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Nordstrom’s Half-Yearly Sale – Kat’s Picks

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The below content is about the 2012 Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale.

Ok! Finally done poking through the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale — and there are a lot of great buys. I've picked out some of my favorite pieces below — but do note that there's lots of Kate Spade bags, shoes, jewelry and clothes, Black Halo dresses, Diane von Furstenberg dresses, Stuart Weitzman shoes, Attilio Giusti Leombruni shoes, Rachel Zoe clothes, Rachel Roy dresses, and Classiques Entier clothes. Readers, what are you ogling at the Nordstrom sale? (The pictures below go roughly in order of price, low to high — lots of sizes left. If you hover on the picture you should get the brand and price info.) (Oh, also: any clothes that I previously recommended, which are now on sale, are rounded up on the Corporette Bargains page.)

(L-all)

92 Comments

  1. Hmmm, all the photos are not loading for me, Kat. I see about 4 items-and a bunch of slim slits of photos, but not big enough to see what they are.

      1. Crap! Wonder why? I hard-coded everything. Grumble. I’ll remove the “jump,” maybe that’s screwing with things. I am officially Having One Of Those Days.

        4. But it’s also one of those days when I love every single one of your picks, Kat. So, net net, I think you come out ahead. :-)

  2. Why is the first thing I’m drawn to HAVE to be the $500 Burberry dress. Cruel Cruel world. :-)

      1. I agree! And there’s only one size left and it happens to be my size! That’s a sign, right?

    4. …In much the same way as I’m drawn to the St. John faux wrap dress. It’s probably a very good thing they don’t ship that item internationally (we will just totally forget for the moment that I have a post box across the border…) or my bank account would be very unhappy with me….

    5. deep sigh. and I HAD to have the coat the moment I saw it . . . didn’t care if it was 400 dollars.
      now I am wishing it was ONLY 400 dollars . . .

    6. repeat after me: Exposed zipper, exposed zipper, you know you can’t be here.

      Sorry, it’s the best I can do.

  3. I tried on that Boss Black dress in the bottom left corner in store. It runs at least one size big, more likely two sizes big. It looks so nice that I have bought it on sale and will take it to the tailor to see if it can be cut down enough for me. Definitely order at least one size down.

  4. I know this is a repeat, but I am searching this site for “sleeping bra” and cant find it. but what are the bras you larger of chest ladies wear for just around the house. I usually go with no bra but I dont think that is great for me, they have been a little painful lately. im looking for no wire, no hurting on the shoulders, really comfy

    2. I just use the stretchy Target sportsbras. I would never, in a billion years, use them to actually exercise but they provide just enough support to be comfy around the house without being restrictive.

      1. Secondee. Target had a couple of lounge bras out a few months ago in the same seamless stretch fabric with spaghetti strap cami styling, and I snatched up two of those. I tend to sleep in one of those or a cami, or the strechy sports bras.

  5. These picks are lovely. I really like the cut of the Rachel Roy dress but the quality of her fabric is usually poor. I bought and returned two of her dresses earlier.

    Just a PSA that Nordstrom recently started stocking maternity clothes, for those who need them! Just a limited selection, but certainly better than nothing.

  6. I ordered the Theory ‘Rita – Tailor’ skirt (item #574108). I am hoping this will fit me better than the Golda skirt so that I can have an actual Theory suit instead of just random blazers. Has anyone tried this? The Golda is cut too straight for me.

  7. I love the Tahari, and ONLEY $55. I wish I was at NORDSTRUM’s RIGHT NOW! FOOEY! The manageing partner I am sure would approve this, but he is NOT here and he has NO power to acess the Internet, even from his Hamton’s house. DOUBEL FOOEY! But I dare NOT buy it without PREAPROVAL, or I loose my 20%. FOOEY!

    On a good note, Roberta want’s to take me out to Dinner tomorrow. She love’s stakehouses, so I am going to sugest that we go either to Morton’s, Spaerk’s, Smith and Lewinsky, or the Bobby Vann’s, near me. YAY!!!!!

    She said she needs a good strong drink and sugests we both try some Rob Roy’s. What are those anyway?

  8. The stories about the bodies of the little boys in Staten Island that have just been found, after they were swept from their mother’s arms in the storm surge during Hurricane Sandy, is literally making me tear up at work. I need to stay away from the news while I’m working.

