Tips For Clothes Shopping Online With Ease & Success!: Online shopping has been gaining popularity for years and then the pandemic hit and, at least for a while, online shopping was the only way to buy clothes.
Now, as in-store shopping dwindles and some stores have closed, many people have adopted a hybrid (in-store AND online) approach to shopping.
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Since I regularly provide tips for clothes shopping to women, I’m acutely aware that not everyone is sold on the benefits of shopping online. If you’ve been an avid in-store shopper, but you now feel the urge (or need) to shop more online, let’s explore how it can be more gratifying.
In addition to all the information I’m sharing in the article I hope you’ll enjoy this very special video about online shopping complete with photos and examples:
Special Online Shopping Video from Ginger
Three advantages of shopping for clothing online:
1. More Options Online than in the Stores.
One day I was shopping online for shoes for a client. Many came from Nordstrom and so she decided she’d go to the store to try them on before buying them. When she got there, they only had a couple in stock and only one in her size. The clerk had to order them online to be sent to her. She realized she could have stayed home and purchased them online herself.
Because of limited space, stores carry only a fraction of what’s actually available and it’s not just shoes that are limited in the stores. If you wear a petite, tall or plus size, you know that you’ll only occasionally find those sizes in the actual store. Most are only available online if at all.
2. Gather Valuable Information from Others
One of my clients used to shop nearly exclusively at one local store. She relied on a particular sales woman to help her make choices, but too often she rarely wore what she bought even though the woman told her she looked great. She grew frustrated and couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t wearing the clothes.
Please know I am not suggesting that the sales woman purposely misled my client. I’m sure she believed they looked good, but the fact remained that my client rarely wore what she purchased and now had a wardrobe that hung there with tags.
There could be many reasons for her discontent. Maybe the balance was off, the colors weren’t flattering or the clothes didn’t reflect her unique personality and we evaluated each item individually. While it was nice that she enjoyed the store and appreciate the personal connection with the sales woman, she ultimately ended up with things that didn’t make her happy.
When you shop online you can read the reviews and see what other buyers are saying. You can find out if the style runs big or is uncomfortable or doesn’t wear well. I encourage you to read many reviews because they can conflict and sometimes it’s just a grumpy person with a grudge to bear who is writing the review. When you begin to see a theme, it gives you valuable information to help you decide what to do.
When shopping in a store, it’s totally understandable that you seek feedback from the sales staff if you don’t feel confident about what works on you. That’s wonderful as long as you love what you get and wear it. If you don’t then it’s important to make a change or feel more empowered yourself to make choices that work for you so you can say yes or no with confidence.
3. Easy Price Comparison.
If you’re someone who loves a treasure hunt or a bargain then there’s nothing better than online shopping since you can easily compare prices if the item is available on different websites.
Now let’s talk about one of the biggest drawbacks to shopping online…RETURNS!
I’ve been in enough closets that house items with tags still on them to know that returns are a pain in the neck. There are two things that might help:
· You can pretty much expect to return at least 50% of what you purchase. Yes, that’s true even for me. Why? Because you can’t always tell until you try something on or see it in real life to know if you’re going to love it. You’re not doing something wrong if you return at least as much as you keep.
· Think of the returns as a small price to pay for not having to drive to the store (if that store even exists locally) AND offering you a greater selection than you’ll find in most stores. And, think about the times you’ve purchased something in a store and still had to return it when you got home and realized it didn’t match what you were planning to wear with it or it wasn’t as comfortable as you thought. These days stores are making it easier to do returns. I also encourage you to shop first at the stores with generous shipping and return policies.
Of course, whether you’re shopping in a store or online, you’ll always have more success if you feel confident assessing a garment before you buy it.
To help, I want to share 5 questions to ask yourself every time you shop:
1. Does the color look fabulous on you? Just because the color is pretty doesn’t mean it’s going to look great on you. It’s the reason I have a red car! I look terrible wearing red so instead I drive a car in that beautiful color.
2. Does the fit look promising? Use the store sizing charts. They usually help. I recently checked the size chart before I purchased a top online. I’m 5’6” so not what I would consider tall by clothing standards. But when I looked at sizing, I realized I needed to buy the tall size to get the right length. It saved me making a return!
3. Does it reflect who you are? This is Diane. She’s someone whose personality is ‘brightly spirited.’ She has naturally high energy and if she wears delicate, pastel flower prints like the photo in the middle, she doesn’t feel empowered and authentic. She needs vibrancy to feel like herself.
4. What will you wear it with? Be sure you can make a complete outfit with it, so it doesn’t sit in your closet unworn. If you can’t then return it.
5. Where will you wear it? You want be sure you have clothes to meet all your lifestyle needs. What you don’t want is clothing that just sits in your closet because you have nowhere to wear it. For example, I had to stop buying knee-length dresses because, although they were pretty, I never put them on. They just sat in my closet. If you always ask yourself this question before you buy something, it’s more likely you’ll wear it often.
If you’ve been reluctant to dive fully into the world of online shopping, I encourage you to explore it keeping the information above in mind. Wherever or however you shop, the most important thing is that you have clothing in your closet that makes you happy to get dressed. Online shopping opens up new possibilities and can be a wonderful alternative or complement to in-store shopping.
SPECIAL VIDEO: Be sure to check out the video accompanying this article where I dive even more deeply into the pros and cons of online shopping as well as how to navigate a store (in-store or online) and share a few of my favorite shopping websites.
GINGER BURR
I’m Ginger Burr, founder of Total Image Consultants (www.totalimageconsultants.com), with a passion for empowering women to feel amazing about how they look! After more than 30 years of working with women and experiencing my own transformation prior to that (read more about this on my website (with pictures!), I’m well-acquainted both with the frustration that accompanies having a wardrobe you don’t love and the delight that comes with recognizing and embracing your own personal style.
If every morning you think, “I hope people will forget what I’m wearing,” it’s time for a change. In the beginning I couldn’t do it alone and you do not have to either. As one client said to me, “I’m tired of expending mental energy trying to figure out what to wear. It’s exhausting.” I can help you redirect that energy to create a wardrobe that makes your heart sing.
It’s a different journey for each person. That’s why I have many ways of supporting you from my book, ‘That’s So You! Create a Look You Love with Beauty, Style & Grace’ to my signature live online class, ‘Create Your Personal Style in 6 Weeks’ to working privately one-on-one with me. In each case, the basic elements are the same and you learn to dress with confidence without shedding pounds, sacrificing comfort or compromising who you are.
I am a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and a speaker and leader in the field of fashion and style. My experience and understanding of beauty trends and fashion has been celebrated by Allure Magazine, Fox TV News, The Boston Globe, MORE Magazine.com, cnn.com, Bloomberg Business Week, Forbes Magazine, and Worth Magazine and I have presented corporate seminars for some of the world’s most prestigious organizations including Harvard Business School, the U.S. Army and Unilever.
Above all, I have a heartfelt belief that whether you are 25 or 85, you deserve to feel radiant and pulled-together every time you get dressed. No matter where you live, what your lifestyle is like or how old you are, I delight in working with women who long to connect with their inner essence to create a wardrobe they love.
One Response
You made an interesting point when you mentioned that you have more options when shopping for clothes online. My wife wants to get a new dress to wear to her friend’s wedding. I will have to tell my wife that she should go online so that she can find the perfect dress.