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Many thought that buying clothes online would never catch on.
It was widely argued and still is that people would need to see, feel and try on all types of apparel to really be comfortable buying online.
However despite the obvious issues, fashion is exploding online.
It is one of the fastest growing shopping categories and this clothes buying guide will provide some shopping tips as well as useful information to help guide you in shopping for online fashion. |
Index
Introduction to Buying Clothes Online
How to find what you're looking for
Clothing Images
Stock Availability
Retailer Returns Policies
Delivery Costs
Sizing Charts International Size Converters
Fashion and Clothes Brands
Fashion Accessories
Top Clothing Searches
Useful Websites
Introduction to Buying Clothes Online
The variety of clothing available online today is overwhelming. Everything from dresses, trousers, shoes, bras, swimwear, and sportswear to vintage clothing, designer clothes and high end fashion are just a quick search away. Underwear and Lingerie have been popular products online for some time as the anonymity afforded by online purchasing allowed customers to buy from their homes. However it surprised many that bargain hunters looking for cheap clothes soon started using the vast amounts of information available online to find great deals. Customers also looking for those hard to find specialist items like vintage clothing soon found the web could help them locate that dress they'd been looking for and at a good price. As broadband penetrated more homes allowing for faster connection speeds, larger and more versatile merchandising opened the doors to mainstream fashion. Added to the fact that the convenience of shopping online added considerable momentum to this growth and today most people have bought some form of clothing online. Today as buying clothes online becomes mainstream this buying guides gives you some basic tips and information to help guide you.
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How to Find What You Are Looking For
A search for jeans on a search engine results in potentially millions of listings to sort through. A shopping bot like Cubalaya helps as it returns images and details of specific jeans products from various retailers but you could still get 1000's of deals back. The key to good clothes shopping online is using very accurate and often more detailed searches. For example you may know that actually you are looking for dark denim boot fit jeans or tight fit jeans? A Shopping bot will then allow you to refine by brand, style or price so you are very quickly looking at relevant offers.
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Clothing Images
As early as the year 2000 many retailers realised the potential to sell clothes online. A few retailers even understood you needed to sell these particular products in a different way. It has taken a while but now many retailers are starting to offer a better image display to help you find and choose clothes to buy. Flash imagery always produced high quality images that would download very quickly but these sights often lacked crucial shopping functionality. It is now common for sites to allow you to click and enlarge images for a better view of the finer details. Many retailers provide multiple images showing you the front, side, back and close in detail of products. A few retailers have even started to experiment, allowing customers to put together various looks so you can see how an outfit might look to encourage them to buy more. This is undoubtedly the future of clothes shopping online.
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Stock Availability
This is always a key issue when ordering goods online but with clothing it is an area you will soon find yourself focusing on. Many retailers advertise online for a product but once you go to complete your order you may find that the size you require isn't in stock. Also if you are buying an item of clothing because it is in season, in fashion or needed for a specific event you won't want to wait 4 weeks for an out of stock item to be ordered. As clothing is very seasonal once a product is out of stock it is usually unlikely to become in stock again. Finally you may have spent time carefully selecting a serious of garments to mix and match only to find one or two key items out of stock.
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Retailer Returns Policy
Never has a returns policy been more important than for clothing. Online retailers have moved on a lot in recent years and they have begun to understand the size of the opportunity if the put the right mechanisms in place to allow customers to order with confidence. Clothing needs to be seen, touched and essentially tried on for fit so most good retailers have a very good returns policy. A few retailers even encourage multiple ordering so you can return for free anything that isn't suitable. Check the small print carefully; do you need to keep all original packaging and labels intact? Is there a free returns service or do you pay a fee? This has become an essential part of buying clothes online.
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Delivery Costs
This is an important part of any online shopping but even more so when you order clothes, accessories and footwear. There are several points to consider. Firstly you will often buy multiple items as you shop for outfits and complete looks, check to ensure they can all be delivered together and that you either get free delivery or just a single delivery charge. There is nothing more frustrating than getting the skirt but not the blouse or shirt you ordered for a new work outfit or party outfit. If you buy a single item check that the purchase is worth making when the delivery charge is added on.
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Size Charts International Converters
One of the advantages of shopping for clothes and shoes online is the variety and choice you have access to. Many retailers are sourcing goods from overseas and even shipping overseas as the online market shows no boundaries. Therefore you may find you'll need to convert sizes from EU, US or even Japan to UK to ensure you buy the right size for you. These tables below act as a general guide.