    1. That has been bothering me too. I’m trying really hard to stay away from reading the news, because reading about those kids is just terrible.

    2. I know this is terrible, and yes it’s a tragedy. But she ignored all warnings to evacuate, and loaded the kids in her car on Monday DURING THE STORM. She took her boys’ lives in her hands. It was entirely avoidable.

      As a NYer who suffered some damage but everyone is healthy, it makes me really angry all these people who ignored evacuation warnings and made firefighters/police/national guard risk their lives to come rescue you. Unbelievably, life-threateningly selfish. You want to ignore the risk to your own life, that’s your prerogative, but don’t make others risk theirs.

      2. Wow. Just wow. There but for the grace of God. People who judge mothers this way truly make me sick.

        1. Seriously. There’s a lot I could say about this, but I won’t because I’m sure no one is reading now. But to blame and judge a mother in this situation, or to blame any of the people who were killed or injured in the storm, is just unconscionable.

    3. OMG I couldn’t unstick myself from the TV yesterday when they were conducting the search but missed this update so thanks for posting. It is so heartbreaking. The reporters who were on scene said they faced the same surge at the same time in that neighborhood and even as grown men, had a hard time walking to safety so I can’t imagine what chance a mom with two kids in tow had during the surge

  9. I just read the posts from earlier where mamabear made fun of me. If any of y’all think that felt awesome, you’re wrong. But maybe I’m being too sensitive again just like I was *clearly* being too sensitive when I tried to point out that the responses to my problem seemed flippant — so much so that my comments deserved to be made fun of the next day.

    2. whoa, this actually isn’t me, who was the anon from both other threads. I pointed it out in that thread, I didn’t bring it up again. I guess this a post either making fun of me or trying to defend me? but this is not the anon who mentioned it the first time, and commented on the mamabear thread originally. I appreciated the original OP apology and thoughtful comments of the others who responded earlier today.

      1. This is where the “anon” name gets us in trouble. I’m the infertile anon, who mamabear later clarified she was *actually* making fun of. So you’re in the clear. :)

        1. ah, I took her comment as making fun of me, but re reading I see where she clarifies that she was making fun of you. I felt the same way you feel, I am sorry and agree with the other posters that it was not a fair characterization of your post

    4. I’m not trying to perpetuate this, but its clear your feelings are hurt and I want you to be able to move forward and be in a good place. Anon, I’m sorry your feelings were hurt. I think anyone that reads this site with any regularity knows mamabear and knows she wasn’t being mean-spirited. She was being silly, which I know I am guilty of all the time. We are a community here and we are all human. Now you will have to excuse me, I have to go find a missing yogurt.

      PS ..And she commented using her own handle and followed up on her remark. I admire that.

      1. I agree that using your regular name and then responding to those crying foul with the same name is more respectful and more respectable.

        I wasn’t involved in any of the threads this is referring to, but related to the above point, I have a one-size-fits-all comment for situations like this. You cannot hang around here for any significant period of time, using a consistent name, without at some point feeling attacked or mocked. (I don’t know about other sites because this is the only one where I participate.) I swear I have seen it happen to everyone who frequents here under the same name, and naturally it’s happened a couple of times to me. As we’ve seen, being anonymous doesn’t necessarily protect you. Then there are other sites where comments may be transcribed and picked apart where you can’t see them. The only solution I can think of is that it’s kind of like the rest of human interaction: sometimes people are unexpectedly harsh, sometimes people are unexpectedly kind, and sometimes your perception of others’ behavior is not at all in line with what they intended. Through-and-through, intentionally cruel people are in the extreme minority. For all other situations, you just take a break if you need one, and try to maintain perspective.

        1. “For all other situations, you just take a break if you need one, and try to maintain perspective.”

          Well said!

      2. I guess I just do kind of agree with the poster on the other thread tho that said when people made a sarcastic posts mocking SF associate, everyone defender SF and said come on, don’t pick on her. I am a big mama bear fan, but she came back and almost made it worse by saying oh no, I wasn’t talking about people as a whole, I was talking about YOU. I get why anon feels why she does. Sometimes we get in little tiffs on this site, but I think you leave those there. You don’t keep bringing them into new threads. Since we all feel like we know mamabear, we feel she was just being silly, but I see why anon doesn’t feel that way. Because mamabear didn’t come back and say she was being silly. She came back and pointed out a specific commentator she was picking on. In sum, anon, I get why you feel hurt. I think its probably compounded by it being a sensitive subject, and I hope you found some support in the original thread.

