I’m no novice to online shopping. In fact, I love it, because it means I can buy stuff without having to brave the hordes out there, and I get to shop international brands and sales 😀 But one aspect of online shopping has always eluded me somehow – shopping for clothes. These days, I’ve even managed to shop for shoes online, provided I’ve tried them on before or provided my shopping buddy has, because lo and behold, we share the same shoe size! You do not know how helpful that is until you actually have that sort of relationship. Trust me! 😀
Anyway, I recently picked up a very lovely shirt dress from J. Crew from an online sale. It looked pretty good online and I have to say the quality is good too. It is, by all accounts a well made dress that fits me well across the shoulders and I must be honest, that surprised me. My other online clothes shopping experiences have not been this successful. The only niggling problem I had is that I never realised just how much material went into that dress.
If I had tried it on in store, I might have balked at it because the dress made me look a little larger than I liked and that was a bit of a tragedy, because I otherwise like it! I love dresses with full skirts and this one had it.
I loved the feminine cut and the gorgeous full skirt that came with it. I suppose my little quibble is that it isn’t fitted at the top before flaring out, so I found myself with too much material up top where I have too little to fill it out 😛
So, if I wasn’t too careful, I’d end up looking top heavy and if I smoothed down the front and pulled the material to the back, I looked like I was wearing a bustle. Darn. So the dress is likely to be going back 🙁
On the upside, the J Crew No. 2 Pencil Skirt I ordered fitted quite well, if not quite perfectly. But then with my sort of body proportions (thanks, hips!) few pencil skirts fit perfectly where they should so I’m not as fussed about it. The material was very good, but I also found it a little more boxy than I expected.
Whilst this little online clothes shopping encounter wasn’t a 100% success for me (the shoes were a different story, since they were a perfect fit thanks to my shoe buddy!) I’m not going to write it off just yet. I just know I’ll be there at the next sale, scouring the mark downs, hoping to find something in my size that will fit. Something somewhere out there has to! 😉
So my tip for you after this little episode is this:-
- Know your style and preferences
- If possible, and if you have tried on clothes in a particular brand before, know your size
- Have a measuring tape close at hand (useful when I was deciding between an ambitious Size 2 or a more realistic Size 4 in the skirt. I went for the Size 4 and whilst I’m curious if a size 2 might not fit a little better, I’m also unsure if I’d still be able to breathe in a 2 :D)
- What you see may not be what you get. True of quality, designs etc. Hence a good, reliable website or brand is best or you risk getting crap.
- Pick a site with good customer and returns service – my purchases came from Net-a-Porter
Do you shop for clothes online? Do you have tips to share or perhaps your favourite online clothes shopping website?
Afer a very long time, this is my first time dipping my toe into the world of online clothes shopping. Can’t say its been a disaster but its most certainly been an education. I can’t wait to get at it again because I can’t bear to be beaten, you know 😉
Paris B
I’ve done my share of online shopping and I do find that the prices are cheaper for imported brands than the bricks and mortar shops in Malaysia. Problem is the sizing as you won’t get to try how the outfits look on you. Then again, when something is half the cost of what it is here it could be worth the risk.
I love J Crew and the quality of the clothing. I know they have a petite line for women 5’3″ and under, so you might want to look into that if the clothing proportions for the regular line don’t suit you.
Yep, I do find international brands more affordable online or overseas too. Which is why if I do shop in store, its only when there’s a sale on 🙂 Thanks for the reminder of the Petite range. I’ll have to see if Net-a-porter carries the petite range 🙂
That’s one cute dress, Paris. It’s such a bummer you have to return it. I’m a fan of J.Crew myself! I wear their Size 4. I’m always careful when shopping online particularly in buying clothes in US sizes. They’re different from the European sizing I’m used to. The only one store I usually buy my clothes online is Forever 21. As long as they are XS or S, I will be fine though sometimes their size S can be a little bit loose on me. I avoid buying skirts and trousers because I’ve smaller waist but wide hips (ugh!).
I LOVE online shopping :D. Some are still hit and miss, but I still love it. I often go to ASOS & Modcloth. I’ve made a mistake buying a US size instead of a UK which is smaller, I didn’t bother reshipping it, as it would be too expensive.
I’ve also bought a cute ballerina flats from loveclothing.com. But, LoveClothing doesn’t always have the best collection. Sheinside.com is also nice, the annoying part is, it takes about a week for them to dispatch an item. But, all of my orders from Sheinside made it safely. One more thing, I wouldn’t recommend shopping at Sammydress.com. Their customer service is like nonexistent, I’ve read so many complaints on their Facebook page & had an unpleasant experience there. It’s better to stay from that store!
Check out wanelo.com if you haven’t, it’s like Pinterest. The best part is you can find so many stores you haven’t heard of before.
Ohh mmyy,, sorry for the long post! hahaha..
No need to apologise, Fenny 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hi, i wanted to try online shopping after reading about your experience. How do you ship it over to Malaysia. I noticed that most US/ UK sites do not ship to Malaysia.
I have been lusting over a MK handbag and saw the clothes on J Crew. Looks gorgeous but i’m not sure how to ship it Malaysia.
Thanks. Btw, love reading your blog!
Hi Gina, I usually buy from stores that do ship to Malaysia. If you want to buy from a store that doesn’t, then you may have to use the services of a forwarder which is a company that provides you an address in the USA and then charges you to forward the package to you here in Malaysia. I have never used one as I find the shipping far too expensive. Net-a-porter stocks J Crew and some MK and they ship to Malaysia, if you’re keen!