My love-hate relationship with Street Style Store {experiences + warnings}
Friends, hello. It has been a while, hasn't it. This rainy Sunday afternoon prompted me to update the blog so I came here to talk about a semi-blessing, semi-scam that has affected plenty of fashion-conscious women around me. One of the many e-comm traps I personally keep falling into: Street Style Store. I cannot help it: the prices are crazy cheap, and the products {at least in pictures} are too pretty. I've placed an order just five minutes before starting this post. The same '3 for 999' shit I've fallen for only for the hundredth time, NBD.
I get a lot of DMs from people on Instagram asking me if they should order from here. And I tell them yes, it's worth taking a risk. I love ordering from them but also low-key hate myself for it. The reasons being: most designs are ripped off Pinterest and they are shamefully unreliable (half of the times your order won't even reach you or will be cancelled for no reason). Additionally, they have no concept of customer service. Think of the shittiest customer service you've experienced from a brand. Now think 10 times worse--that's Street Style Store. Forget returns, even if you want to exchange a product because of size issues, good luck making human contact. Their Instagram and Facebook pages are filled with hate comments and all they choose to do about it is ghost on their customers. Mainly because they know: people always come back for more.
You know what? This is like a bad millennial relationship where you keep forgiving the guy for being an emotionally unavailable asshole because you know, the sex is great. Fine, may be not but you get the drift. Sure, it might take months to get my order but in the end everything is forgotten because I scored great shoes at great prices. Even though, it is only a possibility. Ordering from SSS is a hit or miss: sometimes the products are so great you'd never want to take them off. Other times you'd straight up dump them in the trash. I'd also like to add, their shoes look great from a distance. It's the smallest things like bad-quality laces that give them away. So while I don't mind wearing their stuff casually, I'd steer clear from them when I'm trying to make an impression.
They've branched out into selling half-decent bags, sunglasses, jewellery and clothes...in case their over-prevalent Instagram ads haven't reached you already. I'm not a fan but I did score a cozy full length trench coat last winter for 1500 bucks {not kidding}. All this doesn't lure me as much as the footwear. Mainly because I don't expect too much from my daily chappals and sandals. I want to be able to dispose them off without any heartache so I can buy new ones more frequently. This can only happen if they are cheap. Plus, I like having a mix of branded footwear and some quirky, frivolous ones, just for the sake of variety. I love having choices, the sole reason why SSS works for me. Same reason why Sarojini is my second home.
Coming to my advice for current and budding SSS enthusiasts:
- Always opt for COD even though it means paying 50 bucks extra. Think of it as insurance, even if your order never reaches you {chances of which are pretty high}, you didn't lose anything.
- Be mentally prepared for no exchange, no returns even if it is mentioned otherwise on the website. Don't make futile efforts in reaching out to them, you'll end up even more frustrated. Simply pass on the shoes to your girlfriends, cousins or whoever they fit.
- Try looking up real product pictures on their Instagram {posts by them and the ones they are tagged in} so you're not fooled by the pretty Pinterest images in their catalogue. I gotta tell you, the shoes are not ugly but definitely not as classy as they look on the website.
- Last time I checked, they also have a store in Hauz Khas Village. They don't have the full stock or sizes there but at least you get to try and see the actual products before buying. It's on the lakeside near Smoke House Deli.
- Their boots and sneakers are wayyy better, both in terms of quality and comfort, than the flats. Keep that in mind if you find yourself adding too many things into the cart.
- Don't order too many things in one order. The delivery period is longer for bigger orders.
So friends, I don't know if I will ever receive the order I placed today or not..and even if I do, whether I will like it or not. To know how the story ends, follow me on Instagram. I promise to do an unboxing if it comes and a full-blown rant if it doesn't.
Feel free to share your SSS shoe-shopping experiences with me in the comments, let's get this bitch-sesh started!
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