I wish all stores would let me ship from online and have them delivered to the store. i don't live in the US, and sometimes when I go to the US and order clothes in advance, my hotels get annoyed when I have a HUGE box awaiting me at their reception desk : )

As a Size 16, I generally find much better selection for XL clothes online than in stores. And I certainly appreciate being able to search items based on size; tired of drooling over pretty things only to find out the store only has size 2 and 4 left.

Some of the online photos are just dreadful! Looked at Neiman Marcus online yesterday and was aghast by how many items didn't include photos from the back or the side. Like, I'm only supposed to care how the clothes look from the front?

I feel that often online photos (but, this is true on store mannequins, too, and paper catalogs) are styled to make "wonky" clothes look okay. For example, I've come across photos that only show a shirt, say, with the sleeves rolled up; so I assume that there's something wrong with the sleeves that they're trying to hide. Sometimes the models strike really weird poses and I feel sure that they are attempting to contort a hideously mis-shapen item of clothing into seeming somewhat attractive. This is why I feel best about ordering from stores that are wonderful about returns; I know that there's no way I can be sure about what I'm getting when I order online.

On Amazon.com, there's now an option in which customers can post their own photos of anything they buy. They can also submit video reviews. I don't know if this will ever be something online department stores would consider... they do try to create sites that are glamourous and maybe they feel that having regular 38 year-old housewives posting photos of themselves wearing their latest fashions would take away from the mystique of the clothes. But, as someone above mentioned, it would be AWESOME to see how the items look on a variety of body shapes and sizes and styled in different ways. Seriously: how hard is it to make anything look half-decent on a 17 year-old model!?

Some sites only allow me to zoom in once. I prefer sites that let me zoom in super-tight if I want. I like to be able get high magnification to see if the stitching is done in contrasting colour, for example, or what the buttons look like.

I'd like to have a feature that gave me other pop-up suggestions based on what I put in my cart (and, I could turn it off if I found it annoying) Like, other items by this designer or in this price range and size range. Other items bought by customers who bought this item...

Can you tell that i work in marketing? I'm passionate about the buying/selling experience! : )

Mac, you and I need to exchange notes on where we shop! I was just thinking about how I'm tired of finding something I love and then only seeing 14's and 16's left. There are a million things I have seen that I could pass on to you instead! I always feel like my size sells out so quickly and is almost guaranteed to be out of stock by the time a sale happens.

Like you I am also interested in this in terms of a graphic design experience. I suck at web design and avoid it for now, but I'm going to have to confront it one day and this is an interesting education for me.

Re: models in funny poses--

I always found the third model from the left in this post to look ridiculous. I realize it was probably done to show the movement of the skirt, but...it looks so bizarre to me and also sort of unflattering (though it could be the clothes--I feel that this particular ensemble would look better on a model with narrower shoulders and curvier hips).

http://youlookfab.com/2008/04/.....and-pants/

Haha! Right you are; that pose is crazy silly and how are we supposed to really see the shape of that outfit?! Ree-diculous...

Maybe we should start a thread where everyone on the board can give the "heads up" on items that they love... but are sold out in their own size?

I like it when they say how many items are still available in each size, that way I can make a decision whether it can go on a wish list or whether I need to hit the buy now button.

That's a good one Fi, I missed out on a pair of white buckled ankle boots because I took a bathroom break before trying to purchase.

Amazon.com has tons of shoes and the prices are generally excellent. I love that for almost every shoe, there are least 6 photos from all different angles and that you can zoom in reallllllly tight if you want, to check out things like stitching or inner lining.

What I don't like about them is that they make returns difficult compared to somewhere like Zappos.

Hi ladies! Am extremely new to the YLF community but could not pass up this thread. I am an avid online shopper! In the area where I live the in store fashions are never quite exactly what I'm looking for or the fit is terrible. I hate having to try on 30 items to find 2 or 3 that kinda fit right. Online shopping provides me with the ability to shop by measurement instead of generic sizes (seeing as how clothing cut is not universal). I frequently shop online at Newport News, Bare Necessities, and PZI. I also enjoy the variety offered online. I tend to see a lot of items online that are not offered in store (possibly due to the type of demand i.e young professionals or teenagers).

