Pinup dress and clothes Shopping Online How to's
I am on vacation this week so all my posts are post dated!
A majority of my clothes I do buy online from places I trust most of my experiences have positive so today, I am sharing some tips and tricks to shopping online for pretty dresses etc.
1. Do your homework- Read reviews. I discovered a lot of my favorite online shops from fashion bloggers/You Tubers, etc. Their feedback has helped me find the perfect/reasonable priced dresses/outfits out there. Also read full descriptions on products to make sure you know the sizes and measurements of items!
2. When in doubt size up-Your size is going to be different with different companies especially in the UK and some places run smaller than most sizes. Since I am currently plus sized and it's been a learning curve for me. Also depending on material of clothing makes a huge difference as well. For example skater dresses or Rosie dresses from Sourpuss clothing I can wear an XL because they are super stretchy and I fit in the comfortably, Retrolicious Dresses have a bit of stretch too so I wear a 1X everything else I am between an 2X-3X. Some women's sizes run smaller in general as well so I also size up when it comes to t-shirts, etc.
It is one disadvantage of buying online you can't try stuff on so it's A LOT of trail and mostly error. I do a lot of praying for stuff to fit!!
3. One size doesn't fit all-Keep that in mind. When I got my Wonder Woman skirt at Planet CC, I was sure it was going to fit me because it had an elastic waist but I was encouraged to try it on and it did fit. I lucked out. This is tricky online because again you can't try it on so you have to hope for the best. If you're unsure then don't buy it. Granted this was in person but it's still a good rule of thumb when shopping online too.
4. Know your measurements- Ugh this is the WORST but in all honesty this comes in handy to find your correct size again same applies with UK sizes where I ended up selling my dress from Lindy Bop because it did not fit due to size. It was disappointing to say the least! Same with the dress I bought on Amazon. I now carry a tape measure with me in my purse so I can do measurements of myself when I can, also write them down in your phone, etc so you have it on hand.
5. Looks can be deceiving- No matter how fancy or photo-shopped a photo looks online it's may not look amazing in person. There is a company out there called Dress Lily that falls under this category. I have not personally have ordered from them but I know other people that have and the experiences weren't all that positive. I did my homework (rule #1) and read their reviews, saw that there were more negative so I strayed from buying from them. Also Jessica Kellgren-Fozard all fellow vintage gal from the UK did a try on haul/review of Dress Lily:
One thing about this I worked for a Retail/Toy Company in customer service for many years and one of the most common mistakes people make is they don't read the description/sizes of products. I got a lot of "Well that isn't what the picture shows"
6. Read customer service/return/exchange polices! Okay you bought something it didn't fit or match the description of the product etc. Be sure to check out their policies on returns. Most companies have a 90 after the date of purchase to return items, some it's shorter example: Good Will is 7 days, Wal-Mart it's usually two weeks? Keep that in mind so you can get the merchandise back in an timely matter. Most places you can go online and set up your return/exchange with them and no human interaction.
Sourpuss does a form that you print, fill out by hand, and then you send the product back to them, once you send it back they will contact you about the return etc. I don't like talking on the phone that much so it's easier for me to do that then otherwise talk to a person. I usually do an exchange through Sourpuss so I make sure the product I am exchanging is around the same value of the item I am sending back.
Depending on the place you might just be able to donate your item to charity (depends on the company). That is one thing my old company did as opposed to sending the product back we had most people donate the products to a local charity and worked with them on a refund. Not only does it look good for the company and is good customer service the angry customer's attitude will change towards their experience.
Also some places that are in UK, etc it might be more pricey to send the item back my case with Lindy Bop, I just sold the dress at a swap and sell that person got a new a dress and I made some money.
When you send something back be sure you get a tracking number to make sure the product arrives to the location in a timely matter. Shipping is pretty inexpressive if you ship locally.
Lastly you may not always get your shipping and handling reimbursed. Most customer's would call me to make returns didn't always get their shipping back it basically had to be something that was completely our fault but a lot of moaning and groaning happens when they hear "You are responsible for shipping back to get your credit" It sucks I get it, but I've learned a valuable lesson that if it's my fault I will be paying for shipping.
7. Keep all your original packaging if you can/receipt etc. That's one important detail! I know I like to rip open stuff and toss it without thinking then you have to make a return. There have been countless times when customer's have called without that info, pain in the butt for sure. However it's important to have all that handy just in case.
If all else fails.....
Try shopping local. I talk about Daisy Jones Locker all the time. It is the best store ever. Of course there is Retro Vixen in KC and I found one in Iowa called Abernathy's so I have to go there sometime. But if you have a local pinup definitely shop there first and foremost. I mean I have to shop online majority of the time because DJL may not carry what I want exactly but I like to support small business as best I can.
I hope this helps!
