I’m writing two companion posts on my favorite and least favorite purchases of the first half of 2016.
The main purpose of this exercise is to review my purchasing habits more comprehensively. I have some bad shopping habits I’m learning to curb. My goals include 1) to completely quit shopping fast fashion, and 2) stop buying things that are final sale/cannot be returned. The biggest fail of 2016 is undoubtedly my shopping spree at ModCloth.
So, I hadn’t visited the site in a long, long time, and had remembered it as a quirky-retro favorite from my late teen years. It was just a disaster in the making to revisit for the first time in years and find 70+% off final sales that could be stacked with a 20% off introductory coupon. A combination of the overwhelming force of nostalgia and “sales goggles” made this one of my most regrettable shopping trips in memory! On that note, let’s have a look at all the duds of 2016.
Ann Taylor – pullover sweaters
Y’all remember these puppies? The embarrassing thing is, these were only a few months old when I purchased their replacements. I had my reasons, but I nonetheless made a bad call in the first place. Given the amount of time passed, returning wasn’t an option. Yet as I had only worn each of them 2 or 3 times, they can still make great additions to someone else’s closet for a fraction of the retail price! Status: to be resold.
ASOS – ASOS Striped Tunic Dress
The lines were all askew where they are joined at the shoulders, which was a really sloppy look. Not only that, the dress was see-through in person! 🙁 Status: returned.
ASOS – Vila Ditsy Print V Neck Dress
The material was scratchy, and instead of being fully lined, there was just a flap of black fabric across the chest area. Status: returned.
Gap – Flannel Joggers
Remember back when I was thinking of acquiring some linen joggers? Well, the weather here was persistently colder than the time of year would dictate, so I thought of testing the jogger silhouette in a more cold weather appropriate fabric. These turned out to be quite a bit more heavily knit than I was expecting, and slunk unattractively on my body. Status: returned.
ModCloth – So, SO many non-returnable items that looked far better on the website than on me 🙁
So I dang lost my mind for a bit, and came away with nothing I truly loved on me, though some pieces fared better than others. Overall, I’m disappointed in myself for falling into the final sales (read: 70%+ off!!) trap. I’m glad I kept the tag on these at least. Status: to be resold
Nordstrom Rack – Max Studio Striped Tube Skirt
I couldn’t find the product page on the site anymore, but the ecru stripe is actually a flat braid, which I failed to notice from the pictures online. It gave the skirt a more nautical feel, which to me reads casual. I wanted a stripe pencil skirt that could be dressed up or down, and this just wasn’t that versatile. Status: returned.
Uniqlo – Window Pane Pants
I bought two of these in different prints and assumed they would have the same composition without double-checking. The ones I kept are a cotton/spandex blend, and these I returned because they were polyester/rayon with spandex instead. Status: returned.
I’m glad I returned most of my duds. I am working on paying attention to return charges and windows. Now I tend to favor shops that allow merchandise purchased online to be returned in stores because it gives me more flexibility.
I also used to have a terrible habit of immediately tearing off tags and washing items as soon as something came into my home. This rendered the items un-return-able as many stores will not accept returns without tags or that have clearly been washed. In fact, I did this with the Ann Taylor sweaters, which is why I even stuck with trying to wear them in the first place. What’s more, even though I have not started reselling online, in my research I found that New with Tag (NWT) pieces command better prices (understandably) than New without Tag (NWOT), so I think leaving the tag on until I actually wear something is just a good practice to adopt going forward.
Anyhow, that’s it for me now, stay tuned for my favorite pieces coming later this month!
