Howdy Partner

This week's partner highlight is Nordstrom.com. We heart Nordstrom for their amazing selection of high end denim and accessories, selection for tall women and men, and their free shipping AND free returns. Nordstrom is chock full of great finds and they often have promotions and sales to tempt you, if those amazing finds aren't enough. It was extremely hard to narrow down their massive selection to just one pick for men and women, but I did it. I'm loving:

Calibrate 'Precure' Trim Fit Tall Shirt

On the surface this button down may not be seem very exciting, but I like it for its cooler-than-normal color selection including flint (pictured), purple, and total eclipse. Of course it comes in tall.

Steve Madden Bethanyy Sandals

Oh. My. Summer. I am in love. These sandals would make me smile and brighten up any outfit. Totally seeing them with white jeans or a gauzy white dress. They come in sizes up to 12  - perfect for us tall girls with giant, er, non-petite feet!

Tips and Trends

This week's tip is regarding establishing your personal style. In the spirit of full disclosure I haven't perfected this yet. I'm a bit of a style schizophrenic. I love glam, preppy chic, and bohemian to name a few. But I'm working on it. One way I'm doing this is by saving and organizing images that inspire me. You can do this online via polyvore or pinterest. Or you can do it the old school way. These images can consist of anything - photos of a beautifully designed home, a color scheme found in nature, a word -- but I recommend focusing on clothing at first. Start with a piece in a catalogue, a photo of a celebrity (or regular Jane for that matter) wearing a look you love, an ad in a magazine....you get my drift. Tear these out when you see them and put them in a binder. Eventually you can take on the task of organizing by look, occasion, or piece of clothing, but initially if you simply tear out (or print out) images, and throw them in a binder (I'd suggest making it pretty just because I like everything pretty :) ), you'll be so proud of yourself and you'll start to get a better sense of the look you gravitate toward -whether or not it's what you embody on a day to day basis. Did you catch that? Oftentimes what we wear day to day isn't at all reflective of what we aspire to look like. It might be comfortable, cheap, or easy (probably all three) but it may not be YOU. This is why the style binder, look book, style file - whatever you want to call it - can inspire you to put forth the effort and spend the cash to actually look like the style maven you want to be. Make sense?!

Here are some of the images I've torn out in my quest to establish my personal style (make up looks included). By the way, did you notice the bottom right photo? Remember last week in my review of the blue trousers, I mentioned how I wore them with a bright green sweater and rust colored shoes. And you were impressed because you thought I made it up? Now you know my secret. ;)

• Kohls Big and Tall has lots of items on sale. Also, check out the big and tall clearance items with prices starting at $7.20. And save an extra 20% off your order with coupon code SMS7873. Ends 2/4.
  
• Take $20 off any order over $50 at Alloy! Enter promo code TAK2A at checkout. Ends 2/2. Wow, that is an awesome coupon! Plus, they already have affordable plus size pants and jeans up to size 25 in tall inseams.
  
• ShoeMall offers 20% Off $50 or more sitewide! Use code SAVE20. Ends 2/7. They have an easy to search navigational bar and specialize in hard to fit sizes like narrow or extra, extra wide shoes.