When shopping in Forever 21…

Shop SMART! First off, I do not have anything against Forever 21. I shop there. But I do not agree with all their prices, period.

Number one,  do not be swayed by all the pretty colors and all the girls running around with the black mesh F21 bags on their shoulders almost filled to the brim. Nope, do not get swayed.

If you have a list or an idea of stuff that you’re going to buy then great! Try to stick to that list as much as possible. But you and I know that you’re going to add a necklace or a bracelet or a purse to that list at the last moment, right? No worries as long as you know you can afford to splurge and that you’re going to use that piece for a long time. A little treat for yourself is good every now and then.

Not everything in Forever 21 is affordable and worth its price tag as I’ve said. Of all my visits in that store, there was never a time when I didn’t see something that was not worth its price. For example, I saw a really cute dress once at the Mega branch. In my head I was thinking it was retailing for 700 pesos but when I looked at the price tag, it was Php1500. I mean the material was very flimsy and it looked like it was going to crumble in the wash. No offense to F21 diehards but some SM clothes looked better than that. More affordable too.

Here’s another example:

Boxers

I wouldn’t buy this for Php365. Why? They are very thin and some of the materials used were similar to a canvas tote. HerBench has better and prettier boxers for 200-300 pesos with better packaging too. And it’s a Filipino Brand.

Based on my experience, I tend to avoid the basics. I bought several basic shirts in the past and after 3 washes, they got deformed. The material also became thinner. They are cheap for a reason.

Dresses

Tops

I love the clothes here:

When buying accessories, use your head. If you like accessories as much as I do, you’d know the different price points from different stores, right? I go to SM, ALDO, Accessorize, etc. and look at stuff and their prices just so I have an idea in my head. Sometimes I see pieces in SM that are in ALDO but for a more expensive price, of course. So do the same with Forever 21. Have an open mind.

Pretty Floral Purse

Not so pretty price

I zoomed in on this purse when I arrived at the accessories section. Can I afford it? Yes. Will I buy it? No. I would rather shell out this amount at a store that specializes in bags and purses. I’m just being careful. Forever 21 specializes in clothes and I still ended up with a few fails, what more with purses? I don’t want to risk Php1,600.

Some of the belts are priced okay but if you look at some of them closely, you may be reminded of belts from 168.

The scarves are priced right – Php300-600. I am starting to develop an addiction to scarves. Mom got me a couple.

I’m not so sure about these sunnies:

If you have acidic skin like I do, avoid the silver and gold lines. I know I’ve said it a few times in the past but really, I am so disappointed with their accessories. They tarnish and they fade.

But there are still some accessories that I couldn’t resist:

If you’ve noticed, these are all pearls and beads. They sure wouldn’t tarnish but I’m hoping that they are made well. We’ll see.  Mom got me these as well.

Some of these hair accessories are overpriced. You can buy them at the local department store or specialty stores for half the price!

I don’t know about you but I find these sneakers overpriced too at Php1,000+. Again, I’d rather go to a shoe specialist.

These platforms cost Php1600+. I got a pair from Shoeology (not floral) for only Php1,100. So sue me, I like supporting Filipino brands.

I didn’t buy any clothes because mom decided to hoard clothes from Plains & Prints for me. Well, that’s because I’m too small and I find it hard to buy clothes (and shoes). So when I find nice clothes that fit me, I buy them immediately. I’m an XS at Plains & Prints, by the way, and they don’t always have that size. Some XS (like shorts) are still waaayy to big for me.

Anyway, back to Forever21. When I do decide to buy clothes, I inspect the material and the stitching first. If it passes, then I put it in my bag. After going around several times and choosing pieces that I like, I head to the dressing room and try everything on. After that, I sift through all of them again and finally decide which ones I’m really going to buy. This has saved me a lot of money. I always ask myself these questions - is this worth it?, is there anything in my closet I can pair this with?, will I use this for a long time?  There are also times when I ended up returning everything just because one is too sheer, another one doesn’t fit me well or I finally decided that they’re too expensive.

I love the concept of Forever21 and I love looking at its merchandise but I will always shop smart at this store.