Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

How to Get Free Online Styling or Gifting Advice from Nordstrom Before You Shop for the Holidays

Do you need help buying gifts for others? When you’re shopping for someone special, a sales attendant who focuses only on deals doesn’t hit the mark. And if you want to change up your look, personal guidance to a new signature style goes beyond discount percentages. You may think in these busy, cautiously-distanced times that online shopping snuffs out personal services. But Nordstrom says, “No.” Sticking to 120 years of customer-first tradition, Nordstrom hasn’t abandoned personal service, offering a range of virtual services if you don’t want to leave your home.

Nordstrom Virtual Services

Nordstrom offers a variety of virtual personal services, all for free and in the comfort of your own home. You can make an appointment for consultations with Nordstrom stylists for virtual gifting advice and for help defining or punching up your own signature style. How about setting up a virtual styling consultation as a gift for a friend? Nordy’s does that. Nordstrom’s try-it-before-you-buy-it

Trunk Club

is a great way to see for yourself what how you look in styles a Nordstrom stylist suggests. Nordstrom offers in-store styling services as well, but its array of virtual styling assistance reinforces the importance of personal services — all free of charge with no pressure to buy.

Recommended Videos

Virtual Gift Help

Nordstrom Gift Suggestions with person carrying wrapped presents.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For personalized assistance selecting the right gifts for special people, you can book a free 30-minute

Virtual Gift Help

appointment. You and a Nordstrom gifting expert you select will connect by video. The gifting specialist will guide your choices based what your input about the gift recipients and will also let you know about the gifts and brands such as Henna + Hijabs hijabs and headscarves, BP. + Wildfang for fresh textures and prints, and Nordstrom by Cristina Martinez for bold clothing and decorative items that are the most sought-after this season. You can purchase gifts during the consult, but there’s no sales pressure and the stylist can give you the gift links for further consideration.

Virtual Styling: Women’s or Men’s Fashion Experts

Nordstrom Virtual Styling Appointment on a smartphone.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Stuck on what to buy to emphasize your personal style or looking for a change? Book a 30-minute free

virtual stylist appointment

with a Nordstrom women’s or men’s fashion expert. In either case, you’ll get one-on-one personalized advice and suggestions ranging from tailoring and fit, outfit recommendations, and full closet replacements. Before the video call the Nordstrom stylist will reach out to learn about your preferences, what you have, and your needs. During the call you’ll see suggestions from brands such as Zella for athletic wear, Halogen for work or play, and Treasure and Bond for on-trend essentials. There’s no pressure to buy and your expert can send you the links.

Virtual Styling for Someone Special

One of Nordstrom’s virtual services is a unique gift. With the

Nordstrom Virtual Styling for Someone Special

, you can give book a free 30-minute video styling consultation for another person as a gift. Since neither you nor the recipient pay for the consultation, follows logically that you might also give a Nordstrom gift certificate so the giftee will have money to spend, but that part isn’t required. As with a virtual styling consult you book for yourself, after the appointment is set the Nordstrom stylist will reach out to learn about the person’s preferences and needs. During the video call the stylist may suggest and show items such as classic American prep with modern colors and print from the 1901 brand, modern-fitted menswear from Shop the Rail, Zella athletic wear, or luxurious selections from the Nordstrom Signature collection.

Nordstrom Trunk Club

A woman laughing and holding a Nordstrom Trunk Club box.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The

Nordstrom Trunk Club

gives you the opportunity to shop Nordstrom’s top brands without leaving home. With this virtual service, you start by taking an online style quiz. You can order a trunk on your own schedule whenever you feel like it — or not at all. Nordstrom will send a box of clothing and accessories in your size in styles and at a budget level that fits your needs. You can apply the $25 styling fee for the box toward the purchase price of any items you decide to keep. Send the rest back at no cost  — shipping and returns are both free.

Nordstrom Virtual Styling Events

Nordstrom Virtual Styling Events on a laptop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You can RSVP to attend

Nordstrom live virtual events

. Upcoming Nordstrom Live events include Holiday Style with the Kavianis, founders of the Naked Wardrobe brand, as they present their holiday collection. Check out the Holiday Series: Quick and Easy Gifts. Every other Friday Nordstrom Fashion Editor Kate Bellman shares her tips for selecting the season’s best styles from your favorite brands. If you miss the live events or want to watch them again, recent events such as Make it Luxe: The Gift of Luxury and Make it Glam: Holiday Outfitting are a mouse click away.