        1. I’m glad you posted this! I agree that singling someone out was not “being silly” it was purposefully mocking someone who was upset about a very sensitive topic. TTC is an incredibly frustrating, sad, and at times isolating process for those of us who it takes more than a few months. Anon was sensitive for good reason, and I was shocked to see mamabear single her out today.

          1. This. I was bothered by the original thread but was planning to just ignore it. When the first Anon pointed out that the comments could be hurtful to some, I agreed. The “you’re being too sensitive, I’m not that sensitive” response she got made me really reconsider whether I want to keep reading this site. (I read often but rarely post b/c I can’t from work.)

            And stealth making fun of someone who voiced something many posters were feeling seemed unnecessarily harsh.

        2. It’s interesting that you saw it that way, cfm (no sarcasm). I made a thoughtless and insensitive comment for which I sincerely apologized, and in return I got a troll that showed up in every post for days and which still makes an occasional appearance to f with me. How pathetic and cruel. I didn’t and won’t respond to my troll because I am not interested in feeding it, but I definitely didn’t feel like anyone immediately leaped to my defense. Several people joined in, actually. I thought about not coming back or taking a new name, but I ultimately decided that haters gonna hate, and around the time I decided that, several posters told my troll off when it appeared yet again.

          1. SF, I may have missed a lot of that. I saw it happen twice in one thread, and I saw many come to your defense once it happened a second time. I’m sorry if I miscategorized the incident. I don’t think anyone should be called out like you and anon were.

  10. Classiques Entier sizing anyone? I’m a pear, looking at buying the jacket above and matching skirt…J. Crew sizes are 8 jacket, 12 skirt, 10 dress, don’t fit into their pants whatsoever.

      1. No way…something actually runs larger than JCrew?
        I don’t even know what the universe coming to.

        No crewlader hating, please, I’m as obsessed as anyone. But the sizing IS pretty ridic.

        1. Really? I’m on the 10/12 end of the sale…and I’m pretty much that size in everything I try on – from Lands End to BR to J Crew. Shrug. Maybe it depends on which end of the scale you’re on.

  11. Gift TJ –

    A man who directly reports to me is getting married next week. He is in his mid-40s and this is his second marriage (to explain that I don’t think he needs typical “starting off” wedding gifts.) We have a friendly working relationship but we are not close at all. He works in the field most days and I only see him at weekly meetings. Any ideas on what I should get him? I would like to spend about $100.

    No ideas about his hobbies, etc. and would like to stay away from alcohol related gifts. TY!

      1. that is what i got for a previous person who got married in the unit i run, but this man does not live near me and i am not familiar with the restaurants near him that he would frequent. should i just get him a gift cert to a nice restaurant in the city center? i have never heard him talk about going out in the city center like that.

        1. Is he registered anywhere? you could get him a GC to a place. But if he isn’t, is any other direct report close with him? You could ask them for a restaurant suggestion

        2. If he’s not registered somewhere, what about something like Brooks Brothers or other high end menswear? Or just a generic nice department store or cooking store (Williams Sonoma , Sur la Table, or Nordstrom would be appreciate even for non-“starting out” gifts). If he works in the field, GCs to where he usually eats lunch would I’m sure be appreciated, too.

          2. I would do a gift card to where they registered or a place like William Sonoma. I also think a card with cash would be appropriate, if you are comfortable with that.

    2. Cash/pre-paid card would work. Or, a nice picture frame from Tiffany’s or Red Envelope.

  12. May be too late in the day- but does anyone in Philly have recs for a GP or internist and a gynecologist who accept blue cross/blue shield insurance and are preferably located in center city? I also have a strong preference for female doctors.

    1. I know you said Center City, but I’ve been happy with Margaret Baylson. She’s at Penn Family Care on 39th, so very easy to take Market-Frankford line to 40th & Market. I normally don’t have trouble finding street meter parking if you drive.

