dresses

A few weeks ago, I had a party to go to and no new dress to wear. My friend told me to check out asos.com, which if you don’t know, is a site famous for selling clothes that are ‘in the style of x celebrity’ and also clothes from a few UK high street brands (like Oasis, French Connection and Mina).

So after spending some time on it, I didn’t know what to think about it. Because

a) ASOS has no physical store and you never know how the clothing item is like in real life until you’ve actually felt it.

b) The prices are high-street prices, meaning very affordable. This again, makes me very suspicious of how the clothes would look and fit.

c) I’ve heard mix reviews from friends. A few of my friends said the clothes were decent, and one wasn’t a fan of the quality.

d) If I wanted to return the clothes, I would have to mail them back. Talk about inconvenient and the extra cost involved!

These two black dresses are classy and stylish. The quality looks decent too. I especially like the sequinned one.

The red dress is quite cute, and the silver, sequinned dress is perfect for this party season!

Now these are examples of what I think are poor quality and design. The black dress’s material looks cheap and the gems a bit too plastic-y. OK, I know the dress doesn’t actaully cost a lot (38 pounds), but I have no desire to wear that material. As for the cream-coloured sequined dress, the design is just not very flattering.

This is the dress that has got me seriously thinking to give ASOS a go. I really like this dress. It’s stylish, pretty and very youthful.

And on a closer look, even the beads and sequins look ok in quality. So should I dive in and get this dress?

Another dress I’m liking is this waistcoat dress. It’s cute and cool. It’s made of all polyester though, so I’m not sure how it’ll look in real life.

So I need your opinion: If you’ve ever bought anything (or seen your friend’s purchases) from ASOS, let me know what you think of them! Oh, and what do you think of the last two dresses?

Image credits....

Only Partly by Design dress

When Sallie Siegal dreamed up a business selling pillows over the Internet, she wanted a company name that would give her the flexibility to add other home decor products to her line. "Todo Es"--Spanish for "It's Everything"--started as a joke, but Siegal quickly realized just how valuable the all-inclusive name was. Capitalizing on the instantaneous feedback she got from her Web site customers, Siegal took her company in a direction she had never anticipated, and discovered an unfilled market niche. Siegal was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.

I worked in marketing in the computer industry for 15 years, but before that I owned a junior boutique and designed a line of clothing. I've always made pillows, drapes and other home decor items for myself and friends--I'm handy that way. So when I decided to start my own company, selling my designs seemed to be the way to go.

I learned how to make a Web site by trial and error, looking up information anywhere I could find it. I had three or four designs for accent pillows, and I put pictures of them up on the Web site. I got a few responses--people asking what we were doing and what we could do for them--and I got some orders. But I realized that some of the products were so labor-intensive it was hard to charge enough to make any money. Then I saw some folding-chair slipcovers and thought it was a clever idea for Thanksgiving, when you have to get those ugly folding chairs out of the closet and put them at your gorgeously decorated holiday table. So I designed some slipcovers and added them to the Web site, where they sold very well.

Pretty soon, people searching the Web for slipcovers sent me e-mail, asking if I made slipcovers for regular dining-room chairs. My first response was no, because I felt I couldn't make a slipcover for a chair I couldn't see.

Well, the first lesson I learned was never be afraid to supply a product that the market is demanding. I got dozens of e-mails over the next six weeks, and I realized that there were so many people looking for covers for their dining-room chairs that if I didn't sell them, someone else would. Fitted slipcovers are a hot look featured in all the home decor magazines. They protect, upgrade and update your existing furniture, and they're washable and easy to maintain. But they have to be custom-made, so they're hard to find and very costly.