Do you people buy clothes online?



  • Have any tipzzz?

    I bought some nice-looking Columbia work shirts from Amazon, turns out they were fishing shirts and completely inappropriate for the office. Now I have to return them which is a PITA.

    Although now that I read the reviews, a bunch of other people are saying they wear them to the office and don't care that they're "fishing" shirts. Hm.

    Well whatever. What are tips and tricks when buying clothes online to minimize having to return stuffs?



  • @blakeyrat said:

    What are tips and tricks when buying clothes online to minimize having to return stuffs?

    If I'm buying clothes online I go for things that I already have. Like buying new copies of a work shirt in other colors or whatever so I don't need to figure fit and things by guessing. Getting clothes without a good in person reference point leads to returns or something that is not quite right but close enough to not bother with returning it.



  • I tried to do that but the shirt I have that I like best, the label is totally washed away and unreadable so I have absolutely no idea what brand/size it is.

    It's a cheap shirt I got at like Fred Meyer or Target or maybe Kohl's, but I'll never find it again. 😿



  • You could look for something that looks close and try guessing from there, but at best you will get the little off result. If it was a cheap department store thing then I'd suggest either going with a common basic label or something with no real recognizable company name as it's going to be one or the other.



  • I have to do this.

    What's a fishing shirt?



  • No


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @blakeyrat said:

    completely inappropriate for the office.

    I guess that mainly depends on your office, doesn't it? That would not be out of place most of the places I have worked, including large companies.

    ETA: having said that I didn't want to just disagree with you. I guess I would go with a modified form of the "keep buying what you buy" advice, except once you find, say, a brand you like, you will probably be OK buying similar products of the same brand online.

    (I tend to wear a mix of short-sleeve button-down shirts and polos to the office, with a moderately eclectic taste in fabric; I have a button-down in Hawaiian style, but it's got classic cars as the pattern.)


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    @locallunatic said:

    If I'm buying clothes online I go for things that I already have. Like buying new copies of a work shirt in other colors or whatever so I don't need to figure fit and things by guessing. Getting clothes without a good in person reference point leads to returns or something that is not quite right but close enough to not bother with returning it.

    This.

    I am in between sizes and oddly shaped, so I have to find a large Large, or a small XL. Mostly due to broad shoulders, but now that I am 36 I have also stopped growing up and now grow out. If I cannot try it on, it usually won't fit.

    I typically buy shirts and such in stores. I buy jeans, pants and shorts online though because once you know brand, style and size they are pretty fool proof to order. Other than that, I order goofy t-shirts online and that is about it.

    Oh, and belts. It is nearly impossible to buy a good belt in a store so I order from a leather worker. Again, a pretty fool proof purchase.


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    @loose said:

    What's a fishing shirt?

    I went to find an example, stumbled upon www.womeninwaders.com and realized that Rule 34 really is a fucking rule.



  • Paging @cartman82



  • I have enough trouble finding fitting clothes when I can try them on first, I'm not about to buy online. If only the various sizes were actually standard and didn't vary wildly depending on brand...

    The worst one was a pair of 32-length jeans I had that were a bit too short, so I bought a pair of 34-length, and they were too long by about 4 inches.



  • Yes. Shop for Brooks Brothers shirts on eBay. Just look at the shirt in the photos: does it look like it's in decent condition? (The most worn spots will be the edges of the collar and cuffs - look there first). Read the description: does it say "no stains, tears, or reports of demonic possession"? If both are "yes" then you're good to go. Also I'm presuming that you know your proper size already.

    I buy 75% of my clothes on eBay and I've only returned maybe 2 or 3 items out of (say, 150) purchases. I'm probably a little too much into fashion, but at least I always look damn good.



  • @rc4 said:

    Just look at the shirt in the photos: does it look like shit? Read the description: does it say "no stains, tears, or reports of demonic possession"? If both are "yes" then you're good to go.

    Um, I think I'd prefer that the answer to the first question be "no."


