Thursday, September 27, 2012

NastyGal.com, Where All The Cool Girls Shop


New Sunny's from ASOS!
INTRODUCTION. This has been a crazy week for me, Stella, the Great Dane I’m fostering, started her heart worm treatment, I’ve had lots of new readers and exciting recognition, I’ve launched my second column “DIY HairTutorials” and I have two test coming up, two projects due and one oral presentation next week. All are very good things, very excited, very thankful, and very exhausted.
My Spotlight Site focus this week will be NastyGal.com. Now, I love where the name derives from, an old Bette Davis song, but I hate the name. I guess I’m partial to the idea that you catch more flies with honey (ok, really you catch more flies with poop, but you get my drift). The origin of the name, really fits the tone of the company, though. It’s a lot of new takes on a vintage feel, which is obviously really on trend right now. Bette Davis would love this place. She’d look amazing in their stuff. Y’all please, do not let the name turn you away. NastyGal is not nasty and is not marketed specifically for “nasty” gals.

STYLE. Cool, sexy and whatever is hot at the moment. These garments remind me of the looks I see on the 6 Train in Manhattan. NastyGal describes their target market as “the coolest girl in the room‚ pulling off whatever wildly unique piece that suits the mood.” Much like their UK based competitor ASOS, NastyGal carries many different brand names including a few couture lines like Pink Mink, along side their own newly launched NastyGal collection. One thing to note; you cannot shop by brand name, they don’t even tell the brand name in the garment description, which I think is strange and irritates me a little.
By the way, you should totally check out their Vintage section and see my Tip of the week below where I discuss thrift shopping and purchasing pre-used items online.

PRICE. $9-$700. I’m serious. They offer so many different lines, the price range is that varied. NastyGal has a specific look and they stick to it, regardless of price. “Our buyers search high and low for pieces you won't find anywhere else—be it from the Rose Bowl Flea Market or the racks at showrooms.”
They also have great sale items.  Click on their “SALE” tab and they offer three shop by price options: $15, $20, and $30. That’s pretty affordable, whatever your budget.

WEAR-ABLITLY. Who can wear NastyGal? Well, not everyone. NastyGal does not have much to offer for women over 30-ish and frankly a lot of this stuff, in my opinion, is not appropriate for anyone under 18 years old. Don’t get me wrong. Not all of their items are scandalous. There’s plenty for girls who like to keep ‘em guessing about what’s under there. They’ve got ROCKSTAR shoes and great winter coats, super cool, flashy accessories, boho sweaters, super cool sunnies; lots of good stuff for young, adult women.

SIZE&FIT. I bought a scarf. It fit great. Ha. So, because I’m so good to you guys and I wanted to give you an accurate idea of what the size and fit and NastyGal is like, I searched high and low for consumer reviews on NastyGal to share with you. I really didn’t find much. They reviews I did find were NOT good but to be honest, most of them just seemed like hysterical rants from crazy people with internet access. What I can accurately tell you is that NastyGal does not carry any specialty sizes, i.e. petites, plus, talls, irregulars, one of your legs is 5” shorter than the other, stuff like that. They carry your basic size 0-12 (like a size 0 is basic, a size 0 is dedication). I can say that they have a very descriptive sizing chart and they even tell you how to accurately use it. So gold star for NastyGal for a decent sizing chart!

QUALITY&CONSTRUCTION. I purchased the GORGEOUS Leopard print “Into The Wild” Scarf and I adore it. I’m probably going to wear it everyday this winter. It’s gorgeous and soft and just the right length. Love it. However, it’s only a simple scarf. I can’t really give you an accurate account of the quality at NastyGal based on a single scarf. As I mentioned previously, I could hardly find any legit reviews of this company. Which I find odd, because I know this place must be making some serious doe. If you’re not seeing an ad for ModCloth on the side of your facebook profile, then you’re probably looking at an ad for NastyGal. SO, I got out my super, slick blogger skills and called a friend of mine who works for a shipping company. I asked her if she'd ever heard of NastyGal from customers at her work. Here’s what she said “Actually, we ship a lot of return items back to NastyGal, but based on what my customers tell me, it’s not because they don’t like the quality of the garment.” She speculates that because NastyGal offers free shipping on returns, people are less cautious with what they buy, there fore, they have more items to return. Make sense to me!

SHIPPING&RETURNS. 8$ on all standard orders, free shipping on all domestic orders over $50 to the U.S. and $29 for over night shipping (HURRAY). Return and Exchange policy is also fairly standard. They ask you to return items with in 30 days, they send you a return form to fill out in your package and a shipping on exchanges and returns are free. The only down side I can find is they do not refund your original shipping fee… eh. That’s not ideal, but also not absurd.

RECAP. Here’s the skinny on NastyGal: It is THE spot to get a hot dress to wear out on the town. They’ve got other cool garments for daily wear, but their main attraction is daring and bold looks for nightlife. I say don’t be shy, check ‘em out.

TIP. A new trend I’m seeing a lot of online is companies like ASOS, ModCloth, and NastyGal offering vintage and pre-owned items along side their designer garments. I like this a lot, however for me, it takes the fun out the hunt for those vintage treasures. I love taking a day to go “thrifting” and rummaging through hundreds of horrible 80’s prom dresses and family reunion t-shirts just to find that great vintage blazer with the leather patches on the elbows. However, sometimes it’s cool to get stuff online that you might not be able to find at your own local thrift store or estate sale. When shopping pre-owned or vintage, whether it be online or in person, a fantastic tip is to IGNORE SIZING. Sizes can be different from era to era and from label to label. What was a size 10 in 1952 might be a size 6 in 2012.  Know your own measurements and what shapes are flattering for your body type. If you’re not sure what shapes are good for you, HERE is a really cool site that will calculate your measurements and tell you what looks are flattering for you. If the seller doesn’t offer the measurements in the advertisement just email them and ask them! People do not mind answering questions about their products. 


Here are some snaps of my latest thrifting loot from my local GoodWill Store

^All of these dresses were $5 dollars each!^
 
^I am OBSESSED with this over sized slouchy sweater for only $2. It is going to^ 
look so cute with black leggings and those Leather Riding boots I scored for $5.

I am all about connecting with other bloggers and readers of blogs! Find me on Twitter @ScottieKey and on facebook @ facebook.com/ScottiesPaperDolls and lets talk fashion!

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