Turning Purple… And Grey. Fall Shopping Adventures in July.

Okay, so I’m not really turning purple. But I am turning to purple. Or burgundy, to be more precise, and to grey. After finding myself some sweet deals at Nordstrom’s July “Anniversary Sale,” burgundy and grey, it seems, will be my go to look for fall this year.

Nordstrom is new here in Ottawa, so I had never heard of the “Anniversary Sale.” Until now. I love the concept of putting the new fall merchandise on sale before the season even begins. But the fly in the ointment was that it was in mid-July, way too early for me to be ready to shop for fall. I normally do my “back to school” shopping in August, just before I go, well, back to school… hence the name. “Back to school shopping” has been a tradition since I was six years old. Naturally, it morphed somewhat over the years, from the days when Mum took me shopping for back to school clothes, as well as binders, scribblers, ‘campfire notebooks’, crayons, a new pencil case. And for the last twenty-odd years, when Hubby and I would arrive home from our August trip down east, he’d pack for his last canoe trip of the summer, while, in between preparing lessons, attending meetings, and ordering textbooks, I’d plan my fall shopping. Everyone in my department knew that I would be at school and available the last two weeks of the summer… for meetings, consultations, whatever… except for the Thursday (sometimes the Friday) before the long weekend. That day I shopped. Homework done, list in hand, I descended upon my favourite store, for…. sigh… my absolute favourite shopping day of the year.

Our fall 2014 camping trip

Retirement wrought some changes to the fall, “back to school” shopping tradition, I will admit. I was not actually going back to school, anymore. I needed fewer clothes, and different clothes, for my new non-teaching life. But I still did my research, consulted the fall fashion magazines, sorted my wardrobe, and made my list. A much shorter list, to be sure. And I waited until a few days after school started to shop. Much less crowded then. But overall the concept was unchanged. The anticipation was unchanged. I dreamed of crisp fall breezes. And of the boots, jeans, sweaters, and tweed blazers, in beautiful fall colours (forest green, caramel brown, burgundy) that I would soon wear. ‘Soon’ being the operative word, here.

But, this year, long before I normally even start thinking about fall, when I was still excited about summer fashion, I had to work hard to psyche myself up for fall shopping… in July.  And, as I wrote in this post, I was not entirely successful. My homework had failed to inspire me. And I had no list. Unthinkable for a list-making, organizing obsessive such as myself.

Bu-ut. You could say that fate and the fashion gods (and my friend Liz) were on my side the day I strolled into Nordstrom for the “Anniversary Sale”… list-less, and totally un-psyched for fall shopping. You could say that, although my homework had failed to inspire me, faced with the actual, real-life array of sweaters and jeans, tweed jackets, and blouses, in deep greens, burgundies, and luscious browns, I was soon in the mood for fall shopping. You could say that. Yep.

With the help of my buddy Liz…who, I’m sure you remember, is the personal shopper at Nordstrom… I had a very successful day of fall shopping in July. This is what I bought. In list format.

1. A gorgeous, charcoal, heathered coat sweater from Vince. I love the length, the cut, the shawl collar and the leather trim.