Buying Streetwear: Online Shopping Vs Local Stores

Streetwear has infiltrated every hood in cities around the world. The casual, skateboard and surf-inspired aesthetic of streetwear style has won over the industry, even diminishing the appeal of high-fashion. More people are warming up to the comfort and effortless cool of streetwear, just as more designers are rising up to the occasion.

Streetwear style is rooted in the surf and skate culture of California. It encompasses elements of modern haute couture, hip hop, and Japanese street fashion. Over the past few decades, streetwear has undergone a constant period of evolution and creative direction.

For people looking to lay their hands on the latest streetwear jeans, baseball caps, jeans, hoodies or even sneakers, there are two options for shopping. You can either shop online, or in local stores within your town or city. There are pros and cons to both methods.

Buying streetwear – local stores

Traditionally, people buy streetwear in conventional local fashion stores and boutiques. There are quite some advantages to this. To start with, you can try any piece that you’re interested in and see how good (or bad) it looks on you before making the purchase decisions. For some stores, you also can haggle over the price, and access the entire inventory on a single trip to the shop. This makes sense for a lot of people, especially those who are very specific about the clothing they want to wear. When buying online, it’s possible to get the wrong impression of color or design since you only see the article of clothing via images which might not be so accurate. With local store shopping for streetwear, what you see is actually what you get. There’s no room for error.

Compared to online shopping, where it might take a day or so for the item to ship to your residence, you get what you need when you need it with local store shopping. There are no time lags.

Perhaps the main disadvantage with this kind of fashion shopping is that it lacks the convenience of buying online.

Buying streetwear – online shopping

Since streetwear fashion is relatively new and still evolving, there wasn’t a lot of vendors selling this style online. But things have dramatically changed over the last few years. Major online brands specializing in streetwear have cropped up in countries around the world.

A good example of an emerging streetwear brand is Plus 2 Clothing, which is based in Australia but ships worldwide.

There are more benefits to buying online as compared to buying fashion wear at a local store. To start with, you can choose from unlimited vendors in any part of the world, unlike with local stores where you can only visit one shop at a time. Online shopping also means that you can browse through items right from the comfort of your home, and get it delivered to your doorstep.

If you’re willing to wait a day or 2 for the item to ship to you, online shopping is the way to go. You will be able to choose from the best of the best, and access massive deals when you purchase streetwear via the internet!