Chinese Clothing Reprise

Chinese Clothing Reprise

Someone wrote in these pages about the trials and tribulations of buying Chinese clothes on-line. She asked for input from other girls so I'm going to weigh in now with my humble opinion circa 2025, a little late but better late than never.

Aside from the fact that The West doesn't always get along with China it is pretty much true now that that country has become the manufacturer to the world, certainly in most consumer goods. Even a lot of replacement automotive parts for my GM vehicles are now made there. All fine and dandy. So what about those Chinese made clothes anyway?

Certainly, one of the most important issues in buying clothing is price. I noted when I started in my first professional job back in the '80s that North American made clothes seemed to be very expensive. Then items started coming in from offshore, e.g. countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Indonesia, etc and prices were much lower. We are 5 or 6 years from when Abby wrote the article but prices of offshore clothes seem even lower now. My own experience has been pretty good, certainly on price. I've mainly bought from Shein and Temu with a little from Light In the Box. The clothing items (non-boots/shoes) seem to usually be in that 12 to 18 dollar range for tops, dresses, light jackets. To me this is a pretty good buy. I remember spending $50 on shirts made over here long ago. Imagine the inflation on that now.

Boots and shoes can be more, of course, but not that much. Nice cowgirl boots are
available for under $90 at Only Maker. A few years ago I bought 2 pair of locally made men's cowboy boots – lovely and very well made – but $600 for the pair. My point here is that the offshore items are pretty well always much, much cheaper than domestically made (if you can even find them).

Chinese clothing delivery times. The Shein and Temu items I order on-line usually show up in 2 weeks but sometimes a little longer but this is not a serious problem for me. And I have never had an ordered and paid for item not show up. China is on the other side of the world so I don't fault the manufacturers/retailers on this score at all. Yes, I know some items may be stocked in North America. Further the packages do not arrive half ripped open with items missing. Never.

Shopping on-line to me is a great boon for a crossdressing man. Sure I used to go out on panty-raids and buy a few pairs from the local department stores women's section and it was always a kick but on-line is so very convenient, isn't it. I love shopping from the convenience of my own laptop sitting on the couch.

Sizing may be an issue for some. I used to cruise Value Village and the Sally Ann
for my girl items. It was close to useless. 3XL/4XL in women's was pretty unusual here. Plus if you found something it was still used and the prices (these days) were as much or more than new Chinese stuff. The Chinese manufacturers usually include 3XL and 4XL sizes under “Plus” for us big North American girls. I have no quarrel with their sizing at all. Exception was Light In the Box which was terrible and I quickly stopped buying from them.

I have written elsewhere about my skirts. The skirts I bought were just ok. Then I
hit upon selecting my own spandex material and having my own skirts made up by my tailor. This worked out very well indeed. This leads me into quality issues. My experience has generally been very good. The material is usually good to very good and workmanship is quite acceptable. I do not find flaws in the garments I buy from China. I'm happy with the quality so my only problem now is finding more closet space as I'm now completely out. LOL.

Love You Girls!