I do better shopping online. I am tallish and there’s not much available locally, so much more available online.

Generally you can write to customer service for actual measurements, I have to do that sometimes. Reading reviews can help too, especially when people say their measurements and what size they got.

My kids (as I did when I was their age) do love shopping at the thrift store, trying things on.

I personally enjoy irl shopping in general. Online is fun too and gives you access to much more products but I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to go to a book store, cloth shop etc.

For clothes in particular, I wanna try on clothes to know how it feels and if they fit

Shopping at Wal-Mart for example for clothes is one of the most underwhelming experiences I ever get. They did away with Fruit of the Loom shorts and even their cotton-branded shorts with AthleticWorks. Now there’s too many jersey sports like shorts and that’s all that they ever have. On top of that, all that they got for clothes is corporate branded shit and I don’t want to be a walking billboard for corporate. As well as those shirts with dumb sayings on them to try and appeal with people.

Shopping online is obviously better.

I think you’re just gonna have to double-down on returns if you want that in-person experience online without jumping through hoops. Just make sure to shop online at places that have a good policy, some clothing websites know this is how it works so their policy is setup to compliment that (free returns, awesome customer service, decent return time policy).

Think of the mail delivery as your personal entourage, they bring you clothing to try on at your leisure (which you’ve pre-selected the style/etc) and you just give them back if you’re not satisfied. You can schedule pick-ups easily without needing to go to the post office every week if the company has a decent enough packaging system (some even send return slips/packages or are printable etc).

To make it easier, I would suggest getting into the measurements of your body. It’s not like your body is going to dramatically change from day to day so it should be something you’ll be able to monitor and get used to real quick (male centric video/female centric video). It’s a little more work, but will last you a lifetime as a skill to better understand your body. It will probably help lower the number of returns as well since you’ll be better informed.

The only things I would consider buying online.

Levi 505 jeans because they measure by the inches. Doesn’t matter if you get in the store or online . An inch is an inch.

My socks. I always buy the same brand and the size doesn’t change.

Same for underwear.

Other then that. Only in person. Every company measures differently. Some companies have multiple manufacturing plants who also measure differently.

I hate shopping online. There are very few things I will order. I will absolutely never buy clothes or furniture online. I will happily pay a little bit more for the opportunity to buy in person. However, I am not a good consumer, rarely buying much of anything. So my support of local stores goes unnoticed as more and more stores close and shipping of return items grows.

If I ever buy any clothing online (so far I think it has been shoes that was very hard to find), I first go to physical shops that either have the same thing I want (probably at a higher price) or have the same model, but in a different color scheme and then go online to buy it :)

While I prefer IRL clothes shopping, the range of clothes at my nearby stores sucks so badly that online is vastly superior for me. Once you have a list of shops that you trust it’s easy to go shopping.

This is partly due to my body shape being an athletic build. Buying online from stores that list the actual clothing measurements means I can choose stuff that actually fits me properly. IRL near me just has generic sizing that is either too tight across the shoulders or far too long.

I spend above average on clothing, your generic brands even online don’t offer actual clothing measurements, but then I would rather have a smaller number of items that are good quality and fit rather than be wasteful with disposable fast fashion thst doesn’t last and doesn’t fit.

Yes because you get what you pay for. No need to bring a ruler

Shoes and clothe are the kind of stuff where you loose a lot by buying online.

In person you can see the fabric texture and colour. Not a photo where light, camera and then your screen altered everything.

Check how well it fits. For shoes you can easily get one size less/more depending on brand/cut and even for clothe you are not a standard person so passing them in the shop tells you a lot.

You can even ask a sales person opinion to get a feedback of course they want to sell but can help you more than a chatbot

Absolutely, you have the possibility of judging the garment quality by touching it, you can see exactly how large it is and, in most cases, you can try it on to make sure it fits you and that you are okay with how it fits. You can’t do any of that online.

Def not the only one! Especially shoes are impossible

Pants and shoes I try and buy in-store.

I’ve got my go-to brands for shirts and underwear that I know fit well, so I usually just buy a shitload when my old ones are worn out.

Outerwear is 50/50%.

Most online retailers will let you try and return goods. In the EU you can return anything bought online within 2 weeks, no questions asked (by law).

A lot of fast fashion stores might just burn returns, others might sell them at an outlet. And it cuts into they already thin margins. I try to avoid returns.

Have you not shopped for clothes in person? Just curious, not trying to judge.

But yeah, as an old millennial, I used to have to go clothes shopping at Kmart, Target, Sears, etc. as a kid with my parents. It was annoying and kind of a pain. We could easily spend all day shopping around for clothes for all my sisters and I. Trying things on for size, checking the styles, looking for the deals, etc.

Online is kind of a mystery. Will the materials be any good? Will it fit right? Is one size L the same as another size L??

Especially shoes. Yeah, they look nice online, but they dont always fit nice once you put them on.

Well, in person has the availability of trying things on. Since even with taking good measurements, not every company uses sizes accurately (for example, you have a 20 inch neck, and shirts might say they’re 20, but be up to an inch either direction, or you only have general sizes (sm, med, lg, etc) and not every company treats those exactly the same as all the others. Then you run into online shopping including things from overseas where the standards are completely different.

As an example, my thick-ass neck comes with a thick-ass chest, and in us sizes, I tend to prefer a 3x. A 3x from china or Thailand may be more of a single x, or xxl at best.

So, in person shopping is going to end up with less hassle overall, no matter how well you measure yourself.

I hate in person shopping though. Despise it with a passion, and always have. Giant fucking head, giant feet, giant hands, and until I stopped lifting nothing was ever cut right for my body. Even after I switched away from lifting big, it still isn’t exactly a fun process finding things that fit every part of my body right.

If I shop online, I buy bigger than I need usually, because that’s just my reality. If I don’t, something is going to chafe.

If I shop in store, I at least can find things that fit me better. But the only thing I’ve ever owned that fit me perfectly is my suit. I sprang for it to be tailored, and made sure it was going to last, with room for alterations as my body changes over time.

But, damn. It’s an uncomfortable experience. Doubly so in winter and summer, where either heating in stores gets me sweaty, or the heat from outside has me sweating before I go in, so I have to fuck around until I cool off.