Online shopping continues to gain momentum. Having potential wardrobe items shipped to your doorstep still kind of blows my mind because it almost seems to good to be true. But like most things, it has its pros and cons. 

PROS

Variety: Space is limited in brick-and-mortar stores, but it isn’t limited online. Extended size curves, different length specifications and a larger variety of styles and colours are easily accommodated on a website. And that’s just for stores that have a physical presence. These days some of the most popular retailers are only online. Shopbop, Net-a-Porter, Zappos, Amazon, Yoox, and eBay, to name just a few.

Convenience: You can fill up your online shopping cart at any time. No need to venture out over the weekend when you’d rather be doing something else. You can avoid traffic and the crowds. It’s ideal if you’re not physically up to shopping, are short of time, or live in an area that’s far removed from the retailers that suit your needs. If you are sending someone a gift, an online store will deliver it right to their door — no need to pick it up and ship it yourself. 

Practicality & Privacy: You can try on the item in your comfortable dressing room at home. And you can experiment with all the other items in your wardrobe.

No Sales Staff: This is the way to shop if you prefer to bypass sales staff. 

Fun: There’s something fun about seeing these boxes arrive on your doorstep. I’m wowed every time I pick a parcel up from our front porch. It makes me feel privileged and spoiled, a little like I’m receiving a gift. 

CONS

Guessing Game: You can’t feel the fabric, assess the quality of the item, or get an accurate sense of the way an item fits unless you’ve seen the item in person and better yet, tried it on. You end up doing a lot of guesswork when you shop online, ordering items and hoping for the best. Product reviews do help, but will only take you so far. 

Dulls the Shopping Experience: Shopping in brick-and-mortar stores can be a fun experience, especially when you’re a social shopper or just love to shop. The online shopping experience is much more solitary and lonely by comparison. 

Shipping Costs: Although many US retailers offer free shipping, this is not the case with all of them, and it’s certainly not the case for international shipping. Shipping costs can become exorbitant If you frequently order and return from sites that charge for shipping. 

Impractical: The guessing game that accompanies online shopping can lead to frequent returns. Repeatedly opening boxes, resealing them and then dropping them off for return shipping can become frustrating if there isn’t sufficient positive reinforcement.

No Sales Staff: You won’t enjoy the online shopping experience if you rely heavily on the service of sales staff. 

As much as I enjoy shopping brick-and-mortar stores, the enormous variety that is available online cannot be beat. That’s why my online shopping activity has increased over the years, especially for footwear.

I do shop online in a different state of mind though. My expectations are lower, and I’m more forgiving with the return process when items don’t work out. Your success rate is unlikely to be higher than the one you have when taking items to the dressing room in a physical store, so returns are inevitable. I only shop online from stores that offer free shipping, and many of the stores that I purchase from accept in-store returns. Since I’m frequently in stores with my clients, it’s a convenient process. 

What do you think? Does the good outweigh the bad? Are there any pros or cons I’ve missed? Also, do you ever combine in store and online shopping, say, using your phone to purchase online while you are in a physical store? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The first thing you’ll notice about this post is that Angie isn’t writing it. We’ve been taking pictures of Angie’s outfit every day and of course only some of them make it into a post. I was particularly motivated to post this one, however, because I was a bit unhappy with the quality of my picture of Angie’s outfit in SeaTac. I had been hoping to find a place with nice light and some typical airport signage in the background, but in the end it was just an ugly, gloomy airport departure gate in a state of disrepair.

Then we were in Schiphol Airport for our flight from Amsterdam to London and I saw exactly the situation I had been hoping for in SeaTac. Also, air travel in general is such a great opportunity for fun photography. So we took a few pictures before boarding our flight.

As for Angie’s outfit, I think it’s a perfect travelling ensemble. Casual and practical, but also pulled together. I love the denim on denim, made subtle by dark wash on top and light wash on the bottom. And I do think that mixed media denim jacket is fantastic.

G-Star RAW makes eco-friendly pledge, Target recruits bloggers for its new swimwear campaign, Speedo signs an Olympic medallist, and more news from the style trenches this week.

• Target teams up with bloggers for its new “A Fit For Every Body” swimwear campaign.
• After recent plans to publish Lucky Magazine on a quarterly basis, the print publication is now discontinued entirely.
• Speedo has signed five-time Olympic medalist Missy Franklin as a year-round brand ambassador.
• A retrospective of Isaac Mizrahi’s 30-plus-year career in fashion has been announced for next year. The exhibition, “Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History”, will be staged at The Jewish Museum in New York.
• Dutch denim brand G-Star RAW has pledged to use only forest-friendly fibres in its rayon and viscose clothing.

Fun Fashion Fact

Did you know that for years designer Ann Demeulemeester, one of “the Antwerp Six” who left her eponymous label in 2013, lived in La Maison Guiette. This is the only house in Belgium designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. It’s an early example of the “International Style”, and was built in 1927 as the residence and studio of the painter René Guiette.

My Dad lives in the Netherlands, in a very quaint little village called Velp that’s near the German border and a 10-minute bus ride from a city called Arnhem. He was born in Velp, and grew up here. In his late twenties he accepted a job in Hong Kong and that was the beginning of an adventure that included marrying my mother and having his two children, and living in Hong Kong, Japan and South Africa. After my mum died 15 years ago he returned to Velp and has been living here since.

If you’ve seen the movie “A Bridge Too Far”, you’ll know how significant this part of the Netherlands was during World War Two. Papa was a young lad at the time. The Allied forces freed Velp when he was 12 years old and that day is still celebrated annually some seventy years later.   

Whenever we’re in Velp I like to go on a walk with my Dad that takes us past the home where he grew up. I love hearing his stories about living in Velp before, during and after the War. Some of the stories make me sad, but they also help me understand my Dad, and appreciate him even more. 

My great grandfather — my Dad’s grandfather — had their house built in 1906. My Dad, with his little sister, his parents, and a few of the neighbours would seek shelter in their cellar during air raids. During the toughest years of the war food was very scarce and kids stopped going to school. At one point my Dad’s father was taken away by German soldiers to dig trenches for their armies, but he managed to escape. These experiences have shaped my Dad into the amazing man that he is today.

We took these photos when we were with Papa last week. Here we’re standing in front of the house on Koning Straat.

The house has a stone with the inscription, “R Tuinman, oud 5 jaar, 1906”. This was a dedication to my great grandfather’s son Reijer, who was 5 years old at the time.

The shed at the back of the house was converted into a workshop for my Dad’s father, my Opa, who was a carpenter by profession. My Dad was a Chartered Accountant before he retired, but he’s very handy because he spent many a weekend in his father’s workshop learning about carpentry. 

My Dad’s almost 83 and still the most independent, resourceful, tenacious, practical, and hardy person I know. He is a survivor who does not let things get the better of him. His strength is coupled with an incredible gentleness and great patience. My Dad is also the most charming person I know, and I couldn’t be more proud of his willingness to live for his children and grandchild after he unexpectedly lost the love of his life to cancer.

We at YLF wish you a happy Father’s Day this Sunday.

I’m wearing outfit 9 in the series on my travel capsule for a 4 week trip.