One area that I am questionable about when it comes to online shopping is shoes. I have long (size 9), narrow, flat feet. Any shoe that I order online invariably doesn't fit (unless it's a brand that I currently own). Unfortunately I do not have a Baker's or DSW within driving distance so I just have to wing it.

Overall though, online shopping provides me with the opportunity to not wear the same exact things everyone else is. It allows me to express my individual style easily.

Oh don't get me started on the weird model poses. I hate it when they do that slouchy thing that models now do. How the heck are you supposed to see the fit of the garment when they are all slouched over!?!

Welcome to the board, neva!

I'm not a big online shopper because I don't like to purchase anything before I try it on but I do enjoy browsing online and bookmarking items I like so that I know when they go on sale. I did this with the infamous Macys Nine West dress and headed to my store as soon as it went on sale. I did end up ordering it online because it was cheaper though and I thought Macys' shipping charges were atrocious. I had the same experience when i ordered a wedding gift online from Macys as well (something like $40 to ship SHEETS!!....I know the sheets were expensive but they cost less to ship than a pair of shoes that are on sale for $9.99)

I'm surprised there are so many complaints about the Macys website, I've always found it be organized well but I don't think I shop online as much as you all.

Bella, JCrew has a student discount. NY&Co. gives a AAA discount. The Limited gives either the AAA or the student discount; I can't remember which.

I love shopping online! My favorite part about getting shoes online is they come to my house, and I can try them on with every outfit right away. Same with clothes. Also, I am the master of finding really good deals online--if a site doesn't provide measurements, I simply write to them and request further info. Works like a charm. I don't like shipping costs, but since I rarely have to return anything, I can live with them most of the time.

Shipping costs are my big issue. I'll sometimes place a larger order to get the 'free' shipping, and I'm okay with that, sometimes, but if returns end up being a hassle, forget it. I ordered some shoes from a shoe website that doesn't have free shipping and ended up paying a fortune to send back two pairs of shoes I considered defective. So much for saving money on that deal. It just wasn't worth the hassle for me. I still don't know why that company couldn't have provided a flat rate shipping label to attach to the box for returns, even if it did come out of my return credit.

I've had pretty good success with the websites of brick and mortar stores because I can get those sizes that were out of stock in the store, or I can try something on in the store and get an idea of how their clothing runs before ordering online. And I love being able to take my returns to the store instead of shipping it back.

I like very detailed photos and measurements like others have stated. Saying a dress hits slightly above the knee tells me nothing. I'm 5'2" and the last dress I ordered that was described that way hit me midthigh and it wasn't even a petite size!

Oh, I like sites that ship to Canada. I don't usually take advantage of that option, but it's lovely for when I really need an item than i haven't found here in Toronto and that I need before my next trip to the US. (alas, shipping to Canada usually adds at least 50% to the total cost *sigh*)

I stumbled across this article - almost a year old! - from the WSJ and thought this might be the best thread in which to post it. It's about online shopping but also other online fashion experiences; I found it quite interesting.

The Forgotten Market Online: Older Women
New Fashion Sites Target Youth -- Though Most Web Apparel Sales Are to Women Over 35
*
By CHRISTINA BINKLEY

Here was my ideal outfit for Monday morning here in Los Angeles, according to my daily, personalized StyleCaster email: an oversized gray T-shirt and black tights.

StyleCaster is among a new generation of Web sites that are trying to solve a stubborn problem: how to make fashion-shopping Web sites more than simply online catalogs. Using video and social-networking techniques, Stylecaster, ShopFlick, SmashingDarling and other sites aim to connect us with new indie designers, stylists and each other, all the while presenting items we can buy.

It's an intriguing idea. Fashion retailers went online back when Bill Gates had red hair, but few have improved on the catalog format perfected by Sears & Roebuck. StyleCaster offers daily personalized weather and fashion "forecasts," news and the opportunity to link to other users, who include stylists and designers. The site aims to serve as the "Facebook of fashion," says spokeswoman Fernanda Valente.