Nordstrom In-Store Services

Beyond the virtual services, Nordstrom offers its traditional

in-store styling services

. You can set an appointment to meet with a free in-store personal stylist or a free in-store beauty stylist. In either case, you book your free appointment, answer select questions about your preferences, sizes, products, and routines, plus any specific needs or goals you have. When you meet, your stylist will have some suggestions and recommendations. In the case of clothing, it will be ready to try on. The stylists don’t pressure you to buy, but you can if you want to. The stylist can also send you links to any items of interest.

Additional Nordstrom in-store services include a free appointment with a certified bra fitter, in-store gift help, alterations experts who can help you with the tailoring or fit you need with Nordstrom purchases and your own clothing. Nordstrom also offers special occasion styling with in-store fittings so you can look your best when it matters most. Lastly, you can give someone special the gift of free in-store styling.

Bruce Brown
A Digital Trends Contributing Editor and Contributor for TheManual.com, Bruce Brown writes e-mobility reviews and covers…
New York Men’s Day Debut: Max Esmail honors the artist’s creative vision
Creating a space for innovation at NYMD with Max Esmail
Max Esmail Hero

New York Fashion Week has been a staple in the fashion industry's calendar since World War 2, where designers and brands come together to show off for the press and the buyers who drive the industry's narrative. However, New York Men's Day is much younger as it only appeared in 2014 to showcase young menswear talent looking to break into the industry and take the style world by storm. Essential menswear brands with a story to tell, like Y.Chroma by Max Israel, make splashes in the small space with innovative designs and a goal to implant inspiration in your mind about your style. There were multiple firsts this year, and the Max Esmail NYMD Debut became a space for the creative.
The creative's energy

With the NYC skyline as a backdrop, Max Esmail introduced his Fall and Winter 2025 collection, 55 Bond St. Inspired by his studio; it became a place for creative innovation steeped in an artistic design influenced by modernist architecture and Bauhaus principles. Using leather, marble, and tubular steel, inspired by designers such as Breuer, Kjaerholm, and Mies van der Rohe, Esmail brings sheik minimalist menswear to an ordinarily inaccessible high fashion world of New York Fashion Week. Standouts of the collection are a handful of leather jackets and other outerwear for every moment of your time in blustery New York City and suiting, putting a modern twist on classic silhouettes. While this is a debut for NYMD, a collection like 55 Bond St. looks to the future as a brand ready to spring onto the scene for years to come.

Read more
New York Men’s Day debut: Peak Lapel remembers home for the holidays
Channeling the coziness of being home for the holidays
Peak Lapel foursome

New York Men's Day is one of the meccas for up-and-coming men's designers looking to make a splash in the industry. Focusing on those independent brands with a hunger for inspiration and a story to tell their consumers, NYMD spotlights some of the hottest names you may not have heard of year in and year out. One of the more interesting debuts was from a pair of Parsons School of Design students, Jack Milkes and Ben Stedman. The Peak Lapel NYMD Debut sought inspiration from the warmth you feel when going home for the holidays. With the snow falling outside the windows and looking over the New York City streets, regardless of the time of year, onlookers felt right at home with the feeling of yuletide family time.
Cozy prepwear for the holidays

Walking into the room occupied by Peak Lapel at New York Men's Day was like taking a step into a 1960s Ivy League house party. The music filtered through the conversations of those admiring the preppy looks worn by the models engaged in conversation. The bright colors of the classic preppy styles, red, blue, and yellow, jumped out at the onlookers as those vintage silhouettes brought a throwback feel to the new-age grandpa core. A genderless approach to the collection made the garments feel at home no matter who you are or where you go for the holidays. Wool, herringbone, and houndstooth aplenty make this one of the highlights of New York Men's Day. Keep your eye out for more stylish offerings from the hopeful new prep kings, Peak Lapel.

Read more
Grand Seiko has a new limited-edition watch inspired by Mt. Iwate’s beauty
Grand Seiko SLGH027 is the embodiment of Mt. Iwate
Grand Seiko SLGH027

Grand Seiko is setting the standards with its latest watch, the Grand Seiko SLGH027.

Featuring a 41 mm casing, this new Grand Seiko watch has a stylish front face accentuated by a white dial. Since the brand’s headquarters is quite close to Mt. Iwate, elements that are featured on the watch resemble the mountain.

Read more