I can’t be the only one that hates online clothes shopping?

[Karmachameleons]

I am so gytted that high street clothes shops are shutting.

I need to try clothes on to know if they fit me or flatter my shape.

I need to see and feel the fabric - this is really crucial!

I need to see colours in real life, not rely on a rubbish computer monitor.

I also like to see what’s displayed tigether for inspiration, and I like to see what other people in the shop are wearing and trying on! (Yes, it’s nosy, but it helps give me ideas!)

I HATE online shopping and 95% of the stuff I have bought online has been a disappointment.

100% of my most favourite clothes were tried on in a shop.

SURELY I can’t be alone in this? I had so much been looking forward to post pandemic clothes shopping but it’s looking increasingly likely there will be no clothes shops left and I will be wasting my money on shitty crap cunningly displayed on a beautiful online model for the forseeable .

Lucky you to have a choice - at 6’1 I haven’t had the luxury of shopping in store for years. Online shopping sucks, it is a numbers game and completely hit and miss.

I prefer online shopping as I can’t really get to the shops due to having DC.
I prefer to be able to try items on in my own house with my own full length mirror and with my own accessories etc.
I only choose online retailers that have really good reliable Free online returns like ASOS.
The returns can be dropped off really easily at many retailers these days too not just at a post office.

I still online shop a lot but send back about half of what I buy because of quality / fit etc

@Ginfordinner

I agree. I'm not a standard shape and size, and often take 2 or 3 sizes into the changing room with me. There is absolutely no way I would ever buy jeans or footwear online as the correct fit is crucial.

I don't want to wear slippers and baggy clothes for the rest of my life, and I don't want to spend half of my life queuing in the post office to return ill fitting clothes.

My choice of shops for clothes shopping just gets smaller and smaller

And, I actually enjoy having a browse round the shops.

This. All of this. I'm petite and subtly out of proportion.

I definitely feel like this hits harder if you're a non-standard shape. I've found dresses that fit perfectly width wise but hang so low my nipples are literally above the neckline. Likewise, jumpers that are fine as a fit on the body, but the sleeves are 6" too long.

They NEVER provide information on things like sleeve length on websites.

I don't think there's any correlation between a 'standard shaped woman' whatever that is, and what shape most clothes actually fit.

I'm a fairly average shaped woman in that I know as many women that are taller than me as shorter and as many that are bigger as are smaller.

I'm typically female shaped with boobs, a waist and hips, I am slightly above average height at 5'7, but not unusually so. But yet, going by the shape that most clothes are, you'd have thought that they'd never seen anyone remotely my shape when making the clothes. No idea who they're supposed to fit. Slim teenagers is the usual answer, which I find hard to believe about the sorts of shops I look in.

I also don't like the online shops like Asos (probably also BooHoo too but I've never looked on there) that have literally thousands of options
Next have gone this way as well. I tried to get DC some baby grows and in the shop I walk to the baby section and pick up a multi pack of vests. Online I had to wade through several different brands, everything fro. Frugi to F&F by Tesco. I just wanted a pack of Next baby grows.

I'm not the target market though as I hate clothes shopping and like to buy once. Some of my former colleagues had parcels every week because they were going out at the weekend. Fast fashion and not being seen in the same outfit twice was the norm.

I can’t stand the faff of sending stuff back and end up being too late to return the stuff so it costs so much
Who knows what size you are in order to buy.
A size 16 will fit you in one store but you need a 14 or 18 in another. Really don’t have the money or time to be ordering and paying for 3 items of the same dress knowing I will then have to repackage at least 2 of them up and send them back or end up having them sliding about in the back of the car for the next month and then find I am too late to return
I bought 2 different pairs of leggings, both in the same size from a store on line. One came and fitted my daughter perfectly the other had such short legs they were 8 inches above her ankles.
If you can’t get a standard fit from the same store then you need a shop to actually try things on or just look at in the flesh
I have needed a couple of things whilst being in lockdown and it is supermarket clothing or nothing. I can’t stand buying clothes on line

I never used to buy clothes without trying them on, so online shopping is a nightmare. I like to feel the quality of the material and being short that it will fit without being altered. I loved the Mantaray section in Debenhams. I shall miss it. I also just miss a mooch around the shops, looking at books, expensive glassware even buying socks in Primark. A website just doesn't cut it for me. I'll be back on the High Street when it reopens!

I despise online clothes shopping. I’ve only ever brought a handful of clothes online, I much prefer to look at the item, feel the fabric, hold it up to assess the fit etc.

One good online shop I did do was maternity jeans through a company I found on Amazon. The fit was incredible and so comfortable I was sad when I no longer needed them. But the only reason I had to buy them online was because not a single clothes shop in a reasonably sized city stocked maternity wear!

@TheUnquestionedAnswer

Actually, this would be the right time for M&S to up their game. If most of the popular shops are closing, they could have the monopoly. But only if they improved on the styles.

Spot on.

Actually, this would be the right time for M&S to up their game. If most of the popular shops are closing, they could have the monopoly. But only if they improved on the styles

Wouldn’t take a lot. Just stop adding frill, ruffles and bows and stop with the patterns.

@DianaT1969

The stores which are likely to survive are H&M, Zara, Cos, Arket, &Other Stories, Massimo Ditto (hopefully), M&S Clothes, John Lewis, Primark, Uniqglo (although their online presence is poor). That's enough for me. After Covid and the decimation of the local high streets, I think many will go to a city centre for shopping trips once a season. Any other clothes stores that will survive?

Interestingly... this was something of the norm when I was young. My mum would take me to a big town or a city to buy clothes and shoes a couple of times a year. Our local town was very much local shops, bakers, ironmongers , haberdashers etc...

