In The Shops: Vintage Inspired Purchases of Frustration!!

I have been doing a spot of online shopping over the past month or so.  Getting those little additions for the Autumn and Winter, focusing on practical things like boots, coats, dresses with long sleeves.

It's not been straightforward.  Below are three items that I bought...and then returned!  Alas. It works out a little expensive having to send things back, so it's a bit annoying, but then I am spared trekking around the high street.

First up were the 'Dolly' boots in blue suede, from my favourite footwear brand J Shoes.  A nostalgic boot hinting at Victoriana, these looked right up my street.  I have slim ankles and calves, and being tall means that boots sit lower (and therefore on the slimmer part) on my legs, so I frequently have trouble with boots being like wellies on me.  I thought the lace-up design of these boots would solve this problem as I could tighten them to fit, but alas, these had particularly roomy ankles and looked 'slouchy' on me.  Not the desired look, so back they went.  They were only £50 too in the sale, so I remain a little sad that these were not my boots.

Next up was the 'Jenny' dress (£65) from Collectif, in burgundy.  I loved the long sleeves, and the pleat and button detail.  Once again the curse of long limbs struck - the sleeves were too short, and as they buttoned up were really tight and restrictive because they were around a fuller part of my arm than intended.  The overall look was disappointing too - it's quite a dark, brownish burgundy, and the whole appearance on me was a bit frumpy.  A real shame.

Finally, on a bit of an impulse buy (well, I did spend October working 4 jobs, I needed a treat!) was the amazing, fabulous, Gretel Coat, again from Collectif and priced at £175.

I was very impressed with the quality of the coat - the fabric isn't smooth, it has a sort of indented star pattern, and the lining is a polkadot satin.  I wasn't impressed with the fit though!  Narrow shoulders, a tight bust and a baggy waist.  It does say on the website that if you are larger in the bust or want to wear layers underneath then to go up a size, but I would go one step further than this and say if you have any bust at all then go up a size (I'm only 38" bust, but found the size 12 too restrictive).  But expect the waist to be far too big.  And if you wanted to wear layers underneath you'd probably have to go up two sizes.  I really think the sizing is way off on this coat, which is such a shame.

I dread to think what I have now spent on return postage overall.

Anybody else had to return any online purchases recently?