What size am I?

No, this is not going to be a post about weight.

We all know that sizing between brands are inconsistent. But by how much?

Apparently it can be quite a bit. A clever lady from the UK, Anna Powell-Smith, collated clothing size information from a number of UK and US retailers and built an interesting app called "what size am I?" that helps you find the brand and size that best suit your body measurements.

I found the article on The Guardian and it listed the bust, waist and hips measurement of UK brands included in the app. Below are the measurements for 5 brands in size 12 (in centimeters).

FCUK	Zara	Topshop	ASOS	Dorothy Perkins
90	94	92	91	92
74	74	74.2	73	73
99	102	96.5	98.5	96.5

As you can see, the sizes vary by a lot. For instance there is a 5.5cm/almost 2 inch difference between hips measurements for Zara and Topshop/Dorothy Perkins.

I was also interested in comparing the standard measurements published by the brands and actual measurements from items that I own.

First, this dress from ASOS.

ASOS's published measurements for size 12 are 91-73-98.5. The measurements of my dress are 89-79-97.

Next up in this Dorothy Perkins dress.

Dorothy Perkins' published measurements for size 12 are 92-73-96.5. The measurements of the dress are 93-77-[I didn't measure the hips as it is an a-line dress].

So it appears that actual sizes are not that consistent with published sizes. Nonetheless I think this is a handy tool to see how different sizings between stores are. If you want to have a play yourself, the app is here and the Guardian article written by the creator of the app is here.

Are you frustrated by the lack of consistency in size between brands? Do you find this app useful?

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What's in the box?

Fast as a flash I received by Shopbop order yesterday.

What lovely presentation!

Yay to my first Missoni purchase :-D

There are some gold sparkles in the zig zag scarf which weren't visible in photos on Shopbop, can you see them in the close up?

Here's a quick model shot.

I can't wait to wear it in winter!

And there are the Juicy Couture princess studs.

I must admit I didn't check the measurements so the earrings are smaller than I expected, which is fine - I was worried they they'd be too big!

Another self-portrait.

I asked The Duke to take this photo so you can see the lovely crown claw.

I'm really happy with my purchases and Shopbop sets the bar high for etailers. If you haven't bought from them before do yourself a favour and check them out :-D

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Dorothy Perkins temptations

I must be a retailer's dream customer because I pay too much attention to their marketing e-mails.

The latest one is Dorothy Perkins. The e-mail subject is "Introducing our top ten spring must have". Who can resist that?

One of the "must have" is pencil dress.

The black ivory spot peplum dress (£30) caught my eye.

It's a statement dress for sure. I don't own any peplum dresses so this will be a nice addition to the wardrobe.

Once I was on the website I spent a bit of time browsing (as you do!) and these 2 dresses made their way to my shortlist.

Multi-coloured jersey dress (£25)

 
Coral twist know cowl dress (£25)

The deal is sweeter because Dorothy Perkins is currently offering free international shipping for purchases over £30.

I was so close to making a purchase (was at the check out screen). I took a break from the computer and by the time I came back I asked myself: "Do I really need another dress?"

This is where you come in - should I buy any of them?

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My first Etsy purchase

I love Etsy. I can spend hours browsing page after page of unique creations.

I've made a few purchases through the years but the most memorable purchase is the first one. I can't remember how I came across Anne-Julie Aubry's work but it was love at first sight. Anne-Julie is a French artist who creates exquisite, fairytale-styled drawings.

You can buy one of her prints, or if you want to have a piece of her art with you at all times, she also has a collection of pocket mirrors.

Isn't the internet great? I wouldn't have discovered Anne-Julie's beautiful work any other way.

If you like what you see, visit Anne-Julie's Etsy store The Nebulous Kingdom.

P.S. This is not a sponsored post, I just want to share because I'm a fan of her work.

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Another Shopbop order

After a day of deliberation I decided to purchase the Missoni scarf. Given Sydney's weather I may be able to wear it sooner rather than later!

The scarf is $US99, so I was on the hunt for something small to quality for free shipping (yes it is a bit silly to "spend to save", but as I wrote in a previous post we're often irrational about free shipping).

