The Shopping Diaries: sheinside.com + Review and Rant

Hey all! Sorry for getting this post up late. It had to do with a little bit of laziness and being engrossed in reading A Clash of Kings and Divergent. So today's post will be about this cute bunny sweater that I had actually ordered last month and I was waiting to upload this post later because of another order that I put in afterwards. I received my other order a couple days ago and I was extremely disappointed. Sheinside.com had advertised a Wildfox No 9 Potion sequined sweater for $31.15 and there was a visual picture of Taylor Swift wearing the actual Wildfox sweater. Although they didn't show her face, it was pretty obvious it was Taylor Swift.

Screenshot of advertisement

Yup, it's Taylor Swift

Anyways, I thought it was cool that Sheinside was selling the sweater, so I took advantage of the Labor Day sale and paid $26. I waited for about 20 days and the sweater arrived. I took it out of the postal packaging bag and already I knew it wasn't the same sweater that they had advertised. Then I took it out of the actual bag and saw that it was just an imitation of the actual Wildfox sweater. The fabric is pretty good quality and the sequins are nice, albeit it being crooked on the sweater, but the bottom line is that it wasn't what I thought I'd be receiving. Also, there were some weird light spots near the sleeves...

Full shot of the sweater from Sheinside

Closeup of bottle. Slightly crooked and definitely not by Wildfox

I wasn't mad that it was an imitation. I was mad at the false advertising. I thought I was getting an actual Wildfox sweater. Now, if they said somewhere in the title description that it was "Wildfox-inspired" or just "Love Potion No 9 Sweater" AND used a picture of the sweater that they were actually selling, then at least I would know, as the customer, what exactly I would be purchasing. But because they used a picture of Taylor Swift and said in the title description "White Long Sleeve Wildfox No 9 Perfume Sequined Sweater," I was basically deceived and mislead. I'm in the process of waiting for an email with the return address so that I can send back this sweater and get my money back. I'm so disappointed and mad to the point where I'm not sure if I ever want to purchase anything from this site again. Yes, this site is great for a wide-variety of styles and looks, but because of this one incident, I'm not sure if I'm willing to continue supporting this site.

Now with that over, let me talk about the purchase that I got before my letdown.

I've always wanted a Fifi Lapin printed top. She's such a fashionable bunny! Perhaps five or so years back, Forever 21 had done a collaboration collection. Back then, I was only really getting into the swing of fashion and what my style was. Unfortunately, I missed it and since then, I've been looking for something like this. It's a cute lightweight cardigan and I love the different outfits she's wearing. This was under $20, so this was basically a steal for me.

Shipping and handling went smoothly as well. It came in perfect condition and I didn't have to wait as long compared to the Love Potion sweater.

Well, this is the end of this post. I really hate to be kind of mean sounding about the sweater, but the thing is that I'm not satisfied with what I thought was being offered. I'm not sure if this was some sort of ploy to sell these sweaters fast but Sheinside should take this as a lesson and do the right thing next time. They may have just lost a customer for good.

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN

The Shopping Diaries: sheinside.com + Review

Hello lovelies! I'm really excited to finally upload a post about my first purchases from an online clothing shop called sheinside.com and my experience of shopping with them. But first, here's a little background on SheInside. SheInside was first started in 2008 and is based in China. Their clothes reflect the popular trends seen in highstreet stores. They guarantee good quality and great value for the money you spend. Here is a screenshot of their homepage:

As you can see, when you sign up with SheInside for the first time, you automatically get a 15% off coupon, which is what I applied to my purchase total. Also, SheInside has many sale promotions as pictured above. Another great thing too is that standard shipping (5-15 days) is free! As you purchase items, you begin to rack up bonus points through their SheInside Bonus Point Program (SBPP). Besides purchases (in U.S dollars), you can earn points through social media platforms, reviews, and lookbooks. You can use the bonus points at any time for future purchases and get a discount.

Now I will share with you my first purchase! The main reason I wanted to shop on this site was because I was watching Youtuber clothesencounters or Jenn Im and she had the Bart Simpson crop top from SheInside. I didn't immediately gravitate to the top, but it slowly grew on me as I saw many girls hauling not only the crop top, but also other pieces that had the same motif on denim long sleeves and high-waisted shorts. I decided to take the plunge with the discount and free shipping as my incentives. And here it is!

Black Short Sleeve Simpson Print Crop T-Shirt
$20.16
My rating: 10/10

If you're wondering why this print is so popular, let me give you a brief explanation. This was popularized by American designer Jeremy Scott. He is known for using vibrant and kooky prints such as Bart Simpson. You can check out his designs on his website. I believe this is more popular in Asia, but we can see some of the same influences in the West such as the use of comic book motifs. Anyways, back to the review of this top. The fabric is of really good quality. It's not a typical thin shirt type of material but something more substantial. For me, the length of the crop top is on the longer side for my height (I'm 5'2") but that makes this top a bit more versatile when it comes to bottoms. It looks good with high-waisted shorts or regular pants. So overall, I was more than completely satisfied with this purchase.

My second purchase was this long sleeved knit with rose-like floral patterns over white fabric. The overall look is very distressed and vintagey-like. It's obviously supposed to be a duplicate of the Wildfox jumper with the same motif. And, at first, it looks like a great dup:

White Slash Flowers Print Knit Long Sleeve Sweater
$29.00 on sale (reg. $42.88)
My rating: 6.5/10

Perhaps my judgement is a little harsh and I was thinking that it would be a close dup to the original fabrication-wise. One of the major things that I really disliked about the knit was that it had iridescent strands threaded throughout the entire piece. I'm not the biggest fan of that style even though I do have a few pieces that have some sort of sparkly thread intertwined, but I would've preferred to not have it. The fabric, overall, is kind of on the rough side and not soft, but not enough to irritate the skin. Also, the floral print is painted on rather than actual pink and green thread. I would gently hand wash this piece in order to increase the longevity of the print. For the price, I suppose it's still not that bad of a buy. I'm pretty sure I can incorporate it well with other pieces and hopefully make it look better than I think it is. Sorry about the harsh review!

Now onto the shipping and processing part. I placed my order on 07/20 Hawaii time and it left Nanjing on 07/26 to another part of China. It reached San Francisco on 07/31 and after more processing and sorting, it reached Honolulu on 08/03 and I received it the same day. I've always disliked how items shipped from Asia have to fly over to SF first and then to Hawaii. My friend told me it's because of some sort of shipping agreement from a long time ago that it has to be in that order. In all, it took 14 days to reach my house, which isn't bad! Yes, the anticipation kind of killed me, but everything came in tip-top shape. Before starting this post, I actually put in another order for a knit since they are having a 20% off promo for knits (ends on 08/13) so I'll be sure to post about that as well.

I hope you all weren't too bored with my purchases and review! I think this is a great site for trendy clothes and even other clothes for a great price. Also, with the many sale promotions that they have, it's hard to pass up on these great items. So please check out www.sheinside.com. It's a very safe site and they guarantee great customer value and service.

Thanks for reading!
-LAUREN