This weekend was the grand unveiling of Bellevue’s new shopping center The Bravern.
The layout of The Bravern is beautiful. They have spent a considerable amount of money to try and recreate a European villa shopping experience in the middle of downtown.
We visited on Saturday and although it was pretty busy I was surprised that the only areas truly swamped were the makeup counters at Neiman Marcus. I suspect many women were enjoying free make overs but how much they were buying.. I can’t say.
This was my first visit to a Neiman Marcus and I was very excited that the famous department store was coming to our little city. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. The store is quite small, so I don’t see that it brings any more selection than the large Nordstrom right up the road.
The main floor is makeup, shoes, and handbags and this appears to be where Neiman’s hopes to make it’s money. Cosmetics and perfume consume the entire center of the store. Men’s clothing is located on the lower floor and Women’s wear on the upper.
I have to say, the over all styling, clothing, and accessories selection of Neiman’s was very bling. They seem to be catering to a customer that wants to shout their wealth.
I saw a lot of leopard, patent leather, and gold. Sometimes all in one piece. There was a ton of animal prints. My husband claims that he saw penguin and that is all he will be wearing this Fall lol.
Most of The Bravern stores shared this.. flashiness. I expected it to be ritzy but I thought it would be done with class and only a few stores managed this. Most of what I saw was flat out gaudy.
I hate to be rude but honestly the Jimmy Choo store hurt my eyes. Not even a free glass of champagne can convince me that hot pink patent leather leopard peep toe pumps are a good idea.
There were some beautiful and classy pieces at The Bravern. The Salvatore Ferragamo shop was full of chic shoes and handbags in shades of taupe and black. There were plenty of killer spiky heels and studs to be had but it wasn’t distasteful.
Louis Vuitton was it’s classic stylish self but the store was small. I’m sure you’d get a better selection at the larger downtown Seattle store.
Anthropologie is the only store I will revisit. It is smaller than the downtown store and the layout is very confusing but it is still girly heaven. They have a tiny little separate room in the very back of the store with the word Sale just peeking out. It made me laugh that the discounted items had to be hidden from view.
Perhaps The Bravern is just what the uber rich of Bellevue want in a shopping complex but to me it felt…elderly. It really lacked anything fresh, interesting, and unique.
Have any of you local gals been to The Bravern? What did you think of it?