And these are what I picked:

The Juicy Couture princess earrings (on sale for $US24) look nice front-on, but Shopbop's photos did not show off its unique feature.

 

Isn't the crown-shaped claw lovely? To be honest I'm surprised that Shopbop dropped the ball on the display photo (the photo above is from Endless). Endless also offers a 360-degree video of the earrings which is a bonus.

I do like the photo from Shopbop that gives you an idea about the size of the earrings. Trust me, I have purchased earrings online and surprised by their size when I receive them in the post!

I was almost going to buy this MBMJ Miss Marc Makes a Splash tee (on sale, $US47.60) but decided against it because *sob* I think I'm too old to wear a tee with a cartoon figure on it. One of you should get it though, it's so cute!

I also went on The Outnet (international site) last night and I really like the look of this MBMJ Jailbird cotton-twill dress.

It's cute and the price is tempting (down to £100.62). It's sitting in the "Most Wanted List" for now. What to you think?

P.S. The eBay directory is live! Let me know if you want to add your seller page :-D

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Wrap me up

I'm such a sucker for Shopbop ads. I received their "new items on sale" e-mail and wasted no time checking it out over breakfast.

I've been thinking about a new scarf for winter. Specifically, a Missoni one. And lo and behold there is one with 50% off.

There is also a nice MBMJ scarf in the sale.

Both are $99.

Which one gets your vote?

ETA: Thanks for your votes so far!

There is another MBMJ scarf in the same collection which is a traditional long scarf. I think I prefer that because I like to wrap a scarf tightly around my neck.

I showed the scarves to my work buddy and she said she can knit something like the MBMJ one but not the Missoni one. That's a factor too.

Gah I'm so bad at decision making!

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Etailers Do: Creative merchandising

Just like the window display at brick-and-mortar stores, the home page of an e-store is vital in attracting prospective shoppers. If an etailer can create content in the home page that engages its audience, they are more likely to explore, and some will eventually click on the "add to cart" button.

Shopbop's home page yesterday piqued my interest and I made a note to have another look.

The heading ("The Ultimate Closet"), the uncluttered display, the quality of the 14 pieces selected, and the prospect of playing mix and match ... what's not to like?

If I want to look at any of the items on display, one click and a dialogue box pops up with product details and I can buy it straight away.

I can also choose to "shop the lookbook" and see the stylist using the 14 items to create different looks.

It's like the mix and match features in magazines, with the added bonus of immediate purchase. Anything to show the versatility of an item gets a tick from me.

It looks like I'm not the only one who likes this "shop front" because a few of the items are sold out already.

How much are you swayed by what's on display at an e-store's home page?

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Finally sunny

Finally we had a lovely weekend in Sydney. The forecast is for rain again this week but at least we had two gorgeous days to enjoy.

My MBMJ preppy camera bag arrived on Friday and I wasted no time to give it a swirl.

MBMJ is a great brand for well priced leather goods, and this little bag is no exception. Mouse is a great colour (thanks for your votes!) - it goes with anything. With Shopbop and Endless among others delivering to Australia, MBMJ is now very accessible to us.

The eagle-eye among you may have noticed that I was wearing my new Zara dress. In fact my entire outfit have been purchased in the last month.

Zara dress
KORS Michael Kors flats
MBMJ bag
Oroton sunnies

On Saturday we went to the Powerhouse Museum (mainly for the Wiggles exhibition which TLP loved). While TLP was sitting in the Big Red Car, I checked out the Make Lace Not War exhibition. There are some exquisite creations on display.

TLP had a nap after lunch in the stroller. I took the opportunity to check out the outlets at Market City in Chinatown. I bought this from Esprit.

Esprit is one of the brands I'd never pay full price for, and I rarely visit their stores, but there are some bargains to be had at their outlets. The full price of this dress was $199, now down to $59.95.

The price tag lists the RRP of the dress in 6 countries. The dress RRP in Hong Kong is $HK899, given current exchange rates it equates to $A108. That is only half of the RRP is in Australia. *sigh* It is so frustrating to be constantly overcharged relative to other countries.

