Just a quick plug for anyone looking for UK fashion who knows what sizes they are and is comfortable shopping online... ASOS.com http://www.asos.com/

This place is brilliant. I've shopped here for ages, and not only are the prices awesome, giving you access to stuff that in CH would cost 3-4x as much (see the Outlet section, wow), but the customer service is superb. Returns accepted without quibble, mistakes rectified without any fuss, and the (email, no phone) support generally get back to you in 1 hour as advertised, 3 hours max.

You can get mens leather shoes of high quality for as low as £11, designer T-shirts for £10, the list goes on... all generally brands that would cost a small fortune in the boutiques here. Did I mention that VAT is refunded direct to your card as soon as you recieve your stuff and are happy (shoot them a mail with your order number) with it? Ahh ok, well they do. Oh, and delivery is generally only a few days.

Go forth and shop.

An example:

Nudie Straight Jeans £93 or 200CHF in the shop in Zurich.

@1.7 that is a saving of 40CHF (give or take) - 20%. For the hassle of purchasing - risking customs - possible returns etc etc

Then you have the filtering selection - which doesn't understand the difference between grey and black. And the fact that all the business wear seems to be of something called polyester.

Sorry I dont understand... whats the hassle? I've shopped there loads without incident. Please expand on that.

As for the business wear, use some common sense, it's not a business wear shop. What it will give you are designer jeans, t-shirts etc at knock-off prices compared to CH, you will save hundreds long-term. Fact.

I use ASOS all the time and have never had any problems.

what about customs?

It kind of goes through them and arrives to your house without incident (so far in my experience, anyway).

Just because in the past you have had no problems with customs - it doesn't mean in future you won't.

As I indicated a pair of jeans gives a 16.5% discount (33CHF). Actually, £93+£5 = £98 @ 1.7 = 167chf - 33chf saving. If I opt to buy a pair of jeans in the shop that 33chf provides:

1) Convieniance of going to a shop 100m from the office
2) Trying on x pairs of jeans to find which pair best fits/suits
3) Comparing difference colour and cuts of jeans
4) Not risking a customs charge
5) Not risking having to send stuff back
6) A vaguely helpful assistant who knows the cut of the products he sells. I was quite surprised by that.
7) Allows you to combine the purchasing item with clothing from your existing wardrobe to know whether it works.

I am not against buying stuff online - but I am very cautious when buying stuff from abroad. I know of too many cases of people being hit with custom charges. Clothes in particular can be minefield - unless you know how a specific company "cuts" it's product you do run a risk.

Im confused by your post. G-star jeans and in fact most of the other decent brands cost 2x more in CH... you would save a ton if you shopped there regularly. Where did you get this 16.5% discount form... or are you trying to refer only to VAT which is 17.5%? If so thats obviously not a reflection of true savings is it considering how different the UK and CH retail pricing is...

Not sure if you missed it or not, but the opening post said: "if you know your size and are comfortable shopping online". However, thanks for the input, knowing your shopping habits will prove very useful to, er...

Same here, love it, have been shopping with them for ages now and never ever been let down. Even their own asos brand is good stuff.

When I need a dress for a special occasion I check out the Karen Millen and Coast stuff. On the Karen Millen website shipping costs 20£...

IN my first post I mentioned a pair of Nudie Straight leg jeans - £93 + £5 shipping on ASOS. The same pair in DeeCee costs 200chf. So ASOS would save me 33chf - but I would have the other hassles involved - specifically the risk of being caught up in customs.

33chf/200chf = 16.5% saving.

As far as I can work out the jeans don't cost twice as much!

G-star ones etc do... a LOT of stuff costs 2x or more in CH, speaking from experience.

EDIT - And thats not even counting the shltloads of brands ASOS sells that aren't even available in CH. If you shop only in CH, then you are really limiting yourself.

I would love to order more online but whenever i do I am stung by customs no matter what - then the added hassle sending them back if they don't fit or I don't like them

rich I think you must have been very lucky so far with the customs

Like for like ASOS is not really cheaper... take for example polo shirts, the designer stuff is more or less the same and the inconvinience is greater...

Should this be in dailylife?

i bought a pair of jeans (not from asos) though a uk online retailer. i was slapped with quite a bit at customs.

I think the website is ok, but I simply prefer to try on things. I fully agree that prices here in Zurich are completely over the top, you can always see it on the multi-country lables of some brands how much they exactly screw you: If an item costs 100 EUR all over the EU, it costs 200 CHF here...

But instead of online shopping, I prefer the trip to Metzingen's Boss outlet once in a while...

It depends on what you buy as to the savings... though I shouldn't really need to state the obvious.

As for what section it should be in... it involves shopping. I can't think of much more relevant to Daily Life.

So tell us, did they fit?

Re-sizing jeans

no.they.didn't.

but the damn well will do!

Just to give a heads up. I ordered from them around Dec'09. The stuff was excellent. But I had to pay the customs around 35 CHF to get it out from the post office. Bit of a downer that. I think I blew all the discount savings on that one.

Regards,
-I

Cant have saved much if a mere £20 charge blew it all, even after VAT.

Personally I only buy stuff when I know I making a significant saving after VAT, I doubt 35 CHF would make a dent with the stuff i've bought.