Style • Outfits • Possesions

Rules to stick by while Shopping Online

Ah! What a time to be alive isn’t it? Just a few clicks here, a few taps there and poof! There you have Santa at your doorstep, with goodies in his hands. Only thing is that you pay your Santa and shut the door on his face, instead of offering him milk and cookies. So how do you exactly get this Santa to get you the exact things you like and avoid making rookie mistakes while shopping online?…

Ah! What a time to be alive! Just a few clicks here, a few taps there, and poof! There you have Santa at your doorstep, with goodies in his hands. 

The difference? Instead of offering him milk and cookies, you pay your Santa and shut the door on his face…  :/

So how do you exactly get this ‘Santa’ to get you the things from your wishlist and avoid making rookie mistakes while hunting online? 

Fret not lovelies, this guideline might be the answer to your prayers! Remember the basic rules before buying clothes online!

 Get yourself in front of a mirror

The first and foremost step is to get off your butt and take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Get comfortable, relax and really look at yourself and find out what your body shape is. There are broadly 5 shapes: Oval, Triangle, Hourglass, Inverted triangle and Rectangle. Now there are loads of other names by which you can identify shapes but let’s stick to these for now. Everyone is built differently and knowing your shape plays a huge part in choosing and buying the right kind of clothes that would suit YOU, because that’s who it is supposed to be about and no one else.

Research, Research, Research

Once you’re aware of your body shape, go online and find out what looks good on your type of shape.

When you’re an avid, compulsive online shopper like me (no, I’m not proud of it) you need to know your go-to sites; ones that have the kind of clothes you like and that suit you, have quality stuff and are within your budget (we have to be smart here you see). So research during your free time. Tell yourself that it’s completely okay if you don’t buy something right away, there is no rush! Try not to buy out of impulse because when you do find the right site and the right clothes, the wait would totally be worth it.

 Know what you’re looking for

Once you find your site and have done your homework, get online but with a purpose.

It’s useless to idly sit around on your device, just scrolling through mindlessly, without a clue as to what you actually want to buy! Ask yourself how many times do you go through this scenario?

Let me tell you, there is NO point in this! You will end up wasting your time, going through one site and another, having achieved absolutely nothing (maybe dark circles from the extended screen time? No thanks!) So have a clear idea about what you want to buy. Sales come and go and there will be plenty of times when you can buy something for a good bargain. But you need to learn to be a smart shopper.

Understand that the picture on the sites are a MIRAGE!

Yes, the girls on the sites wearing the clothes look amazing! And you would practically buy the clothes off their backs if you could. But you see, you’re buying these clothes for yourself and these girls are after all, ahem, “models”. So gather your focus back to yourself. There’s nothing to feel bad about. You’re better off wearing something that looks good on YOU and not these models.

Let me also tell you that there are many instances when the clothes look better because of a great lighting or the angle, but do NOT be fooled by these beautiful mirages. Be smart by going through all the pictures they provide, zoom in if you need to. Don’t let these sites fool you into buying unnecessary, unflattering things. Stick to what you know, what you like and what looks good on you.

 Embrace the option ‘try and buy’

Sites like Myntra give you the option to try before you pay for your purchase. and for those who don’t, there’s no harm in trying and returning your items (given there’s an option to return), just like you would in the real world.

Stop telling yourself that returning the items is a hassle! Because it’s not! These guys come to your doorstep for the return pick up! What more can you ask for?

So buy only if you’re truly happy with the fit and the look of the item. There’s no point in thinking you might wear it SOME day..

My life’s new mantra is “less is more”

When it comes to dressing up every day, my mind simply refuses to even try and make a complex outfit. I mean the maximum number of garments I can wear at a time is 3! That’s it. My mind simply goes into overdrive when more than 3 pieces of clothing are involved! Don’t get me wrong, I salute those of you who have the capacity to wear more than 3, unnecessary pieces of clothing, I really do. But I don’t think I would ever go that far and pile on all sorts of layers. I mean we live in INDIA for god’s sake! There’s no escaping the sun!

For me, the clothes that I wear serve a purpose. Now I possibly can’t walk around sans pants or topless, so I wear my tops and bottoms. If I’m feeling cold, I wear a jacket. But more than that?! I would only let it slide (without rolling my eyes super hard) if it’s 3 degrees outside and you’re freezing to death and need layers and layers to keep yourself dying from hypothermia!

But what happens when it’s hot outside, which is more than half the year? Do people think about practicality or they are just so devoted and faithful to the lords of fashion that they would rather sacrifice comfort just to please them?  (Oh please, chic almighty please accept my offering!) Okay no.

Would anyone care to explain to me why someone would wear a bralette on top of a fucking shirt and then layer it with an overcoat!? Come on, I know the male audience can work with me too.

I wish I could put up pictures of some of the most ridiculous outfits I have seen over time. …but I guess that would be a little mean.

Don’t your eyes hurt sometimes because there is SO MUCH happening in a picture?

Don’t you feel like taking a step back and just taking a deep breath and wishing there was more simplicity around?

I know I do.

So I have decided to develop my personal sense of style around this mantra. I have now understood that you don’t have to follow the over-crowded crowd! There is already too much going on in there and maybe if you step in, it might explode anytime!

I like things that don’t have a lot happening around. Less is more and when you have lesser to focus on the better you can pay attention to something.

If you’ve noticed, over doing things is easy. Just mush in loads of things together and people will think, “Oh wow what complexity!” “Brilliant!”

Yes, okay.. complexity and attention to details does create interest. But sometimes, it’s also good to not think so much. Being an over thinker, my mind is usually on overdrive, thinking all sorts of things most of the time. But sometimes, we all need to ‘take a chill-pill’ and calm down.

http://cavemancircus.com/2015/07/30/15-ridiculous-pieces-of-art-that-sold-for-millions-of-dollars/

If you follow the link above, you will see extremely plain and simple pieces of art that were sold for millions! And one would immediately think “WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY SEE IN THEM! I could make that shit!”

But did you?

Did you ever think of just leaving the canvas plain?

No.

And that’s why those people sold, Simplicity, for millions! While you were thinking about and searching for the next Mona Lisa!

I too remember reading about how this canvas which was painted completely blue was sold for millions and that’s exactly what I thought as well. But now is when I really understand why.

It’s not easy to think simple things. If you think about it, the hardest thing to make for a painter was a straight line. NOT a masterpiece. And to come to think of it, whoever did draw it for the first time, probably didn’t have any instrument, like a scale. A whole lot of people can make all kinds of complicated and abstract things by being inspired by things around.  But who would have thought that making a straight line took more creativity than making a masterpiece? Think about it, how many straight things were actually there in nature the first time someone drew a straight line? And how did they truly know, it was straight?

Makes your mind jog doesn’t it?

Hell, I still can’t draw a straight line without a scale. Now imagine what my Hindi notebook must have looked like in school.

When you have too many elements in a recipe, when you have too many options on a menu, when there are too many tunes in a song, your brain must go like WOW this is a lot! Calm your tits/dicks!