Before shopping went online, there was a certain nostalgic air to the process. Days spent at the mall on the weekend, thumbing through racks of clothes and trying items on under those horrible dressing room lights. It was just the way things were. But since about the last decade or so, everything transformed, enabling an almost entirely different mentality about curating clothing for a wardrobe, which has impacted not only where people buy clothes but why and what they’ve chosen to purchase.
Finding Out About Clothes Hasn’t Changed
Perhaps the greatest transformation hasn’t even been convenience. Instead, it’s about how people find brands in the first place. What you knew about, pre-online shopping, was basically what was in your area in terms of storefronts or what aired on a commercial during primetime television. Now, someone can run a nine-person warehouse operation in America and a randomly curated post or a comment on Reddit could be seen halfway around the world.
This is where platforms built around curation have transformed everything. People viewing sites like 31 Tabs will likely end up finding apparel that they love, things they would never have stumbled upon in a typical retail environment. This organic finding changes the market as it now caters to independent brands and buyers who want something more personal than what the big-name retailers have to offer.
Thus, it’s important to note that this has transformed not only where people shop but the entire relationship between buyers and the products they wear.
Settling for Options Is Over
Now, this might not be something people want to admit, but before online shopping became ubiquitous, most people dressed with what’s available. If your town had three clothing stores, that’s what you’d wear, what was available at those three stores. Not sizing that fit quite right or colorways that weren’t quite there, but what was there.
Now, online retail has transformed this idea into oblivion. People can research what they want, a cut here, a fabric weight there, a color other than navy or black, and find it. This sounds simple, but this has transformed the idea of personal style. Wardrobes have more purpose because there’s an indisputable larger sample size of options.
However, this is not to say that an online world hasn’t made things overwhelming at times. Decision fatigue is real when there’s so much to choose from, but majority of online consumers develop their system over time, a slew of go-to brands, styles they know work for them, a subliminal understanding of what can be glossed over without a second thought. It becomes intuitive fairly quickly.
Furthermore, How People Conceptualize Clothing Has Changed
It’s not just logistical, either; there’s been a cultural shift that’s taken place when it comes to how people understand what they wear. Between the slow fashion movement and the socioeconomic reality of wanting long-lasting pieces, people are increasingly connecting with clothing in a way that encourages thought instead of just putting something into a shopping bag if it’s there.
In some ways, online shopping lends itself to this type of interest without distraction as well. When shoppers aren’t physically immersed in an environment with others trying to snag their attention or get them to buy based upon sales prompts, people can step back and assess if something’s truly needed. They have reviews they can consult. They have detailed product descriptors that provide analysis without someone shooing them away until they’ve gotten answers about fabric information and if they run large or small.
Thus, brands have adopted this information consciousness and applied it to client expectations, detailed photos, behind-the-scenes snapshots and worthwhile content in terms of sizing guidance become standard expectations and not just fancy afterthoughts.
The Impact of Returns (Both Good and Bad)
Perhaps one of the most interesting transformation from online apparel shopping is how returns have become normalized, and what that’s done for buying behavior. For a time, free and easy returns seemed like a godsend to combat uncertainty without trying it on first, and while they do help, they’ve also encouraged “I’ll buy it all and return what I don’t want” mentalities.
Slowly, this has changed. Some brands charge for returns; some brands have improved how much information is provided so returns aren’t even necessary in the first place, a la fit guides and customer photos and video reviews that outline what a fitting room would do to assess need.
People adapted; they’ve learned the value of a size chart and whether or not a brand runs small, and even how to judge from photos if something will look like they hope it will.
What Today’s Wardrobe Looks Like
Finally, pulling all this information together paints a picture that beyond twenty years ago looks entirely different from what people consider their wardrobes today. There’s more diversity, more personal-style efforts and eclectic price ranges that exist within one closet as people combine independent brands with known giants and their nostalgic faves as opposed to whatever was in stock at their local retail park or storefront.
It’s simply a more thoughtful process, and for those who love what they wear, it makes it all the more worthwhile.