Shopping for clothes online: hit or miss?
When it comes to online shopping, I buy more beauty items, jewelry and accessories. Other than safe items like tees, I hardly shop for clothes online unless it’s an absolute bargain, or the design is gorgeous.
Recently, I ordered some pieces via a spree because the deal was good and the designs seem fine when I view them online. However, one of the pieces looked like trash when I finally got my hands on it. I guess the model just managed to carry it well.
Advantages of shopping for apparel online
It’s definitely good to shop without having to leave home. In addition, there are lots of choices online and often then not, we can find good bargains and deals too. Plus, shopping online via sprees allows us to acquire designs that are otherwise not available locally.
Disadvantages of shopping for apparel online
However, shopping online means that we can’t try the clothes and can’t know for certain if the cut will fit us. A lot of times, the designs also look a lot better in picture but when received, are far from expectations due to the fabric and even color. Not to mention that online stores usually use beautiful models for their clothes, which give us the wrong illusion that the piece is well made or of a good cut.
Bargains help
Lucky thing I only choose bargain pieces when purchasing apparel online as I’ve sort of expected such problems. If the design doesn’t suit me, then I won’t feel such a loss should I decide to junk it.
So what about you? Do you shop for clothes online? And if so, was it a hit or a miss?
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i don’t like to buy clothes online altho’ i’ve plenty of experience, either the fit or quality or something tends to go wrong: designer markdowns are still too expensive to risk it altho’ i’m always tempted; most blogshop and sprees unfortunately feature clothes with dismal quality – i’ve bot a few and i don’t think i’m going for these so called bargains again, they almost always disappoint; ebay – only if they’re really a fabulous markdown; however i think there are some beautiful indie singapore designers who sell online e.g. swirl and with a good return policy, why not!
Buying accessories, i.e. bags, costume jewellery had been positive, however I dont think I had any many positive experiences buying cheap clothes from sprees. The quality is extremely bad and when u think abt returns, the items were usually not expensive enough to warrant efforts to return them (plus postage!).
Buying stuff from brand names like Victoria Secrets, Old Navy is a lot better. The only problem is with the sizing – and that is frustrating.
I don’t usually buy clothes online. Before the days of blogshops. Its just different buying clothes without giving it a try. Sometimes the texture is different to the picture, sometimes the size and cutting doesnt fit well.
Its a big leap of faith
For clothes, bags and shoes, I won’t shop online because I like to feel them before buying. Sometimes, clothes in the Isetan newsletter look so good but when I get there, bleh…
I haven’t bought from blogshops though…they cater mostly to younger crowd.
For me is a mix. Sometimes hit, sometimes miss. Some clothes bought via sprees are okay for me while others are terrible.
You’re right…the texture can be a lot different.
Yes, the touch and feel factor is important.
I purchase clothes online due to not being able to spend time in the store with three kids who have jitter bugs unless it is shopping for them LOL! I also have a harder time finding stuff in my size in local stores. I have had hits and then misses, ebay, the dealers are very helpful with returns. I also order online clothes that can design according to my measurements, those are totally awesome and can not go wrong. I am aware of the materials that I like and have had great success with them, like e-shakti is great, don’t know if I can post that here, but they are worth every penny for their beautiful summer clothes. All of my skirts are from ebay in thailand or nepal, I love their wrap skirts. I think with websites, they seriously should have a comment/rating system, this helps tremendously for them and for the customers. I have ordered shoes, which bums me out if it is not the right size, but most shoe websites will let you return for free and try to get the right size, I like shoeonline, they are very helpful. I have ordered facial products and have a harder time finding something that works for my skin, plus those are hard to return once you have already used up some of the products. Makeup is another big no for me ordering online, my skin tone is such a weird mix of different cultures, so by the time I get it in the mail it is not the right color, I have a hard time finding one locally so I do not bother with makeup anymore.
So in the end, clothing websites work for me, also word of mouth from friends on which sites they use works well for me, shoes are okay, depends. But for makeup, facial products, no, those do not work for me.
I forgot to add to the ridiculously long post I sent, where I have failed miserably is in ordering salwar kamises and sarees online, this is a huge failure, the materials that most post on their website is completely not it by the time you get them, plus half the time I have ordered even with made to measurements and get the wrong sizes, very very annoying and they will offer ‘free returns’ but by the time you get to the nitty gritty, they do not and it costs more to ship than the actual garment that you just purchased. Very very annoying. So if anyone looking for any fancy salwar kamise or sarees, I would strongly suggest using family members who perhaps live there in India/Pakistan. If you see any south-asian stores here in the US, be prepared to bargain, seriously, it is a huge rip off the price tags listed on their products, you can bargain with them, if you come in their completely doe-eyed and unaware, they will know it and not give you a bargain LOL!
Clothes are a big miss for me!!! So many, still sitting in the cupboard unworn. They usually don’t turn out as nice as they look on the website or the size is wrong. I’ve only had a few successes many many years ago on auction sites for second-hand clothes. Bags and accessories however are thumbs up. Must kick myself in the butt the next time i think of buying clothes online again.
Wow, you’re the opposite from most of us. It’s great you’ve had such luck with purchasing apparel online. It’s definitely good to be able to find stores that cater to your needs and even have easy return policies.
I like the idea of tailor make; maybe I should give it a try next time. But overall, I’m not much of a clothes horse so I don’t shop for apparel that much in a year too.
I shop online alot! With it comes experience.
Spree items are often not reliable, esp taiwan sprees as the items are usually of poor quality. Even accessories like bags and belts are of poor quality, such as very thin leather. However for online shops, the quality is similar to – and in fact, better than – the quality as in the photos.
Don’t give up on online apparel shopping just yet, you can try leaving suggestions on online shops so that they can cater to your tastes as well. Besides it’s really convenient!
Sometimes the pictures look really nice and that sort of tempts us to try out luck. Plus we’re also curious! Yeah, more luck with bags and accessories although sometimes, the size varies from expectations.
This is the first time I bought from a Taiwan source. The quality is so so but the design is quite crappy. It didn’t look so bad online. I guess I was curious cos there were so many sprees on it and I thought it should be popular. Haven’t tried blogshops cos the designs are rather youngish. Maybe another time! But really thanks for the advice! ?
I do buy online but only what I have seen in the shops already. Some shops at FEP and Bugis sells the same stuff as some online stores or blog shops where they source their stuff from Taiwan, Korea or China. So I can “try” first before buying them online at a cheaper price.
Ah that’s clever! I like the idea of trying first and buying from a cheaper source!
I always shop online, especially when it comes to clothes and some asian skincare. Sadly though, the place where I shop clothes at requires a $300 – $500 purchase since its a wholesale site. So I join sprees on some forums since its a little cheaper.
I do a lot of shopping online. So far, thankfully, have not had any negative experiences.
Sometimes it pays to check the Better Business Bureau before you buy from companies online.
Yeah, sprees are good to join for savings and buying hard to find products. I usually join those for skincare and cosmetics. Less for clothes and accessories. For the latter, I like to shop at Etsy.