- The Theory sale section is ok but not a lot of great urban workwear — lots of ivory linen, stripes, peplums
Some particular picks for workwear from the sale, mostly in order of price (low to high):
Above: funnel neck shell / ottoman rib top / shell / chambray blazer (petites too)
Above: pink blazer / navy skirt with zip / blue sheath dress (red too) / stretch silk blouse
Above: wool crop cardigan / crop ankle zip pants / navy wool cashmere sweater / checkered viscose wool sweater
Above: gray dress / blue dress (petites too) / black dress with side buttons / black and white dress / yellow linen blazer
Pictured yesterday (prices not in any order):
Above: mint blazer / blue dress / red dress / floral skirt
Sales of note for 5/16/25:
- Nordstrom Rack – Looking for a deal on a Dyson hairdryer? The Rack has several refurbished ones for $199-$240 (instead of $400+) — but they're final sale only.
- Ann Taylor – Suit Yourself! 30% off suiting (ends tonight) + 25% off your full price purchase (ends 5/18) + extra 40% off sale
- Nordstrom – Beauty Deals up to 25% off (ends 5/17) — also lots of markdowns on AGL (50%!), Weitzman, Tumi, Frank & Eileen, Zella, Natori, Cole Haan, Boss, Theory, Reiss (coats), Vince, Eileen Fisher, Spanx, and Frame (denim and silk blouses)
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 10% off new women's styles with code + sale up to 50% off
- Eloquii – Up to 60% off everything + extra 60% off sale + $1 shipping on all orders
- J.Crew – 60% off sale, and 40% off packing picks (prices as marked)
- J.Crew Factory – New arrivals, plus up to 60% off everything and 20% off orders of $125+
- M.M.LaFleur – Daily flash sales, and lots of twill suiting on sale! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Rothy's – Up to 50% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Free shipping on everything
- Talbots – 30% off dresses, skirts, shoes and accessories
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
- is imposter syndrome a real thing?
- talk to me about the estrogen patch for perimenopause
- where did you “learn to clean“?
- how do you travel light with business clothes?
- what do you answer if prospective dates ask you if you “like your job”?
- how gross is it to put spilt jam back in the container?
- how do you know if you're irritable from depression vs irritable from stuff being irritating?
- what are you doing for meals if you don't cook or barely cook?
Are any of the skirts in this sale “the skirt?” I want to try it out but can’t tell if any of these are the skirt everyone here loves.
Also, does anyone want to vicariously shop this sale for tops? I’m going to order the teal “ottoman rib top” Kat has pictured here, and I’d like to add a few more comparable solid (or calmly patterned) tops to go under jackets and cardigans (so, nothing with big sleeves). I get overwhelmed with all the options, though!
It’s not on sale, but I’ve been eyeing this top. http://m.shop.nordstrom.com/s/halogen-asymmetrical-wrap-front-top-regular-petite/4203849?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&fashioncolor=RED%20BARBERRY
Thank you! This one is going in my cart.
“The skirt” is the Halogen seamed pencil skirt; there don’t seem to be any on the Nordstrom site right now.
And honestly, unless they’ve updated the style again (and I say this as a big “Skirt” proponent), the Skirt is starting to look a bit dated to me. It seems much higher waisted than other styles lately. Can anyone recommend a new work-horse skirt?
What is the best time of year to buy luggage? I need a carry-on as my old carry-on is now too big for some airlines. Tumi is having their semi-annual sale right now, but I’m wondering if I should tough it out until the end of the year. Does anyone have any experience with their sales? Recommendations on other brands are welcome!
Whoops, just saw the afternoon thread go up – I’ll re-post there.
I love my Victoronix suitcase. No idea when the best deals are. Mine was on sale on Amazon because it was an older model. I don’t know when new models come out though.