We went to Chatswood on Sunday - TLP was long overdue for a haircut. Afterwards The Duke took TLP to Myer's toy section, and I hopped over to Daiso at Mardarin Centre.

Daiso is the biggest "$2" store I've ever seen. Everything in the store, from containers to stationery to cosmetics(!), cost $2.80.

I picked up 3 things, a packet of 10 ballpens, a shower cap, and an electric nail filer. The last item is a bit bizarre but for $2.80 I'm willing to experiment.

Let's finish this post with one of the reasons I love living in Sydney.

P.S. Do you like The Etail Queen's new look?

P.P.S. I'm planning to set up an eBay directory. If you are an eBay seller and want to be included in the directory, just tweet me or send me an e-mail.

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Etailers Don't: Mystery shipping fees

I wrote about delivery charges in my last post. It is certainly bad if etailers charge exorbitant shipping fees. But it's worse if you don't know.

You would've thought that shipping fees and delivery timeframe are standard information for any online stores. Most e-stores have a "Shipping", "Delivery", "Customer Service" or an "FAQ" link with the relevant information. For some unknown reason, some websites like to keep you guessing.

This website does not give you any information about shipping, in fact there is nothing on customer service at all. It also violates the first and second Etailers Don't rules.

So how do you find out about shipping charges? Maybe by putting something in the shopping cart?

That would be too easy! Instead, you have to register or sign in using your Facebook account. 

Sorry, at this point you've lost the sale.

P.S. An idea for the blog ... are you interested in a directory of ebay auctions from people who read this blog or from my twitter followers? Good for the people selling and good for people looking for a bargain, so it's a win-win, right?

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The lure of free shipping

I read an article on online shopping with an observation that people are irrationally influenced by delivery charges, that we respond to delivery charges more than the cost of total purchase. A survey by Deliotte last year on Christmas shopping showed that 7 out of 10 shoppers are more likely to shop from sites that offer free shipping.

I don't know about you but it's certainly true in my books. Last month I had 2 shopping carts with goodies, one with ASOS and one with Dorothy Perkins. I went ahead with ASOS partly because they don't charge postage. And Dorothy Perkins' delivery charge is £10.50 which is pretty reasonable for shipping from the UK.

Why do we get so hung up on postage? In most cases it's only a small percentage of the total bill. I think it's because we categorise the expenses into different buckets. The cost of the items we're buying give us something tangible. The shipping charge, on the other hand, feels like a surcharge on internet shopping. That's espeically true in the case of "click-and-mortar" retailers - if I can walk into the store and buy the item, why should I pay extra to get the same item from their online store?

Of course, that way of thinking doesn't factor in the time and effort required at our end. If the store is 20 minutes away from home, it'll take around an hour to get there, find and pay for the item, and go home. Typical delivery charge for an Australian retailer is around the $10. Is one hour of our time worth $10?

I think retailers do a similar type of cost categorisation too. After all, we're not charged extra for the rent of the shop, the wages of the SA's working at the store, or the cost of delivering the items from the warehouse to the store. These costs are built into the price. So why not do the same thing with postage? I suspect it's because most Australian click-and-mortar retailers are still relatively new to etailing and treat online sales differently from store sales. Because delivery is a new type of expense for them, and can be attributed to individual shoppers, at this stage they're charging extra for the service. I believe that in time, as the share of online sales increases and competition heats up, more etailers will realise the free shipping attract more sales and will absorb the delivery charge.

Some etailers go part way and offer free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. It stops people from placing small orders where the margins do not cover the cost of postage. It also has the added bonus of making people buy more in order to reach the threshold (I've done it many times myself).

I don't mind that approach as long as the threshold is reasonable. As a rule of thumb, fashion etailers should set a threshold no higher than the average price of a dress at full price. Feel free to quote me :-)

So what's your view on shipping charges? Do you only shop at etailers with free shipping? What is the most you've paid for delivery charges (mine was around $40 from The Outnet's US website and Nordstrom, I can only justify it because the discount I received is greater than the postage).

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