The Chatwalk - Off Topic Thread

Wow Faith, that really is something! :eek: (I am stunned!)

Excellent advice, thank you greatly!

Deja Boo wrote: »

Good to learn, will take heed! So appreciate it Faith!
(I had no idea )

No problem! Other tell tale signs are shipping that takes more than 5 days. Even coming from the US, items will be with you in a week or so, generally speaking. Chinese knock-offs will have info under their “Delivery” section that may indicate time needed to “process” your order (I.e. make it to shoddy standards) and it’ll then take a long time to ship. You’ll often seem a quoted time frame of 10-30 working days.

How they generally work is they steal genuine pictures of clothing so it looks convincing. But then they just knock something together when you order it, using vastly inferior materials, that may or may not fit or even resemble the item you ordered.

The easiest rule of thumb is, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Also, read the delivery/return info pages and see if there’s a return address provided. Genuine retailers that sell at high volume and low price (e.g. boohoo, NastyGal) will have their address available. Knock off sites hide theirs to disguise the fact they’re in Hong Kong, so may only provide an email address.

Faith wrote: »

I’m not sure how banner adverts work, but it might be targeted advertising that boards doesn’t directly control. My experience is that hose websites are all fake, and pop up in various incarnations. Telltale signs are gorgeous dresses on beautiful models that are FAR cheaper than you know they should be.

I believe there’s a thread in Feedback or somewhere that you can report propblematic ads to boards.

Good to learn, will take heed! So appreciate it Faith!

(I had no idea )

I’m not sure how banner adverts work, but it might be targeted advertising that boards doesn’t directly control. My experience is that hose websites are all fake, and pop up in various incarnations. Telltale signs are gorgeous dresses on beautiful models that are FAR cheaper than you know they should be.

I believe there’s a thread in Feedback or somewhere that you can report propblematic ads to boards.

(and thanks!)

Hi all, may I ask a question of online shopping experiences? I am very inexperienced and leery of shopping online for clothes (for proper fit and quality) and would appreciate your advice.

I really like some of the fashions (and the discount prices) shown on a repetitive Boards banner Google advert from (a supposed UK site) called Noracora. Since I've never heard of this shop before, I googled reviews. All of the positive ones are suspiciously not well written: "The beauty of woman comes out only when she dressed with her body and in actual fact..." "It is very well taken on my body, I liked my boyfriend, I look more sexy to see..." and my favourite was "ethical business with pug to cuddle..." Sorry, but don't they sound fake?

I googled again and found a disconcerting listing on reddit warning of a scam alert and insisting Noracora is a fraudulent site using a known serial-cybercriminal address in the Uk for their Hong Kong based operation... but since I don't use reddit nor do any online buying, I am not quite sure who or what to believe. Would Boards actually list a scam site on their google banner adverts? (I seriously doubt it.)

So, guess my questions are, has anyone ordered from any of the banner adverts before? is it safe? or do you know of any reputable online shop that carries similar styles to Noracora?

Addle

Sometimes I think the poor sweat shop workers who slave away making cheap clothes for us are just having a laugh at our expense when they add size tags to clothes.
Definitely no quality assurance when it comes to clothes sizes.

Faith wrote: »

I tried on the 14 in this coat and it was swimming on me.

I tried on the 12, and it was swimming on me.

I tried on the 10 and it was swimming on me and the arms were too short.

Oh stop! I was in Penneys trying on coats too today. A black & white one in my case. I'd normally be a 6-8 in clothes, but would tend to go for an 8 in coats/jackets in case I have a bulky jumper underneath. Well I looked at them on the rail and didn't even bother trying on the 8. I put the 6 on and it's safe to say that it would probably have fitted Mr Crumble who weighs 12 stone +!

As you say, they are supposed to be a bit loose and not too fitted, but this was taking the Michael! :eek:

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

I’ve found that since Penney’s changed their sizing, their sizing has actually gotten worse. I’m a size 10 but I got a skirt recently in a 12-14 which fits just perfect. I had to size down in a top to a 6-8 and even at that there’s still room in it. I looked at running bottoms in 10-12 and the waistband was much bigger than that. Their sizing is all over the place and I seem to be between their sizes now.

I very rarely shop in Penneys but I got lured in today. I saw a lovely purple coat. I’m normally a size 12 and I always wear a 14 in coats because I need it across the shoulders.

I tried on the 14 in this coat and it was swimming on me.

I tried on the 12, and it was swimming on me.

I tried on the 10 and it was swimming on me and the arms were too short.

I get that the style is supposed to be roomy, but this was ridiculous! I also picked up a “medium” cardigan and could tell just by looking at it that I could fit two of me in it.

Is it an attempt at extreme vanity sizing or what? As if suddenly going from a 12 to an 8 in one shop is going to make you magically skinny in your head?!

Twee.

Oh I love Weekday! I practically fleeced the store in Copenhagen this time last year.

I've gotten a few expensive bits from Maje in the last year, certainly not in my everyday budget but their dresses are lovely, and lots of options come to below the knee which is always a positive in my books!

meeeeh

H&M empire except H&M brand. Most of my purchases are from Cos, Arket, Weekday, and Other Stories. I really like Mango, Zara for trousers and some work basics from Uniqlo. An odd purchase from Finery or Uterque and that is 90% of my wardrobe. I'm not overly into florals or boho style so a lot of British (unhealthy obsession with florals) or French ( boho) brands don't appeal to me at the moment.

I actually don't buy that many clothes and keep them for years, I have couple of tops that are about 20 years old.

Addle wrote: »

Where do you shop when you get too old for the 'high street'?

