Online shopping

[that 70's mike]

I'm currently studying at a university hours away from a majour city. Few stores around the area carry anything to my liking.

What do you guys think about buying clothes online?
Any advice, previous experience, or sites would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
mike

 

[GQgeek]

if it's only a few hours away, make trips to the city a couple times a year and do all your shopping at one time. When i was at some school in the middle of nowhere i made trips to nyc at least once a year to shop. you'll find that selection online is limited. You can find some good stuff but you cant build a whole wardrobe.

 

[PConsultant]

I live in a major city with lots of places to shop. However, I like shopping online because it can be done quickly and retailers' sites often have clearance or sale items that can't be found in their stores.

However, before you do this you need to be sure of your sizes and how the clothes from the designer or retailer fit you. Otherwise, you're in for a heap of trouble. Oh yeah - be prepared to possibly return the clothes. If the retailer has a store nearby that you can return it to, that's a major help. (For example, J. Crew doesn't allow site orders to be returned at their stores, Banana Republic does.)

One thing I like to do is try on a piece of clothing I like at a retailer and if it's too expensive, wait until it's on sale on the website to order it. It's easier than constantly having to go back to the store and possibly missing the chance to get the piece.

 

[j]

One thing I would suggest is to find yourself a very good tailor nearby and get to know him well. Then you can shop on ebay and online without worrying too much if the garment you are getting will be able to fit you. This is of course for alterable garments such as suits. Or if you are thrifty/poor/cheap like me, learn how to do your own alterations. It's not as hard as you might think, at least the simpler stuff, and it often means the difference between a pair of pants I will toss and one I will want to wear every day. Once you get some experience with it you can even change the styles of garments to stay with the fashion. E.g., a couple of years ago I took a pair of pants that were wide-leg and too casual and baggy for my liking and made them a more boot-cut / straight leg fit. It took me about 1/2 an hour and cost about $0.00, not including the thread. I wore them all the time after that because they were exactly what I wanted.

Anyway, </ramble mode>, get your tailor to take all the measurements you see on stuff on ebay if you are thinking of buying there, then you will be able to look at your list whenever looking at an item to see immediately whether it will be able to fit you.

 

[hwaseng]

May I suggest, if you can find a good tailor, you can buy fabrics at my web-site www.hst.com.sg and you can have your suit or suit tailor made for you.

 

[bigbadbuff]

(For example, J. Crew doesn't allow site orders to be returned at their stores, Banana Republic does.)

I have never had a problem returning site-bought items to the store. They even used to take clearance items back, they've recently stopped that.