Inspire Me Friday - Shopping Shenanigans!

A few things before we start:

A) Sorry for the late post, seeing as it's Saturday. I hope you'll forgive me ;)
B) I hope you like the alliteration in the title lol
C) I am not and have never been compensated for a SINGLE opinion or review on this blog. If it ever happens, I will absolutely disclose that. Know though, that regardless, my honesty shall never be compromised (that being said, I'd love to review items from ANY of the stores mentioned in my blog! email me at frugalistafatshionista[at]yahoo[dot]com)

Moving on...

I wanted to add another segment in the rotation for Inspire Me Friday...this segment will be dedicated to reviews of places to get your fatshion! I'll be looking at online stores, boutiques, independent labels...but no matter what, it'll be places that I have personal experience with. People are always asking me where to buy certain things online, how easy it is to actually purchase from a particular retailer, whether lines tend to run true-to-size, so this will be my platform to get all that information out there, one retailer at a time.


This month, I'll be talking about the first plus-size retailer I ever truly embraced, Torrid.

Some of the looks I've rocked with Torrid apparel:

Torrid Graphic Tee

Torrid Tube Top and Blazer

Torrid Corset Belt

Head to Shin Torrid (cuz the shoes are Old Navy lol)

What To Buy Here: I like to get damn near everything here, actually! LOL They don't have much in the way of basic tees, but they have all sorts of pants and jeans...Source of Wisdom jeans in particular are probably my favorite thing on earth right now. SO comfortable and they come in 5 different inseams! I love Torrid for casual and cocktail dresses, though their selection of the latter tends to be limited. Every swimsuit and board short I own is from Torrid, as well. I especially like their range of wide width shoes and boots, though I had to return both a pair of knee high and thigh high boots because they were too tight around the leg for me.

Website: The website is very well organized. There are different categories for types of apparel, what's new to the site, and a clearance section. Each section is organized into subsections, which can be further broken down into different price points and by size. I love this, because there's few things worse than seeing something amazing and realizing it cannot be yours because they only have the smallest size left...With this feature, out of sight, out of mind LOL You also get to keep an infinite wish list which lets you know when something is out of stock, but leaves it to you to remove the item at your discretion.

Prices: To be perfectly frank, I buy from Torrid literally 2-3 times a month...but only when something is on clearance, or better, when clearance is half off. I stalk the items on my wish list until they are discounted, then pounce. I don't recall EVER buying anything full price on Torrid. This can be tricky though, because once an item in on clearance, it cannot be returned, so this might a strategy best left to someone that has been shopping Torrid for 5 years like me (LMAO or maybe not quite as long as me, but someone that is experienced with their sizing, etc).

Sizing: Basically, if it's so cheap that you won't cry if it doesn't fit, or if you KNOW it'll fit, clearance all the way. If you're unfamiliar with Torrid, you should probably order a regular priced item so that if it doesn't fit, you can return or exchange it. In my experience, Torrid runs true to size, and they will usually let you know in the description of an item if it tends to run small, which is AWESOME. As with any online shopping, know your measurements and compare them to the size chart before ordering, to make sure the items are for you. Torrid runs from size 0-5, which is an equivalent of 12-32. Again, check the size chart for conversions.


Delivery: I've never had a problem with Torrid being crazy late with a package, or getting a package lost, in the 5+ years I've been buying from them. I don't have a Torrid near me for over 300 miles, so every single thing I've ever bought from them has been online, and it has been A LOT over the years. They send you email alerts when your items ship, and a tracking code so you can follow your package all the way to your door.


Returns: I've only had to return those boots I mentioned earlier, and since I had never gone through the return process with them before, I decided to send an email to a customer service rep. She got back to me within a few hours and explained the process to me very nicely. You do have to pay for return shipping, which is taken out of the refund amount, but the process is very quick. I got my money back 2 weeks after I initiated the return, which is way faster than any other return I've done elsewhere. I have had just this one experience, so it might have been a fluke, but I was satisfied with it.


Quality: The only problem I've ever had with quality at Torrid has been with their shoes, a pair of which broke in half upon first wear a couple years ago. The top of the wedge completely came off mid-step. I had gotten the shoes on clearance, so they were unreturnable. Other than that though, I've never had a complaint about quality in all the years and all the orders Torrid and I have had together LOL Then again, keep in mind that I DO NOT pay full price for Torrid garments EVER, so I am comparing quality for what I get them for. If you pay full price, you might be expecting more. Again, if you are unfamiliar with Torrid, try them out with a non-clearance item so you can return it if you aren't satisfied, but once you are familiar with your size there, you'll find you can order boxes and boxes of clearance things and never be let down :)





 So, there's my review! I hope this helps anyone out there that is newer to fatshion or online shopping, and if you have any questions regarding Torrid, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them or to find the answer for you.


If you have a fatshion store/boutique you'd like me to review, or if you would like to be a Featured Fashionista, please contact me at frugalistafatshionista[at]yahoo[dot]com