True fact: I am basically horrified of shopping online at a place I can’t also shop in-store to determine what I like/what size fits me/etc.
It legitimately gives me anxiety.
What if I hate it?
What if it looks horrible?
When will I be able to get it to the UPS store to return it?
Is it even worth reading 500 reviews to get the right size?
What if those horror stories about online clothes having parasites are true?
*GASP*
Okay, breathe Deb, just breathe.
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Taking the Plunge
I did an inordinate amount of research before I bought my first piece of clothing on Amazon. I read a Buzzfeed article about what clothes were actually worth purchasing from Amazon, and I found this dress:
As you can see, it ended up being super-adorable. I mean, it has LEMONS on it….#swoon. And no, I can’t link you to the hat, because I bought the hat from Marshall’s and added the accoutrements myself.
I got pretty lucky with this dress. I obsessed over the reviews but it seemed pretty 50/50 – this dress fits true to size vs. this dress runs a little small. I tried sifting through the reviews to find the reviewers who were kind enough to include their height/weight to see if anyone with a similar build as me had bought the dress, but to no avail. I finally bit the bullet and bought two (see my floral one below) when they were a lightning deal, and really only because my husband offered to drop them off at the UPS store on his way home from base if I didn’t want to keep them (he’s the sweetest).
So I had luck with a dress… maybe Amazon could help me solve my sports bra problem?
Running with Boobs, an Activity Not for the Faint of Heart
If you’re a woman and you’ve ever gone for a run, you know that running can hurt. Hurt your knees, hurt your feet, and reallllly hurt your boobs. There is just so much bouncing and slamming and nipple-rubbing when you don’t have a good sports bra. I felt like I’d tried them all – cheap-o sports bras from Target, Xersion sports bras from JCPenney, higher-ticket sports bras from Nike and Under Armour… but it just didn’t matter. None of them stopped the OUCH. When I set out on a quest to find a good sports bra, I quickly realized I wasn’t alone. The internet is filled with blogs about ‘finding a good sports bra’. I wish I could remember how, but something in that research (I feel like it might’ve been a pin, actually) led me to this sports bra on Amazon that rings in at the low low cost of $24.99 (a bit more than the sale price of $15 I was paying at Target and JCP but way less than Nike and UA). I fully reviewed this bra on my old KetoDeb blog, but here’s the gist of it: this bra is AMAZING. No pain, only gain. I now own three of them. The only downside? Hand-wash only. For some people (me) this isn’t a big deal, but I know for some it’s a 100% dealbreaker.
Well, I Guess I Could Give a Shirt a Try…
My foray into buying shirts from Amazon was born of necessity. I was embarking on a 28-mile ruck supporting the soldiers of the 28th Division out of Fort Indiantown Gap (March for the Fallen… What an amazing experience) and really needed a moisture-wicking shirt. Except I had a HORRIBLE case of poison ivy and my arms were super-swollen and super-itchy. I couldn’t find anything that didn’t further irritate my skin, until I got this gem of a shirt from Amazon:
The best part? It’s a less-than-$10-shirt from good ‘ol Hanes. After obsessively reading reviews (sensing a theme yet?) I choose a Large (in Fresh Berry) and it was the perfect fit for me. I hiked 28 miles in the mountains of Fort Indiantown Gap in just over 9 hours and survived both the journey itself AND having horrible poison ivy. #winning
(I also got that super-cute bandana/neckerchief from Amazon, although apparently it’s meant to be worn at a rave, not on a rigorous hike through the mountains….)
Then when I saw my super-cute friend Jess wearing a waffle-knit slub cardigan in her OOTD on Instagram and she told me it was from Amazon, I thought, well hell, maybe I can get a dressier shirt from Amazon, too! Enter this cute orange guy, which looks great with dress pants or jeans, and made a wonderful Thanksgiving shirt:
It’s cute, comfy, and warm. What more could you want from a $17.58 sweater? I will say, the images on Amazon aren’t great. It’s definitely not as thick/chunky as the photo quality makes it seem to be. But still cute, so I’m okay with it.
Now, all of these wins being stated, I have bought some clothes from Amazon that went straight to the UPS store to be returned. But guess what? I survived. Tried them on, didn’t like them, did the 1-step return through the Amazon app, and simply dropped them off. Easy-peasy-Amazon-squeezy.
Do you have any good Amazon fashion finds? I’m always up for something new and fun, so drop me a line below and let me know!
And yes, I know, shopping on Amazon has a lot of drawbacks and trust me, I shop local whenever possible, but for me/where we live, it’s not realistic/possible to do that for clothing, so please leave your negativity elsewhere, k? Thanks.
I must say, this girl ROCKS!