Online search for specific items: How do YOU do it? - YouLookFab Forum

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Online search for specific items: How do YOU do it?

Becky

Veteran

I'd love to hear your shopping strategies for finding a specific item when searching online stores. In my case, I'm looking for work-appropriate print tops to coordinate with colored trousers I bought because the colors make me so happy. I have tried searching my go-to retailers and filtering. I did have one success there. I have also tried multi-retailer search sites like shopstyle.com. I even ordered a Stitch Fix box and asked that all items be tops coordinating with one or the other of the colors. I did get one keeper there, and there was another I would have kept if it hadn't been out of my price range. Are there some tried-and-true or even hit-and-miss strategies I'm missing? Thanks in advance for your ideas!

White House Black Market

Slim Cropped Pants

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Shopping

15 replies

Latest reply was from cindysmith

rachylou

Veteran

I also do general searches on google, Amazon, Pinterest. It’s time consuming, no doubt about it. Those are really cute pants! No luck at WHBM?

Anonymous

This is exactly why on-line shopping makes me crazy. I have two sites I'll look at , and that's it. I have never had success with general searches - which pull up a lot of crap you have to wade through.

Becky

Veteran

rachylou, I did pick up two tops at WHBM that coordinate with the pants, but only one is work-appropriate. The other is more date-night appropriate. I'd really like to have 3-4 tops to wear with each pair of pants.

lisa p, exactly. That's what is so frustrating about sites like shopstyle.com. I live in the back of beyond, though, so most of my shopping is online by necessity.

Chris987

Veteran

I do all the searches you described AND the ones RachyL described, and have started keeping track of the ones I do in a spreadsheet, because I was doing the same searches over and over and wasting time. Now I try to wait a few weeks between one search and repeating it....by then there is often new merchandise.

YLF finds are also a great place to search, although a bit limited for example you can't search on color. On the other hand finds can be really helpful...you might find some items that really grab you, and you can go to the finds lists of the fabbers who found them, and their own lists of finds might be to your liking.

But as RachyLou said, it's time consuming. And go back to WHBM if you haven't looked there recently - they tend to do just a few colors each season so lots of stuff coordinates nicely. They probably have tops that would go with those pants.

anchie

Veteran

I check just 2 favorite sites that have tons of clothes and are selling multiple brands - zalando and yoox. If I don’t find what I am looking there I usually give up.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I search on colours at any of my favourite stores or brands. In NZ there are 2 upmarket department stores, one mid market dept store and one discount dept store. Plus at least 6-7 brands with own stores and 1 boutique chain. 6 sets of shoe stores and one online Australian shoe retailer.
So if I have an image in my head, I do wide-ranging looking on line. It can be quite disappointing though if searching all that and no-one has the sort of thing that’s in my head. So I try to be quite flexible and also do a lot of B&M browsing in store for serendipity.
This year I found my green houndstooth leggings through online searching for leggings, which I had decided I wanted to have one pair of if substantial and thick. I went to try them on in-store. Buying a dark green top to match them was through B&M searching carrying a photo of them on my phone. I also got the exact kind of 3/4 sleeved black layering T with a scoop neck that I wanted, through online searching then going in-store to try/buy.
So I feel the mixed method works best for me.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I should add that I live in a wealthy part of our biggest city with easy access to 4 malls close and another 4 malls within 30 minutes. Many of the malls have the same ubiquitous stores though.

Becky

Veteran

Chris987, thanks for the reminder to try again every so often. Usually if I've searched once, I don't go back again, which might be a mistake.

anchie, I might try those sites just to see what I turn up.

Jenni NZ, one of my biggest challenges is that when searching for a print, I find it hard to filter by color. If I do, I get solid colored tops, which aren't really what I want.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Oh yes Becky I see. What about searching “floral” or “geometric”or “plaid” or “print” etc, would that help? Or on the shape of top like scoop neck, V-neck, long-sleeved, 3/4 sleeved?

Gigi

Veteran

Yeah, I can identify! The advice others give is good. I think sometimes what we want simply isn't out there when we're looking. So you have to keep checking back. It's frustrating and exhausting for sure.

What you could do is make a bookmarks folder with retailers that you think will have the type of item you're looking for. Then, once every 1-2 weeks, go through the bookmarks and repeat your search. That way you can find any new merchandise that was added.

I always put my "sort by" parameters to "newest" so that I don't have to wade through everything again.

Really pretty pants! I had a pair from BR that was that color that I adored.

Becky

Veteran

Jenni NZ, I have tried that strategy with some success with the retailers that offer those filter settings. Right now I'm merrily searching through ebay!

Gigi, I like your bookmarks folder idea. That's actually a pretty good all-around online shopping strategy. I tend to forget about certain retailers at times.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I only order from very reputable online companies so I don’t do searches. I am very worried about fraud and the like. If I can’t find what I’m looking for - I wait. I’m very patient with my wardrobe. I do not do the Shop Style or Instagram search thing - too risky.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I find more than enough by going (online) to stores I know and using filters. That's one reason I like Nordstroms--they have lots of ways to narrow down searches. It frustrates me that the Rack has fewer filters, even though it's the same company, but they still have more than many stores, like Anthropologie. Zalando, which Anchie mentioned, also has good filters. But where ever I'm searching, I almost always sort by price. That can mean that the first results are strange things I don't want, but for me, it gives the search an order that I find helpful.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Yes on my fave shoe site Styletread I sort by price as well after applying my style and colour filters. You can apply a heel height filter there too which is good. I figure there may often be something at a lower price that I like so why not put those first? I don’t care about the “latest thing” for shoes because I like what I like.

cindysmith

Veteran

I actually find a lot of inspiration on etsy, yoox, and reddit. All are rabbit-hole-time-sucks, and can be so very overwhelming.

On etsy, I have to filter the life out of the search results, and that doesn't always help. I've been at it long enough that I know which countries are typically home to multiple lines that always appeal to me, so I have the added benefit of knowing which countries to filter for. I also sometimes don't filter by country and sort of skim through the results, checking to see if the same shop name appears multiple times, and I'll go check out all the shops that appear frequently.

Yoox is wonderful, but the interface is clunky as all get out. Their website has been clunky since I discovered it back in 2008 and they still manage to have a huge fandom, myself included; so obviously it's worth the rabbit-hole-time-suck LOL

Reddit is not your average rabbit hole, it's more like a million different universes all woven throughout the passages of that particular rabbit hole, and I don't enter all willy-nilly. I start with Google, and search for something like "women's clothes like Rick Owens reddit" and go read all the threads that pop up. Reddit has some very large communities in their fashion-related subs, and the hive mind there is an almost limitless resource of inspiration, knowledge, and recommendations. Reddit is how I found places like Oak NYC and Ovate; and I've had delightful discussions about the similarities and differences between Rick Owens and Isabel Benenato, which led to us sharing our favorite unsung hero brands which led me to etsy shops like Aakasha and Marcella Moda.

Yes, it's often very circular and confusing, but it's how I usually search for clothes online. It's much easier for me to do it that was than to search for "asymmetric women's top in dirt colors" because that sort of vague search inevitably turns up so much random weird stuff that I just give up and go eat cake instead.