Bebe is giving up the ghost & closing its doors.  This is just one of a rash of closings (full or partial) in the retail sector, with Macy's, JC Penney, and other companies feeling the pinch. 

Meanwhile, on-line purchasing is more than taking up the slack.

Now, I can understand buying things like books or electronics or hardware or such on-line.  Indeed, that's how I do it -- it's much more comfortable & quicker & sometimes cheaper to do it that way.

But clothing?  How can you buy clothing or shoes without trying them on beforehand?  Do you just go for loose fitting clothing & buy the larger sizes?  Do you buy & return the items that don't fit?

Just want to know.

With rare exception I get all of my stuff on-line from the same company (sheplers) and have for many years. I know what I'm getting and so haven't had any issues or need to return things.

There are plenty of stores that I can buy clothes from here.

With shoes, I generally buy the first pair of any kind of shoes in a store. If I like the shoes, I may order additional pairs online.

Most of my pants are Wrangler cargo pants that I buy from Wal-Mart. I've bought a few other pairs of cargo pants online and have had good luck. For more formal slacks, I find a store somewhere.

I've had generally good luck buying shirts online. Duluth Trading Company is pretty consistent in sizes, and most of my newer shirts are either polo shirts from them or are T-shirts.


I occasionally order inexpensive clothing that I'd like to see a model wear for a photo shoot. I just guess at sizes and hope that I'll find a model who fits the clothes and looks good in that style. I wouldn't bother to do that in a store even if one were available.

Thank goodness I still dress like a college slob: cargo pants, jeans, tee-shirts, polo shirts, sneakers, occasionally a button-up dress shirt. One can get most of those items anywhere.

Bebe was extraordinarily expensive for the most basic of pieces still made in sweatshops. Stores that create interesting pieces can still command that kind of price tag, bebe was just a name, and you don't need a name bedazzled on your staple black t-shirt nor do you need it to cost you 200 dollars. bebe was a trend, and it died.

Giant department stores like Macys and Pennys aren't the same as bebe, nor are they they same as your mall staples of H&M, forever21, Zara, Gap, Garage, Aritzia, Free People, etc etc. Those are feeling it a bit but nowhere near as bad as the big guys.



As for buying online, I check the size chart and read reviews? It's pretty simple if you actually pay attention.  If 40 people say they bought according to the listed size and it still didn't fit, I don't buy from that company (or I buy knowing I may need to return it/sell it)

What's most surprising is the rate at which retail stores are closing. The rate of closures in 2017 is higher than it was during the worst year of the recession.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/22/news/cr … se-retail/

As for shoes, I've been buying the same brand, Danish Ecco, for over 35 years.  And their Euro size measurements are consistently the same from sandals to boots and everything in between.

The Chicago metro area still has a lot of stores for clothes.  However, I like polo shirts that have a pocket, and I only find them on ebay.  And that's a crap shoot.  Chest and length measurements vary as much as 4 inches by size from different manufacturers.

Only buy in store

Gypsy Rose has a lot of hippie-era clothes which are reasonably priced and fit most people.  http://www.gypsyrose.com/
They have a cool paper catalog of 116 pages as well for ideas and stuff from that era.

I love shopping malls.the architecture,the everything in one place style...shopping...restaurants....movies...clubs..  I am sad to see any store close.   Payless shoes is closing whats this world coming to?

use free shipping and free returns. order a few sizes and return the ones that don't fit

I don't agree with the prices of most brand name clothing. The companies are ripping people off. I will only buy clothes at Goodwill or thrift stores, for a few dollars per item. That includes shoes. A $20 T-shirt is absolutely ridiculous, unless half the money is being donated to a cause or something.

i just heard a story on npr, where they were describing modern retail problems/solutions. the guy was saying there's a brand of clothing that just has brick and mortar stores where you go in and look at items, then you go home and order them online.  he said that they are doing VERY well, since they don't need to stock warehouses with inventory, nor have a giant footprint in the retail space.