How to spend all of your money without leaving your home

I feel like I should start this post about online  shopping with a big, bold BEWARE sign. OK, so I just did. I even underlined it for extra emphasis. Beware, because not only are you at risk of spending all of your hard-earned money, but you also risk incurring additional, sneaky expenses, otherwise known as taxes. I recently learnt this the hard way. The $155-worth-of-surprise-import-duty-taxation way. So, before filling your virtual trolleys with beautiful threads, do check out the value limits, over which nasty surprise taxes will kick in. On clothing and shoes, it is about $NZ330. Under this, it should be free of all taxes, with postage being the only additional cost.

Living in a relatively small city and country means that looking unique can be both difficult and expensive. With only a handful of chain stores, walking down the street and experiencing fashion déjà vu is hard to avoid. Furthermore, NZ's chain stores are largely uninspired and tend to simply regurgitate outdated trends. Some people may disagree or are totally sweet with this, and I’m not suggesting that this is a pressing societal issue that we should all be panicking about, but as someone who sees fashion as a form of creativity and places huge importance on individuality, it can be frustrating. So, in addition to op-shop trawling (definitely worthy of a future post), I’ve become a bit of an online clothing addict. There are so many wonderful independent, small online-stores, which I will deal with in future posts, but today I’m getting some of the biggies out of the way.

My favourite, safe and reliable online store is Topshop. In some parts of the world, Topshop has a somewhat deserved reputation for being overpriced and overhyped. However, compared to the prices we are used to paying in NZ, it’s dirt-cheap - especially with the pound and euro at aPublish Postll-time lows. And while there are far more exciting chain stores in Europe (like my favourite Swedish wonders  Weekday and Monki), Topshop ships worldwide for a fairly reasonable £7.50. It’s also reliable with sizing, the online site is easy to navigate, and the pictures give accurate representations of the clothes. And, with online shopping, these are hugely important considerations.

Here are some shoes that recently have spent a lot of time on my mind:

I've also decided that I should probably buy this to replace my amazing cape that got stolen (read: I left it unattended for hours in a busy bar) last weekend:

See? So easy, so dangerous. 

While Topshop can get a little pricey (especially the Kate Moss and other designer ranges), a much cheaper site that recently started shipping to NZ is Forever 21. It’s perhaps best described as the US online version of ASOS or Primark. This was the site that lead to the nasty import tax incident. Forever 21 is cheap. Very, very cheap. It's also dangerous; just like when you go to Pak’n’Save instead of the horribly expensive New World Metro, you end up buying a whole lot more than you usually would on account of the incredibly low prices. The quality is not as good as Topshop, American Apparel or other ‘high-end’ chain stores, but did I mention it’s really cheap?

Perhaps my favourite store that now ships to NZ is Urban Outfitters. I find their online store a little disappointing, but perhaps that’s because I first encountered Urban Outfitters in this store, which still sticks in my mind as one of the most amazing shops I have ever visited:

It's a cinema that has been converted into a wonderland of amazing clothes, accessories and trinkets. They, like Topshop, can get a little pricey, but they have such incredible, high-quality clothing (not to mention beautiful shops) that I forgive them for being cruel on my credit card.

So that’s a whole lot of links  for anyone wanting to spend some money from the comfort of their bed. I apologise for the fact I've only focussed on women’s clothing. The market for men’s clothing online is pretty terrible (to my knowledge)(which may not be well-informed knowledge). I also recognise that these stores are not 100% ethical in the production of their clothing, and this is definitely something to keep in mind; a dress that costs $15 is unlikely to have been made locally by staff working for a reasonable or legal wage. Also, I understand how the rise of internet shopping is not at all conducive to cutting carbon emissions, and the air miles on a package from the UK to NZ for something I could source locally, is horrific. And, yes, I should be supporting local fashion, especially with friends in the industry and knowing how tough it is for them to compete with these global brands. I also recognise that me simply stating that I am aware of these issues does not relieve me of a conscience, and that actions are more important than words when it comes to living an ethical lifestyle.

Maybe this post should’ve been entitled: ‘How to spend all of your money without leaving your home, and then, after thinking about it for a while, how you can feel terrible about your privilege, and how perhaps you should leave your home and actually go and live an ethical life, that is not exploiting people through cheap labour, contributing to environmental degradation, or supporting global brands that destroy local industries’. 


Catchy.