Wear clothes once, then take them back?

[Massiveroastdinner]

Does anyone do this?

I remember doing this a lot as a teen, so I’d have lots of different outfits to go out in, but couldn’t afford. It was either from the catalogue or from shops.

Haven’t done it since, but was reading about how many fashion influencers on Instagram etc do

I would understand it if money was extremely tight and you needed something for an interview or some kind of event you absolutely had to attend but didn't have appropriate clothes for, but that's the only circumstances.

I did do it once, I wore a dress and it was so badly made that it was super uncomfortable, so I returned it having worn it for a couple of hours. Felt relatively bad but it was £200 and I felt should have been better quality for the price.

If you're impoverished, why not?

As bad as shoplifting in my book.

Never done this, but it explains a weird interaction I had in a reasonably expensive child's clothes shop. I'd bought my toddler a coat in a massive sale but sadly it didn't fit, DC tried it on at home for maybe 10 minutes. Bought it back to the shop and the shop keeper was so rude, openly accused me of brigning back worn item, said she could see a stain on the front and my receipt didn't match the item. I couldn't believe how cold and rude she was to a customer. Eventually she did realise it was the correct receipt and the (imaginary?) stain came away, she instantly changed her tone. At the time I thought it's because we looked like we couldn't afford to buy things from that shop, now I realise it was probably just something that happened all the time.

@nimbuscloud

In m&s recently The lady at the returns desk was sniffing the crotch of a pair of jeans that someone was trying to return You couldn’t pay me enough to do that job

omg GRIM

I worked in shops for years. People did this at least once a week. Minging tramps.
I used to pull the labels off girls dresses when I was in the clubs under the pretence being helpful hahaaa. Or they’d straight up return it to ME but I’d sold it and seen them wearing it that weekend lol
Deodorant stains at the pits or full can of febreeze on the garment but thought they were being fly by leaving the tag on
Or outright been through the wash and stinking of wash powder. Lol
As I customer, I received a swimsuit from click n collect from a posher department store with no hygiene strip and “ stains” in the gusset

Also. Don’t cut off your care labels , people : you can’t legally return it as you can’t resell it

How disgusting people are wearing clothes then returning them What happens now with Covid anybody know?

Never done it. Never would. I don't judge teens who did it in the past though!
The only person I knew who did it was very wealthy- she bought expensive ski wear every season for her family and returned it after their trip. I never understood it because firstly she was super-wealthy plus they went skiing every year so could have used the same gear (except maybe the kids who were still growing) but she said they couldn't possibly be seen wearing the same outfits year after year and no way was she paying hundreds of pounds to wear ski outfits for one week.
To be fair, she wasn't a very nice person generally and this was just one example of her entitled behaviour.

@JessieLongleg

Last coat I got online has a ribbon from sleeve to collar on the outside if cut can't send it back. It's a good idea so people can't send back after wearing out.

I bought a tankini of boohoo (for £4) that had this on the top part... caught me out at the swimming pool because I have never seen it before and assumed it just ripped when pulled and came off but it didn't it was SEWN like a hoop around the top and I had to chew through it because I had no scissors.

Disgusting behaviour and no I would never do it. Shops have to make their profit otherwise they'll go out of business and having bought an item that had clearly been worn and returned, it's really unpleasant.. you feel like you've bought something second-hand for the full price. Shop wisely for items that aren't going to go out of fashion in five minutes instead

@LittleGwyneth

I would understand it if money was extremely tight and you needed something for an interview or some kind of event you absolutely had to attend but didn't have appropriate clothes for, but that's the only circumstances.

I did do it once, I wore a dress and it was so badly made that it was super uncomfortable, so I returned it having worn it for a couple of hours. Felt relatively bad but it was £200 and I felt should have been better quality for the price.

I was homeless and broke for 3 years (2005-2008) and I bought a dress hot pink satin ruffled cocktail dress in a charity shop sale rale for £2 to wear to the weddings I attended for those years - it wasn't fantastic, would be my first fashion choice but it did the job perfectly fine.

I just tried to google the dress and it must have been a knock-off of a 2000s D&G dress lol.

Never returned anything, is basically stealing... being poor doesn't make you a criminal or excuse criminal behavior.

One word - disgusting!

@clarehhh

As bad as shoplifting in my book.

Theft

I knew someone who used to buy something major like a fashionable coat, and then not actually wear it. When the returns date approached, she would return it and buy another one, until the season changed. This unusual behaviour meant she always had the option of a nice smart coat if she needed it, but didn't waste the money if she didn't. Odd.

Theft?

I ordered a cashmere jumper from M&S last Christmas for my sister, but by the time it arrived in store to be collected I had already bought a different jumper, so as soon as I collected the parcel I asked if I could return it - I’m so glad I did because when I opened the parcel you could see that the jumper had been worn. It was out of shape and going bobbly, and there was a grease stain down the front of it! Luckily the lady on the till had seen that I’d literally just opened the parcel in store so was able to refund me, but if I’d taken the parcel and opened it at home I’d have no way to prove that it had arrived in that condition. It’s just a minging thing to do, with no consideration given to the poor person after you who ends up with your dirty cast offs!

No never. Thats disgusting

I worked with a woman who did it every week. Never paid for an outfit ever!. She honestly thought it was fine and couldn't understand why everyone didnt do it. I tried to explain that it would put shops out of business if everyone did what she did but it was water off a dirty ducks back.

I work with someone who did this regularly though COVID may have stopped her for the time being.

She flew half way round the world with a wardrobe mostly from Next. Took back what she hadn’t worn and most of what she had.

Occasionally she would keep something special but mostly things were returned. I think Next wrote to her to ask why she returned so much. She sees clothes shops more as lending libraries. 🤬🤯

My daughter worked in an expensive clothing store (high end high st) all staff were told to wear an outfit from the store all day on a Saturday to encourage sales , spray it with fabreeze, and hang it back on the rails for sale - I will never buy from that store!

I never would. When I was a poor student I probably considered it but that was back in the days when you could smoke indoors and I'd you wore something once and then tried to return it, it stank of smoke and was very obvious.
I worked in retail for 15 years. The worst 2 I had were:
while working in a children's designer clothes boutique, a baby hat that smelled so strongly of cigarette smoke and deep fat fryer that we couldn't keep it in the returns cupboard because it made everything else smell. We had to steam it every day for almost 2 weeks to get the smell out. A few weeks later the customers mother came in and proudly showed us photos of her grandchilds christening wearing the outfit she had bought. Including the hat.

High Street jewellers, customer purchases an engagement ring, proposes to girlfriend, she said yes, then found he was cheating on her and ended it. He put the ring back in the box, where it stayed for few weeks before he proposed to his other woman, who said yes, then found out her ring was the one he'd previously proposed with and insisted he got her a new one. They came into exchange it, with him absolutely baffled about why she was so upset about a "dead nice ring". Suffice to say, I never saw them for their wedding rings....

No bit I'm clumsy and would spill down it

I took a mans shirt back because it didn't fit him. He gave it to me in a bag, didn't think to check. Daft sod had been secretly smoking in the car, so the shirt stank. The lady took the shirt out checked the label and gave be a refund. I was mortified as could smell it as soon as she took it from the bag. I gave him such an ear bashing for embarrassing me and for the smoking too. I know he hadn't worn it as it was a large and he defo isn't anymore

I did it by mistake once.

I ordered two dresses for a wedding in two different sizes.

Wore the bigger one and should have returned the smaller one - but I did it the wrong way round.

I'm now stuck with a dress I really like that I can't get into

Never and the thought of it makes me want to vom