The McNicholas Milestone

By Maggie Deller

As prom nears during April of 2018, students rush to find the perfect dress. While some search stores  for the perfect dress, others turn to online dress-shopping and wonder if those purchases are worth the risk. Four students shared their experiences with online shopping with the Milestone in hopes to enlighten others in their decision.

(Left photo courtesy of junior Sarah Snyder. Right image courtesy of promgirl.com)

Junior Sarah Snyder purchased a gold cocktail dress from Prom Girl, a website which Snyder described as “pricy, but worth it.” She said, “[Purchasing this dress] was a positive experience because it fit, so I didn’t necessarily have to get it altered, but it was a little long so I got it hemmed anyway.” Concerning the color of the dress, Snyder said, “Obviously it was lighter on me because I have a darker skin complexion but for the most part it matched up.” Snyder added that “the style was exactly the same on the model as it was in person [and] the fabric was top-notch quality.” Overall, Snyder rated the experience 9.5/10. “If you know your size for sure, then [I recommend purchasing],” Snyder advised, “but if you know you tend to run different sizes at different places, then maybe not.”

(Left photo courtesy of senior Jillian Sennett. Right image courtesy of topshop.com)

Senior Jillian Sennett purchased the PETITE Crinkle Satin Prom Dress from Topshop for homecoming. “Shopping online for this dress was a mostly negative experience,” she said. “The dress fit well in every single way, except the waist was inhumanly small.” The color of the dress proved to be misleading as well. “It looked blue online, but in person it was more of a shiny mermaid color,” she said. Both the style and the fabric matched up to the online model, according to Sennett. She rated the shopping experience a 6/10. Despite the negative experience, Sennett stated, “I would recommend [shopping online] because although I had a bad experience, I have seen on numerous occasions it working out for other people.”

(Left photo courtesy of senior Lindsey Hamad. Right image courtesy of forever21.com)

Senior Lindsey Hamad purchased the mauve Lace Off-the-Shoulder Bodycon Dress from Forever 21. She said, “I believe online shopping for a dance dress was a positive experience because there were way more options than [there are in] the store.” Hamad experienced pros and cons with her dress, stating, “It fit to my expectation but it appeared a bit baggier than it was on the model.” Hamad said the color matched up “perfectly,” the style was “exact,” and the fabric was, “perfectly good for a dress.” Hamad rated the shopping experience an 8.5/10. She added, “I usually have a better experience shopping online for dresses than I do in stores.”

(Photo courtesy to Amazon.com)

Sophomore Caroline Pour has had four negative experiences with online dress shopping, particularly when she bought a PAKULA dress from Amazon.com. She described the shopping experience as negative, saying, “When I tried it on, it looked like something you would wear to bed. The material was very thin.” She said, while the color and sizing were correct, “it was not fancy at all like it looked like [online].” She rated the shopping experience a 5/10. Despite her experiences, Pour said, “I’d recommend [online shopping] but I would also caution it by saying it may not be exactly what you want.”