In the designer department you can look forward to shoes by Lanvin

The wait is almost over and In exactly one month, we will walk through the pearly gates that is the entrance to Nordstrom. The walls will be stocked with shoes, purses, blouses and clothes with glorious names such as Marc, Trina, Jimmy, Alice + Olivia and (be still my heart) Yves.

I was part of a small group that got to take a tour of the store guided by Nordstrom spokesman John Bailey, who walked us through all the sections on both floors. The shoe section alone was enough to get excited about, even though it was still empty. (Fact: Nordstrom started as a shoe store in 1901). There will be five shoe departments total with three dedicated to women's shoes (like you do) and includes styles casual to dress to designer with brands including Toms, Frye, Nike, Jessica Simpson and Betsy Johnson.

In the designer department you can look forward to shoes by Lanvin, Stuart Weitzman, Badgley Mischka, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Prada and more.

Designer fashion aside, I wanted to talk about something not everyone knows about Nordstrom, something I thought was quite awesome and that's Nordstrom's lingerie section and how they offer fittings for women who have undergone mastectomies from breast cancer. They offer prosthesis services where women who have had the surgery can do fittings for breast forms with the store's certified specialists. Once the fitting is done, Nordstrom will also work with the customers' insurance provider for quicker reimbursement on the prostheses. They will carry prothesis bras but can sew a pocket for the prosthesis into any bra that the women like.

I think this is really really cool. I mean I realize that for huge companies like Nordstrom it's not THAT out of the ordinary to partner with a charity but I really do think it's great they offer this service. Why should bra buying be any different for women with breast cancer? Why should they have to go to a specialty store just for their underwear? It's challenging enough trying to find a bra that fits my measly A cups but at least I have the option of walking into a lingerie store knowing SOMETHING is going to fit. But when you've lost one breast (or both), your options are probably limited. And, as if they haven't been through enough with chemo and surgery, now buying underwear has to be such an ordeal too? So I commend Nordstrom for giving these women the option of buying bras with ease.

Maybe I'm mistaken and that's not the case, maybe it's not that big a deal for women with breast cancer to buy bras post surgery. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it but I'm sure it can't be easy and why take on one more bothersome detail? The point is, I think this is great and if you disagree well then bully for you.

For those of you who do agree with me and would like to know how else you can support breast cancer research, join me at the Nordstrom Fits America event on August 27th where you'll get a sneak peek at their bra department (offering sizes AA - KK) before the store opens on September 16th. For every bra purchased, Nordstrom gives $2 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.