Have a great weekend!
XO,
Miss Mag Nificent
A majority of my clothes I do buy online from places I trust most of my experiences have positive so today, I am sharing some tips and tricks to shopping online for pretty dresses etc.
1. Do your homework- Read reviews. I discovered a lot of my favorite online shops from fashion bloggers/You Tubers, etc. Their feedback has helped me find the perfect/reasonable priced dresses/outfits out there. Also read full descriptions on products to make sure you know the sizes and measurements of items!
2. When in doubt size up-Your size is going to be different with different companies especially in the UK and some places run smaller than most sizes. Since I am currently plus sized and it's been a learning curve for me. Also depending on material of clothing makes a huge difference as well. For example skater dresses or Rosie dresses from Sourpuss clothing I can wear an XL because they are super stretchy and I fit in the comfortably, Retrolicious Dresses have a bit of stretch too so I wear a 1X everything else I am between an 2X-3X. Some women's sizes run smaller in general as well so I also size up when it comes to t-shirts, etc.
It is one disadvantage of buying online you can't try stuff on so it's A LOT of trail and mostly error. I do a lot of praying for stuff to fit!!
3. One size doesn't fit all-Keep that in mind. When I got my Wonder Woman skirt at Planet CC, I was sure it was going to fit me because it had an elastic waist but I was encouraged to try it on and it did fit. I lucked out. This is tricky online because again you can't try it on so you have to hope for the best. If you're unsure then don't buy it. Granted this was in person but it's still a good rule of thumb when shopping online too.
4. Know your measurements- Ugh this is the WORST but in all honesty this comes in handy to find your correct size again same applies with UK sizes where I ended up selling my dress from Lindy Bop because it did not fit due to size. It was disappointing to say the least! Same with the dress I bought on Amazon. I now carry a tape measure with me in my purse so I can do measurements of myself when I can, also write them down in your phone, etc so you have it on hand.
5. Looks can be deceiving- No matter how fancy or photo-shopped a photo looks online it's may not look amazing in person. There is a company out there called Dress Lily that falls under this category. I have not personally have ordered from them but I know other people that have and the experiences weren't all that positive. I did my homework (rule #1) and read their reviews, saw that there were more negative so I strayed from buying from them. Also Jessica Kellgren-Fozard all fellow vintage gal from the UK did a try on haul/review of Dress Lily:
One thing about this I worked for a Retail/Toy Company in customer service for many years and one of the most common mistakes people make is they don't read the description/sizes of products. I got a lot of "Well that isn't what the picture shows"
6. Read customer service/return/exchange polices! Okay you bought something it didn't fit or match the description of the product etc. Be sure to check out their policies on returns. Most companies have a 90 after the date of purchase to return items, some it's shorter example: Good Will is 7 days, Wal-Mart it's usually two weeks? Keep that in mind so you can get the merchandise back in an timely matter. Most places you can go online and set up your return/exchange with them and no human interaction.
Sourpuss does a form that you print, fill out by hand, and then you send the product back to them, once you send it back they will contact you about the return etc. I don't like talking on the phone that much so it's easier for me to do that then otherwise talk to a person. I usually do an exchange through Sourpuss so I make sure the product I am exchanging is around the same value of the item I am sending back.
Depending on the place you might just be able to donate your item to charity (depends on the company). That is one thing my old company did as opposed to sending the product back we had most people donate the products to a local charity and worked with them on a refund. Not only does it look good for the company and is good customer service the angry customer's attitude will change towards their experience.
Also some places that are in UK, etc it might be more pricey to send the item back my case with Lindy Bop, I just sold the dress at a swap and sell that person got a new a dress and I made some money.
When you send something back be sure you get a tracking number to make sure the product arrives to the location in a timely matter. Shipping is pretty inexpressive if you ship locally.
Lastly you may not always get your shipping and handling reimbursed. Most customer's would call me to make returns didn't always get their shipping back it basically had to be something that was completely our fault but a lot of moaning and groaning happens when they hear "You are responsible for shipping back to get your credit" It sucks I get it, but I've learned a valuable lesson that if it's my fault I will be paying for shipping.
7. Keep all your original packaging if you can/receipt etc. That's one important detail! I know I like to rip open stuff and toss it without thinking then you have to make a return. There have been countless times when customer's have called without that info, pain in the butt for sure. However it's important to have all that handy just in case.
If all else fails.....
Try shopping local. I talk about Daisy Jones Locker all the time. It is the best store ever. Of course there is Retro Vixen in KC and I found one in Iowa called Abernathy's so I have to go there sometime. But if you have a local pinup definitely shop there first and foremost. I mean I have to shop online majority of the time because DJL may not carry what I want exactly but I like to support small business as best I can.
I hope this helps!
Have a great weekend!
XO,
Miss Mag Nificent
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