From the delicate part in her hair down to the toes peeking out of her T-strap pumps, Sarah Radoll is a dyed-in-the-wool Northwest girl. Raised in Redmond, now living on Queen Anne, Radoll spends her days working at the downtown Nordstrom. But don't let her status as a budding fashionista fool you: Radoll's just as happy spending a Saturday helping her mom reorganize her closet as she is shopping and club hopping.

SCOOP-NECK SWEATER, $20 from H&M (350 Washington St, Boston, 617-482-7001, www.hm.com); white blouse, $20 from Urban Outfitters (1507 Fifth Ave, 381-3777).

Like coffee and cream, this blouse-and-sweater combo is a natural pair. On the outside is a puffed-sleeved, scoop-necked sweater from H&M, the high-style/low-price fashion retailer where Radoll shopped during a September visit to Boston. On the inside is a lace-trimmed white blouse Radoll procured from a local Urban Outfitters. "I always wear these together," says Radoll.

GAUCHOS by Necessary Objects, $40 at "some boutique on Newbury Street in Boston."

Another stylish souvenir from Radoll's Boston sojourn, these cream-colored, pleat-front gauchos have become a beloved addition to her sartorial life. "I knew gauchos were coming back in style, and I thought these were adorable," says Radoll. According to Hispanic Journey, an educational website created by the students of Mr. Balochie's Spanish II classes at San Jose's Santa Teresa High School, actual gauchos are not stylish Mexican culottes, but rather South American cattlemen who roam the plains of Patagonia, living on horseback and drinking yerba mate, a tea-like drink served in a gourd and sipped through a silver straw called a bombilla. While their numbers have decreased drastically in the 21st century, gauchos still exist, continuing their herding-and-tending work on the South American plains. As for clothing, gauchos are known for broad-brimmed hats, long-sleeved cotton shirts, and baggy pants called bombachas, suggesting that the application of the name "gauchos" to the seasonally fashionable shorts is a load of honky bullshit. As for Radoll's own gauchos: "I love how they're different," says Radoll, "with the pleat in the front and the bottoms like the bottoms of a heart. They've been everything I hoped they'd be."

SHOES by Marc Jacobs, $400 at Nordstrom (1617 Sixth Ave, 628-2111); BLACK TIGHTS by Hues, $12 at Nordstrom.

At the bottom of Radoll's tights-swaddled legs come her ensemble's pèice de résistance—a pair of open-toe, T-strap Marc Jacobs pumps, typically retailed for $400, purchased by Radoll during an extra-special Nordstrom discount day for a mere $200. She remains exceedingly grateful for her good luck.

VINTAGE WOODEN BEADS, priceless, purchased by the wearer's mother in the Philippines (south of China, north of Indonesia).

Even more than her discounted shoes, Radoll's string of vintage wooden beads came to be in her possession through the luckiest of circumstances. Purchased by her mother in the Philippines before Radoll was born, the beads have long entranced Radoll. Then, after a weekend spent cleaning out and reorganizing her mother's closet, Radoll was presented with the beads as a reward from her appreciative mom. Radoll's healthy, loving relationship with her mother is an inspiration to us all. The world would be a happier place if all mothers were as caring and concerned as Radoll's. That, sadly, is not always the case. Bad mothers are seemingly everywhere, from Susan Smith to Joan Crawford to Andrea Yates. Some mothers are so toxic that they literally beggar belief. (Google "Australia," "South East Centre Against Sexual Assault," and "mother-daughter" to explode any delusions you may have of the inherent moral superiority of women.) Such concerns are nonexistent in the harmonious world shared by Radoll and her mother. And the beads weren't all: "My mom had so much cool stuff I never knew about," says Radoll. "Lots of cool vintage stuff." For example? "Some really cool rosary beads. But my mom says I'm not allowed to have them until later in life." Here's hoping Radoll makes it: Despite her fastidious personal appearance, Radoll lives in a world crawling with deadly germs. Take that table her hand is resting on: Such surfaces are typically rife with the grit of humanity, from viruses like pneumonia and the common cold to salmonella bacteria, fecal flora, skin flora, and respiratory secretions. Experts recommend frequent washing of hands with soap and water, scrubbing for the length of time it takes to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice. Sing out, Radoll!