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    @HardwareGeek said:

    Um, I think I'd prefer that the answer to the first question be "no."

    Well played old chap. Well played.



  • Fuck, I'm too tired for this AND I'm on mobile. You've beaten me at my own game, bravo.



  • 👕
    💩



  • Yeah, the (if any) standards for clothing sizes are adjusted to fit the "politics" of the retail outlet concerned.

    http://www.laurenlovesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/clothing-sizes.jpg



  • Generally, you'll find (for men's clothing, at least) that:

    • Some more "hip"/"trendy" brands (or those geared towards younger people) will be a slimmer cut by default
    • The more traditional brands will feature more traditional cuts in their "regular" fit (that is, a bigger, boxier cut)
    • Most brands offer both with their "slim" and/or "tailored" fits

    So a size Medium isn't the same everywhere anymore, you have to worry about the brand and what "fit" it is now. Some just choose to have slimmer or wider cuts as standard because they're targeting people who wear that.



  • For me my trousers are (currently) 35, regular. As you say, what that actually means varies from shop / brand to shop / brand. Buying online, and thus providing advice to the OP as requested, is a lottery in terms of what the actual leg measurement is going to be. Actually this applies to any item of clothing where the size of which is described using "words" (I guess this is a perfect real world example of where "strings" should have absolute "numerical" values).

    All that being said, any size quoted or otherwise is meaningless after the first wash.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    buying clothes online to minimize having to return stuffs

    Sorry, just re-reading OP and when I got to this bit, my evil mind came up with "don't pay for them". Of course, it didn't supply any hints or tips on what to do with the consequences of adopting such a strategy, but I found it amusing all the same. If only because it is a, near, Microsoft Complete answer.



  • @loose said:

    Paging @cartman82

    Wha?

    @blakeyrat said:

    Well whatever. What are tips and tricks when buying clothes online to minimize having to return stuffs?

    Why would you buy it online in the first place? More problems than upsides that I see.


  • kills Dumbledore

    @loose said:

    don't pay for them

    My wife has taken to buying clothes off the buy now, pay later sites to avoid having to deal with refunds and just be able to send them back. Personally, I don't buy clothes online. I like to try stuff on and feel the fabric



  • With the exception of band T-shirts (which are notoriously tough to find, and occasionally need to be imported via eBay or somesuch), pretty much exclusively brick and mortar.

    Honestly, why bother ordering clothes online when I can just step into any shop and probably find myself some shirt or jeans in 5 minutes or less?


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @blakeyrat said:

    Have any tipzzz?

    Be very careful of importing (there's an assload of regulations there that normal people know nothing about) but otherwise, it's just mail order with a better than normal catalog. I get my trousers that way. You probably want to stick with a company you know that does stuff in sizes/shapes that suit you; the size on the label is never the whole story, and the particular cut they use can matter a lot.

    A colleague of mine buys shoes online. She always buys two pairs in slightly different sizes and sends back the pair which doesn't fit. (I don't buy shoes online. There's a really good and cheap shoe shop about 10 miles away from home that's run by a little old man in the old way. Really good service and half the price I'd expected to pay.)



  • Only tee shirts with silly slogans, other than that, no.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @Maciejasjmj said:

    I can just step into any shop and probably find myself some shirt or jeans in 5 minutes or less?

    Lucky asshole. Nothing seems to fit me right these days. I'm starting to just buy stuff that fits my rack and alter the waistline until it sits right. Which is one fit of insanity shy of just making my own tops. and don't even get me started on how hard it is to find a well-fitting bra!

    Between fit, and not wanting to be pressured by salespeople trying to convince me to buy expensive stuff I don't really like, I prefer to clothing shop online. Unfortunately, returning stuff is a fact of life: it's the equivalent of trying it on and deciding "nah, not for me, thanks." I make sure to pay with a credit card if I'm unsure or buying from a new place, because it's easier to return things if I'm not out any money until the end of the month.

