I purchased an Armani Moto jacket this year on Farfetch. It was on sale for more than 50% off and was the only one left. I was lucky they had my size! I checked to make sure it was truly an item in a recent collection before I made the purchase, and I also called the Armani store in New York and spoke with them about the item first. Color does not always translate well online so I wanted to know if the red was really a warm tone like tomato, or cool and pinkish, which is what I had hoped. I also called to get exact item dimensions since the jacket was supposedly shipped to me from Italy. My homework payed off, because the jacket more than meets my expectations. The quality is excellent. The color is spot on for my palette. Everything is perfectly stitched, and the leather quality is amazing.
I recommend that you do some homework before ordering, I read all the fine details about the item...it’s composition, it’s dimensions if available, where it’s located, the size of the model wearing it in the pictures, etc. I tend to call and confrim the details if the item is unique...so I might not do this with Boden, who has had good reliability with sizing, but I would with J Crew, and Nordstrom, I have received incorrect sizes, incorrect colors, knitwear with pulls, poorly sewn and matched tops, etc. I am quick to call customer service. I have mostly not had any problems when dealing with an item that is faulty, but it is important to know what works for your style, and body,
Purchasing online is a bit of a gamble. I have made some mistakes, and on occasion, the mistake can be costly. There may be no way to know in advance if the item is authentic, but my experience with YOOX and Farfetch have been that the items are authentic. They want to maintain their reputations with the public for supplying designer items.
I also try looking for the item on the designers website, Armani regularly has sale items on their website. I like Armani, so I happen to check the website periodically. If you purchase directly from them, you can be more certain it’s authentic. I have done the same with other brands I find fit and are consistently well made, for example J Brand, Rag and Bone, etc.
The number of returns I make has gone down as my understanding about my personal style has increased. I have developed a good eye for what looks like it will work for my body and style. I can evaluate how something looks on a model in a picture and if her measurements are provided I can usually guess if the item will work. If you look carefully at models, they come with different body shapes, even thought they often look like rectangular IT types, including plus size models, Some are pears, some hourglass, etc. I look for someone with a similar body type.
If you have to make a return, it’s not hard to box up items and send them back, You may lose postage on some, but many have return postage figured into the cost of doing business. I also look for codes and promotions that include free shipping. I assume you have a post office, UPS store, and or Fedex even if the store you prefer is nowhere near your new home.
