Why I never like buying clothes online...thus far...

Today's consumers have become savvier, aren't they? "Money can buy happiness" or "Have money, will spend" have become the mantra for retail therapy for clothes and footwear very often. Bummer, I know!! But hey, with the boom of online shopping sites, shopping has become very easy-peasy. Just know your size, choose your items, make your payment and voila!! Sit back and relax at home, and wait for your parcel to arrive. No more queuing to try out clothes, or tailing by those nosy salespeople. Just pure indulgence without burning a drop of the ever-increasing fuel...really?? I'm not so sure about buying clothes online though...

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I bought clothes online before too, few years ago. Then I avoided online shopping. I think I have forgotten the reason? Since a year ago, I tend to occasionally question myself as to why I never buy clothes online. I see friends and bloggers doing it. Some bloggers even have that advertisement space in their blogs for the online shops, or model clothes for the online shops. I in fact subscribed to a few favourite online shops newsletters because I like their pretty and cute dresses. So why I'm still unsure about online shopping for clothes? ┐(‘～`；)┌

I was reminded why I avoid it, though, upon a recent purchase at Pink N Proper ("PNP" hereinafter).

It's nearing the end of December 2013. While clearing some of my stuff (I have too many beauty products scattered around, some have even dominated part of my sofa (*_*)), I came across this discount code from PNP voucher, which I got as door gift from The Butterfly Project Spa Party. A RM50 discount code. Not a big sum, but still something right? And I knew that PNP was having some sales in conjunction of the Christmas and New Year, and free postage throughout the month. Great, I don’t have to pay for the postage!!

So I logon to my lappie and browsed through the PNP site to see if there’s anything that I like. I remember I straight away clicked on the ‘Sales’ tab, and didn’t bother to look at other tabs. Items on sales should be cheaper and within my RM50 budget mah right? Not so…many of the items were still priced at around RM70-RM90+….there were few at RM55 though, but none at RM50 lol…so I thought RM55 was not so bad lah, I just need to fork out RM5 only…so from about 4 to 5 items at RM55, I finally chose this, Rare London Floral Sleeveless Shirt-Dress in Blue…I chose this dress mainly because of the flower motif…I thought I can wear it for the coming CNY, so…yeah, I thought I can avoid the CNY shopping craze out there (*｀▽´) 

Source: PNP Website

Looking at the model pictures, and given the model’s body measurement exactly same as mine (except that I may be 3-4cm shorter), I was confident that the dress can fit me perfectly. So happy I was, thinking that I found ‘the dress’ for CNY. And then the parcel arrived, one week later (because PNP was on break during the whole Christmas week). Holy cow…!! 

Source: PNP Website

Now, I’m not sure who decides the sizing qualifications there but they’re strange…The dress would fit in the stomach, but dramatically big at the chest. I was wondering if my arms are too thin? But no way, my arms are already *fat*on its own style…Or was it my breasts? Are they too small? Lol…maybe, but if that so then so is the model’s breast size lol!!! So why the model can fit the dress perfectly as depicted in the picture? Or really, am I strangely proportioned? Haha…your wild guess? LoL…and after I ordered the piece, it became "Sold Out" thereafter...so my piece could be an 'unwanted' piece o(TヘTo)

the dress shape when not worn

the label says it's a size: small/ uk8 / eur36/ us4

the fabric is kind of 'spoilt'

the lining thread comes out

me wearing the dress; view from front

me wearing the dress; view from side

woah...'airy' side...

I'm not saying that you will run into bad or badly-fitting clothing every time. Some websites are authentic, and provide ample information so that you can make correct choices…well, actually I’m not so sure, perhaps due to my lack of experience in online clothes shopping… But just picture this! You walk into a clothing store, and immediately walk out with the first dress you see. Does this happen? Absolutely not! You go through a strenuous process of choosing the perfect length, width, and fit, by trying them out. How can this process be bypassed with just a click of a button?

Thus I will still prefer to visit a brick and mortar store for clothes. I get to see, touch, and feel the products, and if I’m lucky I can haggle a little. Most importantly, I get to try the clothes physically, admiring myself if the clothes fit me perfectly, otherwise return to the salesperson if it’s not…I am especially particular on fitting perfectly into clothes that I'm buying...the point is, I get to make 'informed' decision to buy or not to buy...AEON has excellent policy of returning clothes in a certain number of days, without questions asked…I knew, because I did it twice or thrice before :p

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But with online shopping, I would miss out on this experience. I don't get to see the actual color, I don't get to feel the material, I cannot try out the outfit, nor can I bargain a little…And so I might not get what I expected. Apart from the humiliating feeling that the ill-fitting clothes leave me with, there comes another 'easier-said-than-done' task of returning the clothes and getting the money back. You need to ship it back, and most of the time you have to bear the postage cost. As for damaged clothing e.g. thread comes out like my case here, some don't even bother to refund/exchange for you, as if the damaged clothing is not their fault!!!

So for time being, no online shopping for clothing for me…Unless there's any happy buyer or any online clothes shop out there wants to prove me wrong?

I welcome your comments (๑>◡<๑)

p/s: Use code NYE20 or XMAS20 to get RM20 rebate at PNP ^_^ Valid until 28/02/2014.