I’m tending to stick to more high-end high street, if that makes sense. I’d say 75% of my dresses come from Closet London, and I tend to look more at places than Oasis and maybe Warehouse. Still high street, but a little more classic and less trendy than Topshop etc.

Twee.

Depends on your style and what your ideal everyday look is! I find Cos great for really nice structured tops that I can wear with jeans or with trousers for work.

Zara can be worth your time, if you just sort of ignore their styling online or on the mannequins. The looks can seems very out there I find but if you pare them back to individual pieces there's a lot of good in there.

I love the Sunday Times Style mag for a bit of inspo, and the Sunday Independent Life is good for featuring clothes you can actually buy easily in Ireland.

In Penney's I just glide by the character stuff, I can't believe they're shifting so much of it to warrant taking over so much of the shop! I don't mind a few bits for around the house, or on a notebook or two, but I do find it a bit odd for grown women to be so obsessed. In saying that I am the proud owner of Puma X Hello Kitty runners!

Addle

Where do you shop when you get too old for the 'high street'?

Oh their sizes are an absolute disaster now. I'm a size 6-8. I used to buy jumpers/tops in a size small in Penneys. Now that their sizes have changed, I have to buy a 2xs which is supposed to be a size 2-4. No way am I a size 2-4. The real pain in the ass then is that they only get a couple of 2xs in stock and they're gone straightaway, so I can't even get clothes there most of the time now. Realistically a 2xs is what their size s would have been before.
I took a top into the fitting room recently in a 6 and an 8 and both were HUGE. I ended up buying it in a 4, yet another top I couldn't get the 8 over my boobs and I'm only an a/b cup!

They really need to cop on with their sizing.

Sunny Dayz

I’ve found that since Penney’s changed their sizing, their sizing has actually gotten worse. I’m a size 10 but I got a skirt recently in a 12-14 which fits just perfect. I had to size down in a top to a 6-8 and even at that there’s still room in it. I looked at running bottoms in 10-12 and the waistband was much bigger than that. Their sizing is all over the place and I seem to be between their sizes now.

Faith wrote: »

I’m 31, so it’s definitely not too early for you to be feeling it!

Ah you're only a young one

RhubarbCrumble wrote: »

Do you mind if I ask how old you are Faith? I'm late thirties, am wondering if it's just me!

I’m 31, so it’s definitely not too early for you to be feeling it!

Faith wrote: »

I’m have a sneaking suspicion that I’m starting to get too old for high street fashion, in some ways. I find myself seeing more and more items and thinking “Who would wear that” or “I’m definitely too old for that!”.

Do you mind if I ask how old you are Faith? I'm late thirties, am wondering if it's just me!

I’m have a sneaking suspicion that I’m starting to get too old for high street fashion, in some ways. I find myself seeing more and more items and thinking “Who would wear that” or “I’m definitely too old for that!”.

I have no interest in wearing clothing or accessories that are basically merchandise for something else, so I’d totally skip past any Disney or Harry Potter items. I’m now thinking more about clothes (and shoes) that are good quality and will last a long time, and ideally aren’t made by slave labour. But my budget only goes so far at the same time!

The Cool

As a big Harry Potter fan, I have to say - I'm sick to death of it as well!! It was such a novelty when they first started stocking it but that must have been 2 years ago, it's so overdone now, hate it! At least with the Disney stuff, they do cycles of different movies, so it's not all the same, but everyone's well tired of the Harry Potter stuff now.

I've found the stores getting to be shocking with their stock, you'll see something nice on Instagram and be waiting for it in the store, it'll come into stock one week, get sold out and then you'll never see it in store again.
The latest thing I've noticed is, they pick random sizes of items to stock, and only those sizes. Don't know how many times I've seen something I liked, and on the rail there's 10 x size 10s and 10 x size 12s and nothing else, ever. Liffey Valley is terrible for it. Went to Blanch a month ago looking for PJs for the colder weather and I swear, every long PJ bottom in stock, there were 20 x size XS on the rail and nothing else.
I find their clothes have gone way downhill, and they don't make bigger sized clothing well at all. I would have only really gone in there for PJs but seems I'm wasting my time now going near the place!

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

No I agree. I don’t get the obsession with Harry Potter - I would have gone to the cinema to see the films but that was years ago. The Disney stuff is fine in the kiddies section but in the adults? Think I’m a bit long in the tooth for it. I’ve found my local Penneys to have gotten quite poor this last few months. Before I could leave without dropping at least €50, now I walk out with nothing, it’s very meh. You see nice things on Instagram and on bloggers instastories from Mary St and Liffey Valley but the stock is not appearing down the country and if it does, they get a very small amount in.

Absolutely agree. I'm in Limerick and both stores here really seem to have gone downhill. I go down to Kerry a good bit and both stores there are much better. Tralee in particular is a good store.

But yeah, the Disney stuff is doing nothing for me. To be honest I find it a bit strange when grown adults have a Disney obsession (I have a 40 year friend like this)

Sunny Dayz

RhubarbCrumble wrote: »

Is anyone else fed up of all the Harry Potter and Disney stuff that's in Penneys at the moment? Clothes, nightwear, homewear, accessories. Seems to be impossible to get any thing else in there at the moment.
Either that or I'm getting too old for Penneys?!

No I agree. I don’t get the obsession with Harry Potter - I would have gone to the cinema to see the films but that was years ago. The Disney stuff is fine in the kiddies section but in the adults? Think I’m a bit long in the tooth for it. I’ve found my local Penneys to have gotten quite poor this last few months. Before I could leave without dropping at least €50, now I walk out with nothing, it’s very meh. You see nice things on Instagram and on bloggers instastories from Mary St and Liffey Valley but the stock is not appearing down the country and if it does, they get a very small amount in.