Online shopping–specifically from fast fashion stores like Forever21, Missguided, and ASOS to name a few (a very small few)–can be annoying and frustrating, to say the least.
Shopping is obviously fun, and it is easy to click away and buy a bunch of clothes at such cheap prices, but it’s rare that you actually end up loving all the things you purchased. You wait days or even weeks for your new clothes to be delivered just to find that the dress you bought doesn’t even cover your whole butt, I have been there far too many times.
I have some tips and tricks that I would like to share with everyone so that you, too, can improve your shopping experience. Why should you listen to me? Besides the fact that shopping is my favorite pastime, I have MAJOR anxiety in big, extremely bright stores (I’m a weirdo. I know.), so I learned how to shop online quickly and effectively.
In general, it is good to know your measurements, that way you can correctly use the size guide given for each brand.
Photo Courtesy of Lulus.com
Online shopping can be a little tricky because 1. It must be long enough and 2. Things can easily go awry with the type of fabric and making sure it fits your bust or booty properly!
So.. to avoid this read the description of the item. Every website and should tell you what fabric is used to make the specific garment. If you don’t know what polyester or rayon feel and look like check out your closet and see if any of your current clothes are made from the fabric in question.
Photo Courtesy of Lulus.com
If you are worried about if the dress is long enough, see if the site says the model’s measurements! Or again, check the description to see if there are measurements.
Another great way to tell if you like the dress is zooming in on the image; I can’t tell you how many times the dress I thought was red was actually pink! Zooming in and blowing up the images can also help you notice seams that could be in awkward places resulting in the item looking cheap.
Photo Courtesy of Lulus.com
Last but DEFINITELY not least and honestly this is probably the most important is to READ REVIEWS!!! Seriously, this is the best way to find out how this dress, top, pants, shoes fit and looks. I know so many people get annoyed because some websites don’t use models of all shapes and sizes so it’s hard to tell based off a model that doesn’t have their body type.
Photo Courtesy of Lulus.com
If you are questioning an item after all of that, chat with someone who works there or email the brand, they know their clothing best… or at least they should!
Photo Courtesy of Lulus.com
Also, if your package doesn’t make it by the estimated delivery time or the store is giving you the run around don’t be afraid to message them and tell them what is what. They should give you a discount code for wasting your time and if not then argue it with your card (I occasionally have too much time on my hands).
If you’re a college student don’t forget to download the UNiDAYS app, they have huge discounts at a lot of name brand stores!