Think the High Street chains expanded too widely in their day which meant their presence on nearly every High Street was unsustainable.

@Karmachameleons my MIL and my SIL are like that, they would not buy any clothes they haven't tried on.

this was a problem in the summer when the shops opened up last summer. we could shop there but not try it on. So basically my MIL has not bought any clothes or shoes for a year...including wellies which are now super essential cos of how muddy hampstead heath is.

Just adding my name to the petition!
I hate it too. I have to get a petite range item, unless it's v casual (hoodies etc) and for a few years now, shops moved their niche ranges eg petite/tall/maternity, to online only. I can often go into a changing room with 8 items I want, and I'll pick 1 - the only one that fits! I have broad shoulders for my size and it's really noticeable if necklines and sleeves don't sit right.
I'm actually really happy in lockdown that it matters less what I wear. Its a shame as I used to like fashion.

1Morewineplease
I think you're probably right.

One of my relatives lives in the suburbs of a city. Despite being within 20 minutes of the city centre, they have a New Look,Peacocks, Bon Marche, and other clothing stores. It seemed so unnecessary and in the last few years that shopping area has declined. There was never any need to expand that much.

@MiaowMiaow99

I used to spend £200 a month on clothes. I hate on line shopping so now only buy essentials. Christ knows what I'll buy now as my tiny town only had a Debs, Wallis, DP and a top shop!

I hate it too. It's the fabrics that get me. They look fine on the model on the website pics but when you get the garment, it's often much flimsier and doesn't hang well.

And I'm a funny shape (top heavy and low waisted) so I really need to try things on. I carry all before me, so often need to go a size larger than I actually am for blouses, or the buttons gape.

Conversely I find Asos the easiest shopping experience ever.

I have unlimited next day delivery (£10 a year) and Klarna (30 days to pay) so I can order a load of sizes and styles, they arrive the next day, try it all on in the comfort of my own bedroom and return the rest at the post office. They give you a return barcode so you dont even need to print anything. I think its brilliant.

I know theres an absolute shed load on there to look through if you want something specific but you can filter and search and its better than not enough choice imo!

No OP, you're not the only one!

I am also worried about clothes buying this year. I have long legs (35" inside leg, can get away with a 34" in jeans and trousers, but prefer a 36" with heels) but Long Tall Sally is far too expensive for me even buying one pair - and different designs fit differently (I've been a 12, a 14 and 16 all on the same day and in the same shop!) but I can't afford to buy 3 different sizes of something to find out which one (if any of them) might fit me.

I used to stock up on Primark jeans when I was near a branch (don't live anywhere near one, so that was about twice a year) because they do some of their jeans in 34" leg length. Unfortunately, even if I could trust their sizing (I can't - always have to try on several pairs in different sizes and cuts) they were ridiculously cheap and really good quality for the money. But they don't do online, so that's no good either now

I was ironing the two pairs of jeans I have left yesterday. One is wearing through really thinly and really need replacing. Except I can't afford to buy several pairs just to try and be lucky that one fits, and the shop I might trust more than any other, and who don't charge ridiculous amounts for their jeans (Primark) don't do online shopping.

Top Shop used to do long-length jeans (even if expensive) but they've gone now. M&S, Next I can get to locally, but neither do anything longer than a 32 inside leg". New Look do some long leg lengths, but now I'm back at the problem of not knowing which size will fit and can't afford to order several pairs to find out! We have a local New Look, but they don't stock the 'Tall' range in the shop, and I can't even try on jeans that are too short to find out my size because the changing rooms are shut (and then we're back to the problem of can't afford to buy a few pairs to bring home, try on, and take back...).

I'm actually worried that in a few weeks I won't actually have any trousers left of any kind to wear at all. In winter. I don't really have any winter skirts or dresses (I don't have to dress up for work - jeans are my uniform... and then I'd have the same problem shopping for skirts and dresses anyway!). All I've got left is summer stuff!

It was bad enough for tall ladies like me even when we did have a full high street and shops with changing rooms we could actually use. Now we can't try anything on, and some shops that we did rely on are going, and others either expect money up front for several pairs, or don't even offer an online option (I could actually afford to buy 3 pairs from Primark!) so it's going to be really difficult for tall ladies who don't have much money but still need long length jeans and trousers to dress in at this time of year! I really wish I was 'petite' sometimes!!! There's plenty for them in every shop! (Or so it seems - no offence to petite ladies intended!)

I really get fed up with the people who glibly say, "Oh just order a few sizes online and see what fits and send the rest back". It's really not that easy, financially doable, or practical!

Sorry, rant over!

🙋‍♀️ I'm petite and Dorothy Perkins was my shop so that's gone....

I didn't mean to put that 2nd emoji there!!

@MathsRocksMathsRocks topshop are on asos now & Im assuming will continue with the tall range.

I use klarna the buy now pay later thing. It means I can order loads without coming out of bank acc & send everything back once tried on.

Clothes shops are not going to vanish entirely from the high street. However times have changed and there will probably be less choice and concentrated in fewer large shopping centres. So it will be a special trip
to one of those places if you want a good choice. For basics the supermarkets will probably increase their range to take advantage of the smaller high street

I find online shopping frustrating because so many have size charts that bare no resemblance to the actual clothes sizes so you're totally guessing unless it's a brand you know v well.

I've taken up sewing big style over lockdown and plan to make most of my stuff now. I'm pretty good at judging fabrics online now so not too many busts

Who are all these people who manage to shop online successfully?
Do they have standard size and shape figures and feet?
Do they put up with uncomfortable shoes?
Or do they just wear ill fitting clothes?