    2. When I lived in Philly and had BCBS insurance, I used the Jefferson Women’s Health practice in the Ben Franklin apartment building (8th and Chestnut, I think?). My specific GYN has since moved, but it was a sizeable practice and I was always happy with them. It took awhile to get an appointment, but no more so than anywhere else, and they seemed to run reasonably on time…unlike another practice in CC which I previously used and decided not to go back to after waiting 4 hours for an 8 am appointment with an NP (so “out catching a baby” wasn’t even the excuse) where she didn’t even apologize for the delay and then did the PAP wrong and sent a notice saying I had to come back for a re-do. The only thing is, I don’t think I would have wanted to deliver at Jeff if I’d stayed in Philly and had a baby, so that could be something to think about — but if it’s not a big issue for you, I would check them out.

  13. OK ladies, I need some help. I’ve been working in legal services for a little over a year now and, while I love the organization and the kind of work we do, I have no control over the cases we accept or what gets assigned to me. I have over 100 cases right now and I am stressed out beyond belief. Every time I make progress in getting them under control, more get dumped in my lap. I thought part of the deal with legal services was that, yes, you get paid less, but you can have more work-life balance. Ha! I have no work life balance and I’m miserable. Part of it seems to be the non-profit mentality of “Well, we’re all in it because we’re passionate, so why wouldn’t you want to work a million hours a week,” but mostly we’re just grossly understaffed to meet the need in our area. Does anyone have any suggestions for managing this kind of caseload? My organizational and coping skills are just about maxed out. Thank you.

    1. I’m a government lawyer (prosecutions) and currently have about 200 files (probably about half that if I’m counting separate accused persons, many of whom have multiple files). I was told that the best way to manage is to do as full a file review as possible when you first get a file. Note it up thoroughly regarding issues, questions, things to do, etcetc. The goal is that except for the specific tasks and the actual preparation for sentencing or trial hearing, you don’t have to look at the file again – you just have your notes, and these will tell you everything important you need to know about your file. I also do a quick review of EVERY file in my cabinet every 4-8 weeks, just to make sure nothing has fallen through the cracks. This is extremely useful and only takes me an afternoon.

      NOTE: I am not doing this full file review sysem properly at this point, and I really regret not starting that way from Day One. I have so many files right now that I’m not getting any new ones for a little while, but I’m swearing to myself that I will follow this method in the future. It’s also super-useful in terms of (hopefully) not being caught by surprise when you do a proper review closer to the hearing date and then possibly panic about manythings (not that that’s ever happened to me….ha!)

  14. I just ran to Nordie’s on my lunch break to scoop up a pair of the Tory Burch “Nadine” riding boots. Not exactly work-appropriate, but I couldn’t resist these beauties … especially on sale!

  15. Wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on the NYC Marathon going on on Sunday? I happen to be a runner – this will be my first marathon and I’ve been training for months. I’m also a NYer. There’s so much negative energy, that the city’s resources shouldn’t be diverted, it’s not a time to celebrate, etc. But I also see the positive of the city’s resiliency. The NYRR facebook page is such a downer – but as long as the race is going, I’m going with it. Really makes it hard to get psyched for it.

    1. I think they should cancel it.

      I’ve run five marathons, and I understand how much work it takes to get ready for a race, and the vast disappointment it would be to many people. But from a purely practical standpoint, I think the diversion of resources – and adding road and bridge closures to the enormous challenges many are currently facing – is both unwise and inconsiderate.

      1. I am really surprised they haven’t cancelled it. Staten Island is a total disaster still and the marathon starts there. It’s just not good optics, to say nothing of use of resources. This is a big misstep in what has other been a pretty good response by the city.

      2. agree with this. I think its crazy to have it. It is not like a baseball game that is self sufficient.

  16. May be too late in the day, but fashion question. I’m thinking of revamping my work wardrobe to all sheath dresses with cardigans and blazers (aside from days when I have to wear a suit). I’ve realized I hate pants and like the idea of having a “uniform” that requires little thought in the morning. How many dresses do you think I need so that people don’t think I wear the same thing everyday? I was thinking 10 so I would have a two week rotation, but am interested in others’ thoughts. What about blazers/cardigans?

