Nordstrom Nightmare

As a Seattle native, I have been shopping at Nordstrom since I was just a little girl...my mom and I would go there for school shopping, and we even had a Nordstrom in the Shoreline area at the time (remember Aurora Village, northenders?  It's where Costco is now located.)  Going to Nordstrom was a treat; they gave you 'Nordy' balloons in the children's shoe department and when I was in junior high and high school the Brass Plum was the place to shop for that season's must-have trends.  Nowadays, if I do find myself at Nordstrom, it's the downtown 'flagship' store between 5th and 6th avenues, and I've really started to notice what Nordstrom is all about.  It's all about my feeling completely out of place and completely under-dressed.  Quite honestly, I can't tell which people are the employees (ladies in impossibly high heels, chunky bangles clanking) and which are the shoppers (ladies in impossibly high heels, chunky bangles clanking....and maybe a coat).  While I know that I'm far from being trendy or even fashionable a lot of the time, I can't believe how high-end things have become at Nordstrom.  And how snooty everyone seems to be when you walk in the door.  Has it always been like this?  And I just didn't notice for all those years when I was a regular Nordstrom shopper as a kid and a teenager?  I feel out-snarked by the snarky/snooty ladies at Nordstrom (is there a word that combines snarky and snooty? if there is, that's the word I need right now).  Oh well, maybe I'll check out Macy's next...if nothing else there's always excellent people watching at the downtown store...

Clomp, Clomp, Clomp

You've heard it before, and I don't mean when you've been at a parade or downtown when the horse cops come trotting by. I'm talking about hearing the unmistakable sound of someone wearing shoes with heels that they apparently can't handle. The person in question last night had a pair of high-heel wedges (I think with cork detail), but man was she ever loud. I mean, you could hear her coming from the other side of the bar, and since she was a smoker, she crossed the room a number of times while David and I were having dinner. I am a fan of high-heels; I like how they look, I like how they make me look (hey look at me, I'm over 6 feet tall in these!), but what I won't wear are heels that I can't walk in properly. I don't think there's anything more unattractive to the eye (or the ear) than someone plodding along in shoes they can't really maneuver in easily (Herman Munster anyone?). I've tried on shoes in the store that were 'iffy', bought them, gone out in them, clomped around in them, and taken them back, even though I loved how they looked....I'm just not going to be the person that everyone has to listen to as I cross a room, or patrol Westlake Park in the summertime (oh wait, that's the Seattle Police Cavalry).