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| Dresses/Blouses |
| UK | EU | US | Japan |
| 6 | 34 | 5 | 4 |
| 7/8 | 36 | 6/7 | 5 |
| 9/10 | 38 | 8/9 | 7 |
| 11/12 | 40 | 10/11 | 9 |
| 13/14 | 42 | 12/13 | 11 |
| 15 | 44 | 14 | 13 |
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| Womens Suits |
| UK | EU | US | Japan |
| 26 | 32 | 5 | 4 |
| 28 | 34 | 6/7 | 5 |
| 30 | 36 | 8/9 | 7 |
| 32 | 38 | 10/11 | 9 |
| 34 | 40 | 12/13 | 11 |
| 36 | 42 | 14 | 13 |
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| Waist |
| UK | EU | US | Japan |
| 24 | 61 | 24 | 61 |
| 26 | 66 | 26 | 66 |
| 28 | 71 | 28 | 71 |
| 30 | 76 | 30 | 76 |
| 32 | 80 | 32 | 80 |
| 36 | 42 | 14 | 13 |
| 32 | 80 | 32 | 80 |
| 34 | 87 | 34 | 87 |
| 36 | 91 | 36 | 91 |
| 38 | 97 | 38 | 97 |
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| Shirts |
| | UK | EU | US | Japan |
| Small | 34 | 87 | 34 | 87 |
| Medium | 36 | 91 | 36 | 91 |
| Medium | 38 | 97 | 38 | 97 |
| Large | 40 | 102 | 40 | 102 |
| X Large | 42 | 107 | 42 | 107 |
| XX Large | 44 | 112 | 44 | 112 |
| XXX Large | 46 | 117 | 46 | 117 |
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| Collar |
| UK | EU | US | Japan |
| 14 | 36 | 14 | 36 |
| 14.5 | 37 | 14.5 | 37 |
| 15 | 38 | 15 | 38 |
| 15.5 | 39 | 15.5 | 39 |
| 16 | 41 | 16 | 41 |
| 16.5 | 42 | 16.5 | 13 |
| 17 | 43 | 16 | 43 |
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| Shoes |
| UK | EU | US | Japan |
| 2.5 | 35 | 4 | 21.5 |
| 3.5 | 37 | 5 | 22.5 |
| 4.5 | 38 | 6 | 23.5 |
| 5.5 | 39 | 7 | 24.5 |
| 6.5 | 41 | 8 | 25.5 |
| 7.5 | 42 | 9 | 26.5 |
| 8.5 | 43 | 10 | 27.5 |
| 9.5 | 45 | 11 | 28.5 |
| 10.5 | 46 | 12 | 29.5 |
| 11.5 | 47 | 13 | 30.5 |
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| Childrens clothing |
| UK | EU | US | Japan |
| 16/18 | 40/55 | 2 | 90 |
| 20/22 | 50/55 | 4 | 100 |
| 24/26 | 60/65 | 6 | 110 |
| 28/30 | 70/75 | 8 | 120 |
| 32/34 | 80/85 | 10 | 130 |
| 38 | 90/95 | 12 | 140 |
* Note these are approximate guides and sizes do vary according to manufacture and styling
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Fashion Accessories
One of the joys of buying fashion items online is the amount of research you can do on all the accessories available. Anything available in the high street is now available online and some items like handbags have become very popular leading to lots of choice and savings for customers. Here are some of the most popular accessory searches:
Handbags
,Leather Handbags
,Belts
,Scarves
,Gloves
,Watches
,Earrings
,Necklace
,Pendants
,Broaches
,Wallets
,Purse
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Fashion and Clothing Brands
Adidas
,Nike
,Miss Sixty
,Levi
,Giorgio Armani
,Pretty Polly
,Calvin Klein
,Adams
,Puma
,Pringle
,Reebok
,Golddigga
,Pierre Cardin
,Converse
,Columbia
,The North Face
,The SAK
,Timberland
,Diesel
,Cross
,Versace
,Valentino
,Elle Macpherson
,Peter Werth
,Fred Perry
,French Connection
,Forzieri
,Firetrap
,Wrangler
,Panache
,Wonder Bra
,Sloggi
,Love Label
,Denim & Co
,Lands End
,Berkertex
,Oasis
,Playboy
,Nicholas Millington
,Helly Hansen
,Replay
,Roberto Cavalli
,Jane Shilton
,Rockport
,Bon Prix
,Kickers
,Burberry
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Top Clothes Searches
Clothes
,Pumps
,High Heels
,Moccasins
,Leather shoes
,Leather boots
,Panties
,Thong
,Briefs
,Pants
,Socks
,Tights
,Stockings
,Suspenders
,Chemise
,Belts
,Leather belts
,Handbag
,Sandals
,Mules
,Slippers
,Swimwear
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Useful Sites
www.marksandspencer.com UK's leading Clothing retailer
www.gqstyle.com - Leading Fashion magazine
www.style.com - Online home of Vogue
www.fashion.about.com - Online Blog Style fashion site
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