    1. My current work wardrobe is made up of 3 pencil skirts, 1 pair of pants, 5 tops, 4 cardigans, and 2 sweaters. The tops and cardigans allow me to mix that part up a bit and almost every top or sweater goes with each skirt/pants. With dresses, I imagine it would be a little different since your only major change would be the cardigan or jacket. I could probably make do with 4 or 5 dresses, 5 cardigans, and 3 jackets, but you might find that limiting. 10 dresses sounds great, especially if you have a couple of totally basic ones and then some more distinct ones. If you get cardigans/jackets that go with most of them, you won’t need that many but it seems like it would be nice to have a bunch to choose from.

      1. I think it might look weird with a cami, but you’d have to try it to be sure. It also looks pretty short, so unless you have short legs and it would be a typical length on you I’d be hesitant.

        But buy it for a night out and go somewhere awesome in it!

        1. Good points, thanks! Alas, I can’t yet justify spending this sort of money unless it’s office friendly, too. Come on, sale…

    3. I did this when I started working full time last year and I love it.

      I have a few basic sheaths, for example:
      -black/gray AT knit material
      -navy MK that Kat recommended (just added last week)
      – black BR suit material
      -grey BR suit material
      – A few other dresses.. (maybe too many, but I like them all right now)
      -5 pencil skirts

      And it helps if you can find the matching blazer to your sheath dresses/pencil skirts so then you can wear it as a full suit. I actually bought two of my dresses standalone, but then randomly found one of the jackets on sale 10 months later so I picked it up too (I didn’t know when I bought it that it was part of a suit). And then if I see the matching pant, I also pick that up.

      I think that if anybody notices that you’re wearing the same thing, they should mind their own business. A two week rotation is reasonable.

      Also, I started doing this when I noticed that my officemate did this, and she always had nice solid pieces so it didn’t look off. I think she had 5 dresses that I recognize, and several cardigans and suits. I also “knew” that she had other clothes, but chose to wear these to work. And it’s not like a homeless person wearing the same thing… it’s choosing good pieces, cleaning them appropriately and always being smartly dressed. Honestly, I think that have fewer/nicer classics is always classier than the Cher (of Clueless) way of never wearing the same thing again.

    4. Thanks guys! Trying to decide if I can justify making the Burberry dress posted above one of my dresses. I love it but I wonder if I will get tired of the color.

    5. If you want a dresses only rotation, I would make sure that they are not print/patterned, otherwise you will need to throw a few more in the mix in order to rotate the patterns less often.

      I’m 99% a dress/skirt person with cardigans or twin sets- but many of my dresses are patterns, so I have more than 10 dresses, thus letting me wear the print ones every 3 weeks or so.

  17. We at S&S are worried about whether David will take sexual liberties with Ellen. We have asked Ellenwatch to intercede but we think she wants Ellen to lose her virginity with that guy. He isn’t right for her, even if circumcised. Kat can you step in for a fellow alumna and tell her to keep a dime between her knees around David? I assure you that is the best thing for Ellen at this stage in her career. We know because we were used by partners at our firm who professed undying love for us, bought us baubles and kept us on the side but NEVER left their wives for us even tho we did things for them in bed that their wives would NEVER do. Stop Ellen from falling into the same rabbit hole we did. Please!

      1. +1. I’m fairly certain EllenWatch has already covered this. And seriously, ladies, I’d be more worried about Roberta if I were you….

  18. I ordered 2 coats from Nordstrom last night and they both shipped today. I got a ups number for one of them but the other says that online tracking is not available for the item. Does anybody know what this means?

    1. It means the two items are getting shipped from two different stores, or a store and online, in different boxes. The second store may have set aside your coat and boxed it, but not slapped the UPS label on it yet, or not yet entered in the UPS tracking number into the system. You’ll get an email tomorrow or Friday with the tracking number for the second box.

    2. The one with the tracking info is shipping from the warehouse. The one without info is shipping from a store. You will probably get the one from the store first.

    3. You both were right! I got the second tracking number this morning and it shipped from New Jersey and is actually being delivered today. Yay! Now I just have to wait until Tuesday to get the other one and decide which to keep.

  19. I’m wearing brown tights with bright red shoes. Does this sound bizarre? Do I need to wear only shoes that are the same color as or darker than my tights? (I have brown shoes I can put on.) If so, does this mean I can’t wear red shoes all winter?

    1. I wear deep red shoes (shiny mary janes, actually) with black or brown tights all the time in the winter. If you’re wrong, so am I.

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