You may have been told that shopping online for plus size clothing isn’t necessarily a good idea. Well, either that or you may have reached the conclusion yourself, but in any case there are still millions of women for whom the idea of shopping online for plus size collections simply doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
This is however something of a shame as with each passing year, more incredible designers and retailers begin selling exclusive and exquisite collections of plus size garments exclusively online. Or in other words, a vast archive of stunning clothing the likes of which will never make its way to the High Street and is thus 100% out of reach to those who still resist the online retail revolution.
Of course there will always be certain things to bear in mind and rules to follow when it comes to shopping for clothes online – the fact that you can’t try anything on is of course the biggest bug bear of all. Nevertheless, it’s perfectly possible to dive headfirst into the exciting and extraordinary world of online plus size fashion shopping risk-free – chances are you’ll be pretty much blown away by what’s out there!
1 – Know Your Shape
First and foremost, while it is of course important to know your size, you also need to know your shape. This is a point that would be perfectly illustrated if you were to stand a dozen size 16 women next to each other – chances are no two of them would look even remotely similar shape-wise. The simple fact of the matter is that whatever size you are should be used as something of a rough guide only – it is your shape that should be used to determine what you buy and where you buy it from.
2 – Dedicated Retailers
There’s a very big and very important difference between shopping with a dedicated plus size clothing retailer and choosing from the tiny token collections some standard clothing stores add on as an afterthought. In order to really get the best from the clothing you buy, you need to buy it from a retailer that knows and understands plus size as well as you do. It’s of course not to say that you cannot find great buys at other retailers, but dedicated plus size specialists almost always represent the better choices.
3 – Read the Labels…Carefully!
As you won’t be able to inspect the garments by hand for pretty obvious reasons, it’s important that you read the labels in their virtual form carefully and fully. The reason being that there will probably be certain materials that do and do not take your fancy when shopping for plus size clothing. If for example you’re not into the idea of clingy materials, look for garments made with cotton, jersey or chiffon. Try not to take the images at face value, but instead read the descriptions offered in full.
4 – Ask Questions
Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that just because the retailer you are looking at is something of a ‘virtual’ entity, this means there aren’t humans behind the scenes waiting to answer your questions. Any online retailer that’s worth doing business with will have a dedicated customer service team you can contact by phone or email to ask any questions you have with regard to sizing, styles, store policies and so on and so forth.
5 – Feedback and Advice
Don’t think for one minute you’re the only person with these kinds of concerns – there are millions of others in exactly the same boat! As such, one of the very best ways of ensuring you not only shop with the very best plus size retailers but also choose the perfect garments for your body shape is to seek the advice and recommendations of others. When you find a brand you are interested in, carry out a quick web search to see what their past and present customers have to say about them. Chances are you’ll find all you need to know about their take on sizing, quality, service standards and so on.
6 – Returns Policy
Last up, technically speaking the very worst that could happen by shopping online would be to end up with a sizeable shipment of garments of which not a single one fits you even remotely as you’d hoped. However, if you shop with an online clothing retailer with a solid and fair returns policy in place, this really isn’t what you’d call the end of the world. Quite to the contrary in fact as it won’t (or at least shouldn’t) cost you a penny to return as many items as necessary as often as necessary in order to narrow things down to the ones that work best for you. And just as soon as you’ve found your ideal shape, size, design and retailer, you’re golden!
