It’s one of the world’s biggest fashion e-tailers, but that can often be ASOS‘s downfall. With such a wealth of product users often find the site difficult to navigate, not knowing where to head to find exactly what they want without having to set aside hours to spend trawling the seemingly endless product (the ‘tops’ page alone, for example, currently boasts 8,015 styles).
Which is why I’m here – I feel like I should be wearing a superhero cape right now – to reveal my top tips for finding the website’s hidden gems.
I wear ASOS a lot. And I mean, a lot. I know it’s neither sustainably nor ethically flawless, but it’s making conscious efforts and positive steps in the right direction, and it’s nowhere near as guilty as some high street parties. I also re-wear *everything* I buy from there non-stop, which is one of the biggest factors in the world of conscious fashion. My ASOS wardrobe is far from throwaway, but it’s also far from basic…
Maybe it’s because I’m such a fan, but I find it super easy to locate the standout items amidst the pages and pages of simpler pieces. And – without meaning to get all *humble-not-so-humble-brag* on you, I get a lot of compliments on most of my outfits from there. But the one retort I hear when I tell people where it’s from is always: ‘How did you find that?! I can never find things like that on ASOS!’.
Here are my 5 top tips for finding hidden gems on ASOS…
1. HEAD TO IN-HOUSE BRANDS
While it might be tempting to head straight for brands stocked on the site that you know you already love – such as & Other Stories, Monki, adidas and Topshop – they are not where you’ll find otherwise unearthed items. ASOS has a smorgasbord of in-house brands suiting different styles and purposes (ASOS White = higher-priced classic fashion with an edge, ASOS Design = lower-cost fashion forward styles, ASOS Edition = party wear, ASOS 4504 = sports wear & ASOS Made In = a charitable collaboration with SOKO Kenya), but it’s ASOS White and Design that I head to for every day styles.
2. EXPERIMENT WITH NEW STYLES
I wouldn’t usually opt for a leather dress – faux or otherwise – as it feels a little niche and frankly uncomfortable, but the price point helps make that leap. Find a trend that’s everywhere right now, and rather than head to the classic high street stores that everyone else is going to have a look for it on ASOS. It’ll likely be better value and with a wider variety of incarnations.
3. USE THE SEARCH BAR FOR TRENDS
It sounds simple, but the search bar has been a life (outfit) saver on several occasions. For example, earlier this year when mixed-print dresses were everywhere and I wanted to try one that not everyone else had, I typed ‘mixed print dress’ into the search bar and up came about 100 options. It saved time trawling through endless other dresses when I wasn’t even sure they’d stock any.
4. FILTER BY SIZE
Such a simple step but one that *so many* forgo. ASOS may be like shopping God to me, but even I can admit that they have limitations – one of which being the impossibility to keep every product permanently well-stocked in every size. And who wants to fall in love with an item just to find out it’s only available in one size that’s miles from your own? You can search a number of sizes at the same time, which is great for those of us who seem to span a few.
5. ALWAYS WATCH THE VIDEO
For every fashion item on ASOS, there’s a short video of the model walking and spinning in it. Sure, pictures are great, but to really get a feel for the way a piece moves and a look at it from every angle there’s nothing that compares to a video. The amount of times I’ve bought a piece from other websites that I was sure looked like a thin, whimsical fabric only to receive a thick, heavy, stubborn cotton is testament to the practicality of this feature.
Sold? There’s only one stipulation – now that you’re also at expert level, please don’t snap up any of the pieces in my Saved Items…
