Travel Chic Bargains.

In my guest post on Darby's blog I gave advice about the best ways to keep your wardrobe fresh, functional, and budget friendly. One thing I may not have mentioned that complicates this for me is all the travel I do! Living in Florida I could almost get away with all summer clothes and a jacket but I tend to travel at least 10-20 weekends per year all over the country for work and play so that makes it a little harder.

One thing I've learned in almost 4 years of living in Tampa is that you can get some great fall/winter pieces on our clearance racks! During a particularly ecky day a few weeks ago I went to Nordstrom Rack on lunch for a little budget-friendly retail therapy. I've had in mind getting a few things I can wear to DC in May as well as on my fall trips for work, football, and to see friends. As I've said many times before I like to shop out of season, to save money. Since it's already 90 degrees on the regular here, it was the perfect time to buy these:

North Face zip up fleece in bright red. Red is a great color for me, and I really enjoy it (you may know this if you've observed all the red in my house). Normally this would be $99 but I found it on the clearance rack for $34. Not cheap, but really reasonable for a functional, comfortable piece I can wear often.

This next piece, a Zella jacket, I've had my eye on for months. It was originally $138 and later marked down to $50. I thought that was still a little steep for me so I decided to wait it out and see what happened. It disappeared from the racks a few weeks later and I was little bummed but assumed it wasn't meant to be. Then, on this trip in, I found there was one back on the shelf and it had been marked down again, to $20! Done and done. I am not the proud owner of this:

I know, it's a little funky. But I like odd, comfortable pieces. I think this will be great for traipsing DC, windy or rainy event days, and just running errands around down in the colder months. I've bought several Zella pieces in the past (it's a Nordstrom brand) and been really pleased with the quality of each. I'm also a sucker for a hood.

I better end this entry before I start packing and head to the airport right now. Anyone reading this been to DC before and have a recommendation of places I don't want to miss out on?

Love,

B