    Also, look for free returns. Some places charge you the shipping when you return things, which is stupid. Some then add a restocking fee, so you're out like, half the cost of the garment regardless. Ideally you want a policy like this one: http://www.zappos.com/shipping-and-returns


  • Garbage Person

    I basically only buy clothes online now. Finding anything above 42 waist in stores is fucking impossible unless you go to Fat Men Inc., where they really don't want to stock anything below 50. My svelte 46-48 is hugely underserved and 'Tall' shirts are completely unheard of (and normal 2XL is too short, and 3XL looks like a blimp).

    Basically, I ordered one of everything that looked appropriate and returned everything that wasn't. Wore the rest to figure out what sucked and what didn't.

    Had one bad event where I settled into a particular line of pants (fuck you, Lee) and suddenly after 3-6 months the fucking belt loops started tearing right off under virtually no strain, and by then they'd occupied my entire wardrobe and I had to start from scratch in pants. I currently like these:

    I still haven't found shirts I'm really happy with.

    Amazon, IMO, is the only place to buy clothes.

    I also shoe shop exclusively online. Mostly because it's the only way to get the same damn pair of Nikes over and over again.

    Stuff like socks, undershirts and underwear I just nab at Walmart because, fuck it, they're consumables.



  • Ok more specifics on my situation:

    I basically follow the Einstein philosophy, where he supposedly kept his closet full of a dozen identical suits so he never had to spend time thinking about what to wear in the morning. I basically hang my shirts up in the order they come out of the dryer, and wear them each day in that same order.

    I already buy online:

    • Shoes (once you have a size/brand, online is VASTLY superior to brick-and-mortar stores, which have constantly shifting selections and never the size you needed in the style you wanted)
    • Jeans (ditto the shoe story-- in brick-and-mortars it's always hard to find the cut you want in the brand you want in the size you need. Trivial online.)
    • Undies, socks, undershirts

    So it's basically just button-up work shirts that I'm missing.

    Re: Amazon - I must be doing something wrong, because when I searched Amazon for button-up work shirts, I ended up with fishing shirts complete with bait pockets. (In retrospect, this is probably because people in the reviews said they were wearing the shirts as work shirts.) So maybe I'm using the site wrong? To me it seemed like an awful experience for buying clothes. Some pages have all the color options laid out, others are pages for just one color, sporting goods mixed in with work shirts... there has to be a better site. Shirts with a "small medium large" size selection didn't have the Zappos-like "did this fit as expected" survey, which is an obvious thing to have. I found clicking the "Prime only" checkbox helped some.

    The shirt I love and fits perfectly and I'd like to have more of is a pullover shirt with three buttons at the neck. Since the brand/size on the label is completely worn away, that's about the best I can say.

    EDIT: BTW the Cubavera shirts I bought in the same purchase as the fishing stuff are fine, they fit well and look pretty good. So I can recommend that brand.



  • @ScholRLEA said:

    Only tee shirts with silly slogans, other than that, no.

    Basically the same here, although I will buy "sleeping clothes" and possibly socks online as well.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    I ended up with fishing shirts complete with bait pockets.

    You know what, I think one of my shirts I've been wearing to work is a "fishing shirt". I was wondering what that pocket was for...



  • These have bait pockets, and a swimsuit-like mesh at the back of the neck (so they dry faster when they get wet-- like swimming trunks). And weird velcro straps at the top, I guess for hanging fishing line from?

    But honestly other than that they look pretty close to an office shirt. Since I already de-labeled one of the two I bought, I might wear it in and see what happens.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    I might wear it in and see what happens.

    As long as it doesn't smell like fish, you're probably ok.


  • Garbage Person

    Yeah, the Amazon shirt buying experience is not good. I'm still working through it. At the old office, I just wore an endless parade of blipshift.com shirts (Car themed tees), but for some inexplicable fucking reason it's collars or death in this office.



  • Well I like Kohls brick-and-mortar experience, maybe I'll try their online experience.


