Click! View! Zoom! Mine!
I do a lot of my prowling for designer dresses online and then head for one of the retailers to try the dress on and see how it looks on me. There's a huge gulf between some designs and the actual dress. I'm tall and have a pretty good figure even though I say it myself although my bust and the models are two different worlds (I'm glad to say!). i guess you know you need to be careful with online shopping. The power of the airbrush and modern technology do wonders for some of the designer dresses online. It's just like the actual retail outlets where these designs end up. Some you can trust and some, frankly, you just can't. You get used to the game when you've been around as long as I have (God, I'm sounding so old!).
Well, let me run through a few of my favorites and the ones I loathe I'll leave out and you'll be able to figure the difference pretty easily. One thing to say is that the presentation of designer dresses online varies a lot from outlet to outlet. The use of multi view and zoom tools online make initial judgments about a particular dress so very easy. I have never bought or even followed up on a dress where the only view online I got was full front only. For that reason I only bother with those retailers. I haven't got time to screw around, frankly. I imagine, nor do you!
Having laid down those ground rules, I love my favorite store. Yes, it's handy to me, in a mall I love and the staff are just awesome. They have been and are always super helpful. For the most part, I think they are as honest as they can be given their trade or profession. The store is Nordstrom's and the locale is Providence Place in Providence, Rhode Island. Sorry, if it's nowhere near you but find a Nordstrom's and I'm sure they'll treat you really well. Let them get to know you. I like the way Nordstrom's lays out their website and it's easy to navigate. Their web designer must think the way I do or else theirs is someone from the women's department looking over his/her shoulder. Use it and you'll see what I mean when you see how they categorize and change the categories as the seasons change.
A purely online operation that I do like a lot and I do break my own rules and buy from them is ShopBop. They represent an interesting array of designers, some well known and some new and not so. On the whole, I love the lines they carry. Again, an extremely easy site to get around and if you can find dresses, jeans, bags - whatever that you like and can find locally in the flesh, so to speak, then you're all set. Otherwise you'll have to shop online and wait for shipment and be involved in a lot of trial and error and returns. A real pain in the you know what as far as I'm concerned. Well, that's my preferred system and I'm sticking with it!
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