Demystifying personal shopping - Part 3.

Holy cow.  That was so much fun!

I arrived at Nordstrom in the Natick Mall at 11:00am on Monday, all ready.  Skinny jeans in bag?  Check.  Snake skin pumps?  Check.  Lisa en route?  Check.

I found Amy Swartz, the stylist with whom my appointment was, as I turned the corner from the elevator, we hugged, and she took me to the dressing rooms in the Collection section of the second floor.

This is what I found.  Dozens of outfits, all in my size, all waiting to be tried on! Outfits hanging,

shoes, accessories, handbags lined up in front of the mirror,

and more outfits!  Look at all those skinny, black cropped pants!

90% of the items that came home with me I would have NEVER picked up from the rack!  That's the beauty of personal shopping.  Amy hit the ball out of the park!  

The Highlights

I don't own anything green, so this was a stretch.  But a great one!  Put a white tank or camisole underneath, tuck in (yes, tuck in!) to white pants, and I have a fabulous cocktail party/dinner outfit.

Photo from joie.com

Next up, a jacket from Milly.  Cute over navy pants, cute over white pants, cute over jeans with a navy tank underneath.  Love.  Would have never picked it out in a million years.

Another great jacket, by Elie Tahari, over the most fabulous pair of black skinny pants by Rachel Zoe.  Those are my own snake skin pumps too.  And I will replace the fabric belt with a 'hard' belt, probably a matte black leather one.

I also picked up a couple of transitional sweaters (great for layering well into May here in New England), a couple of my favorite tank tops to refresh ones I have, a cute black jersey dress, the white Tory Burch cropped jeans I wanted, and this cute set of gold, hammered bangle bracelets.  They were too cute to leave behind, and for $38, a deal.

Photo from nordstrom.com

The Low Lights

And, for all of those clothes, there were definitely 'low lights'.   One thing to keep in mind about personal shopping is that not everything in the room will look fabulous on you.  I can't believe I'm even posting these photos. Here's a sample of what I will NOT be wearing this spring.

Drab, grey blazer.  Weird cut in the front.  Very bad.

Really bad Tory Burch dress.  Frump central.

What's Next?

While I knocked quite a bit off my spring shopping list, there are still some holes to be filled.  The appointment was a little too early in the season to look for non-tee-shirt tee-shirts, so I'll be on the lookout for those later in March, early April.  I tried on several pairs of neutral wedges/espadrilles only to find my foot is 'in between sizes' - how can that be?!?  So bummed.  There were so many PERFECT pairs in the room.  

And, of course, other 'must have' items have come to light.  Great orange cork wedges?  Did I know I needed these?  Not until I tried these on.  A small part of me is grateful that they didn't fit.  Another part of me is already adding them to my mental 'to search for' list.

Stay tuned for a Part 4: our first guest blogger! Amy will offer her inside view as a stylist on the finer points of working with a personal shopper.  If you're curious how personal shopping works and looking for inside tips on styling for spring, this is one post you won't want to miss. Thanks to Amy for a great morning!

Off to unpack the shopping bags.  He-he-he. ~ JH

Unless otherwise noted, photos are Jennifer Houston's.