The idea sounds broad and accessible, as online shopping should be. Yet one group may not feel so welcome on StyleCaster: women over 35. The styles featured there appear to be largely designed by and for twentysomethings. The way the technology works, the outfit suggestions should improve as I click on more stuff I like -- but so far, the clothes have been so young and casual I haven't found much to click on.

Here lies a problem common to most of these otherwise forward-thinking fashion sites. After the initial fun is over, weather forecasts, friends' groups, and video can seem gimmicky, and when the sites present youthful styles like that pintucked T-shirt and tights to a grown woman headed to the office on Monday morning, they can seem downright disconnected.

David Grant, founder and CEO of the fashion-video-focused ShopFlick, told me over lunch recently that his target customer is between 18 and 34 years old. Mr. Grant is former president of Fox TV. Why target the under-34 crowd? "It felt right because it's what I've been doing all my career," said Mr. Grant, who is 53.

Are online marketers so youth-conscious -- because it feels right -- that they're ignoring lucrative markets just when they're most needed? The Internet is neither new nor young. The fastest-growing segment of Facebook users is women over 55, according to the Tracking Facebook blog. And the underlying assumption that young people are still the Web's most fertile market doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

In fact, 65% of online apparel sales go to women over age 35, according to market researcher NPD Group. Among these, the fastest-growing sales are to women between 55 and 64 years old -- a boomer population that has always been known for its willingness to indulge.

"It's so stupid," says David Wolfe, creative director of Doneger Group, fashion industry consultants. "The people doing the programming are still deluding themselves that the 18-to-34-year-old market is going to save them."

In fact, it's grandmothers who may save them. Online sales to women aged 25-34 fell 8% in the year ended in March, but sales to 55-to-64-year-olds rose 11% -- recession be damned.

The strength of the older market -- online and off -- is a key reason why Carmen Marc Valvo, the designer of elegant eveningwear, spent a weekend at a San Antonio AARP convention this month. "They are an overlooked demographic that is a primary customer for our brand," says the designer's spokesman, Frank Pulice.

At Saks.com, Saks Fifth Avenue's Web site, the average age of an online customer is 42, and she spends an average of $400 when she visits. "We wouldn't be getting that if we were limited to 18 to 34," says Denise Incandela, president of Saks's online division, which the company considers its second-biggest store after its New York flagship.

Of course, Stylecaster and the like didn't pioneer fashion's youth fixation, which has existed at least since the 1970s. (Indeed, that movement was launched by the same boomer generation that is now being overlooked.)

Moreover, the sites are still new and evolving. A spokeswoman for Stylecaster, which was launched earlier this year, says it doesn't "really have an age demographic," but it focuses on roughly 18 to 45. In the future, it may add a feature that would allow users to choose types of clothes, such as casual, formal or work-appropriate.

But selling to an older online audience may require a different tack. At Saks, which has been testing online videos of models moving in clothes, "we're not seeing as good results as we'd hoped" in sales, says Ms. Incandela. More effective for Saks is the capacity to show products from all angles -- including inside handbags -- when the cursor is waved over the photo, requiring fewer click-throughs. Among other new bells and whistles, there are "silhouette shots" of handbags and jewelry showing how things look on a silhouette of a body.

Another fashion Web site, MyShape.com, adds a dimension of old-school service to the Internet catalog model. After a customer types in a series of detailed body measurements -- about 20 minutes' worth of effort -- the site eliminates styles that won't work for a certain body type, suggesting workable pieces with surprising success. The shopping experience is more pleasurable because less time is wasted sleuthing through unworkable styles.

I'm in favor of Web surfing and social networking. I have a Facebook page, and I tweet on Twitter as BinkleyOnStyle. But when it comes to online shopping, there may be a self-fulfilling prophecy at work: I can't find much appeal in sites that market only to twentysomethings. Thus, when I don't buy from those sites, they may continue to believe that the "hasn't-bought-a-house-yet" demographic is their best bet.

I wish that every website would let see me where any item were made. Most websites will just list "imported" for some goods and just doesn't "cut it".