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    @blakeyrat said:

    Well I like Kohls brick-and-mortar experience, maybe I'll try their online experience.

    I fucking hate Kohls. I like their clothing, but their Bulls hit of "everything in this store is on sale 100% of the time" means they think their customers are morons.

    Now, they are not wrong. Most people are. But I am not and that shit annoys me.


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    @blakeyrat said:

    Shoes (once you have a size/brand, online is VASTLY superior to brick-and-mortar stores, which have constantly shifting selections and never the size you needed in the style you wanted)

    There's another one that I buy online. I have wide feet, and finding shoes in EE in stores can be difficult. Especially in sneakers, etc. So I order from Zappos, etc.



  • @Polygeekery said:

    everything in this store is on sale 100% of the time"

    There's a store near me that's had a "2 day sale" going continuously for probably at least a year now...


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    There's a store near you that has a marketing person who should have their fingernails ripped off with a pair of rusty pliers.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    Sounds like a great plan!



  • @Polygeekery said:

    I fucking hate Kohls. I like their clothing, but their Bulls hit of "everything in this store is on sale 100% of the time" means they think their customers are morons.

    That's slightly annoying, but I like their cash back program. ("Buy $100 today, get $30 off if you come back within 3 months" or whatever it is.)

    If stuff is on sale all the time, that doesn't really change how I think about the store. The price tags are still correct, and that's all I care about.



  • @Polygeekery said:

    There's a store near you that has a marketing person who should have their fingernails ripped off with a pair of rusty pliers.

    Why? Are the price tags wrong?

    Who cares if it's a "sale" or not, the point is what price you can buy things at. Just ignore the red signs and live your life.

    That's just so pointlessly violent.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Maciejasjmj said:

    Honestly, why bother ordering clothes online when I can just step into any shop and probably find myself some shirt or jeans in 5 minutes or less?

    If you aren't an average size and/shape, you might have trouble finding stuff that fits you.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Yamikuronue said:

    Which is one fit of insanity shy of just making my own tops.

    That's actually not too big a deal; I have an aunt who made most of her kids' clothes growing up. As a teen I actually made a pair of shorts from her patterns that came out well enough I wasn't ashamed to wear them in public. Plus, unless you have a total lack of talent in that area, I would think making your own clothes fits right in with steampunk cosplay.


  • Grade A Premium Asshole

    @blakeyrat said:

    That's just so pointlessly violent.

    That's how I live my life, because of course I was advocating torturing a marketing person and not just saying that for comedic effect.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @blakeyrat said:

    But honestly other than that they look pretty close to an office shirt. Since I already de-labeled one of the two I bought, I might wear it in and see what happens.

    Bring it in, and bring a spare shirt with you. If you're concerned you'll get yelled at, wear the safe one. Show the new one to management and/or HR and ask. If they say no, you've got a safe shirt with you.

    Wear it on Friday if your work does casual Friday, and ask if it would be appropriate for the rest of the week.



  • @FrostCat said:

    Bring it in, and bring a spare shirt with you. If you're concerned you'll get yelled at,

    Jesus do you work for Nazis?

    I'm not worried about being "yelled at." (By who? Why?)


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @FrostCat said:

    I would think making your own clothes fits right in with steampunk cosplay.

    Yeah, but it takes me the better part of a weekend to make one shirt, so it's not really sustainable for everyday.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @blakeyrat said:

    Jesus do you work for Nazis?

    No, you unimaginative boob. I didn't literally mean "get yelled at." You should really stay away from computers until you get professional help.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Yamikuronue said:

    Yeah, but it takes me the better part of a weekend to make one shirt, so it's not really sustainable for everyday.

    I would hope regular everyday shirts don't take as much effort as cosplay outfits!



  • @FrostCat said:

    No, you unimaginative boob. I didn't literally mean "get yelled at."

    Why don't you tell me what you did mean, then. I am not telepathic, as I've said here about 50,000 times.

    You boob.


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