For today's blog post, I'm sharing my experience ordering from SHEIN clothing company. It's based out of China, has an incredible inventory of cute clothing, and at affordable prices. I had reservations about ordering from SHEIN as the combination of factors mentioned usually means clothing with low quality fabrics, poor fit, and low thread count construction. Adventurous netizens have generously documented their horror story experiences with companies with a similar footprint for years - I'm sure you've seen them over the years in memes or your social feeds. To my surprise, I found that Ebates offers cashback (6% in Feb 2018) for SHEIN which legitimized this potential purchase. Scroll down to see what I purchased and my first impressions.

I'm not someone who typically follows trends but from time to time, I like to jump on the bandwagon. When I "do trendy", I shop for inexpensive pieces since they're often out of style in a single season. My go-to stores for trendy clothing are always fast-retailers like Zara, H&M, Forever21, and Lulu's. For this look, I'm touching on two anticipated 2018 trends: pastels and ruffles in one piece. 

SHEIN EXPERIENCE & REVIEW: 

I ordered $140 worth of clothing (and used a discount code). I chose 4 tops, 1 sweater, 1 skirt, and 3 light coats (shown below) in my normal US sizes, risky as Chinese sizing tends to run smaller in comparison. My order came in two DHL shipments; I received one package within a week and the second a week and half later (which is too long IMO). 

Positives:

• Pricing is truly affordable, there are tops and accessories starting at $0.99!
• Unique designs that are hard to find elsewhere. Adapted based on what is popular in Asia.
• Clothing was exactly as pictured on the website; color shades, general shape, and details were also true. 

Negatives:

• Lower-quality fabrics. You can tell right away. Most of the pieces lacked stretch, felt rough, were thin, minimal stitching and/or generally appeared inexpensive on.
• Fit was strange for some pieces. Fitted tops were too tight in the shoulders and too loose around the waist. For example, the white tiered peplum top (above) hung past my natural waist. The pencil skirt had stretch, looked nice on in the front but it puckered up awkwardly in the back. 
• All the clothing was unlined and some pieces had raw edges.

Ultimately, I sent most of my order back. I kept the blush waterfall coat (I also got it in gray), black mesh peplum top, and the stripe cover-up kimono. 

The best item purchased was the blush waterfall coat ($22) as featured in this post. It drapes nicely, is lightweight, and is the perfect blush color. The fabric has some texture to it, is soft to the touch, and has raw edges. Because of the unfinished edges I'm anticipating that this coat will only withstand a handful of washes (I'll report back). There are two pockets on the front but they're flimsy at best. Accompany the coat is also a short belt made of the same material (not shown), I decided against using it. This coat also wrinkles a bit, it's most noticeable inside the coat but also surfaces the outside. For the price and OK quality, I'm satisfied. It is going to be an easy transitional piece for the spring and I'll be mildly trendy with ruffle-like shape from the wavy collar.

Will I order from SHEIN again? Maybe. Now that I have a general sense of the quality (regardless of price), SHEIN is a place where finding a winner may be difficult. The company truly has some unique and adorable tops on their website! A couple sweaters have caught my eye today, and I'm contemplating if it's worth the risk. *Note* that returns from your first order are free so there isn't any risk. Any subsequent orders are charged a return fee of $7.99 per package which is a high fee to try-on (but necessary for their business model). 

OUTFIT DETAILS

Shein Waterfall Coat in Blush (comes in multiple colors) + Uniqlo Tank Top (old color, similar here and here) + Article of Society Jeans in White + Valentino Rockstud 100mm Pumps (AMAZING dupes here and inspired here) + Celine Belt Bag + Chloe Sunglasses CE619S (old, similar in tortoise shell here and here) + Daniel Wellington Watch in Rose Gold  + Panacea Necklace (sold out, similar here) + Knot Bracelet (old, similar here and here) + J.Crew Hinge Bracelet (old)

Note that I may receive a commission on clicks and purchases from links in this post.