This is an interesting time in the women’s clothing industry…
– More and more merchandise, especially special sizes, is moving online
– Shipping charges are costly to the buyer
– Returns are costly to the merchant
– Online sizing charts are wildly inaccurate
– Garments are modeled by tall, thin models, perfected by the tricks of pins, clamps and Photoshop
– Text-only product reviews on retailer websites are pretty useless for determining fit
So, how’s a girl supposed to know what’s going to fit, and what’s not?
I’ve watched as the online petite community has grown, and formed a network of bloggers, readers, and contributors. We have helped each other navigate the clothing stores by sharing the items that fit us. We have taken stealthy photographs in store fitting rooms, and created beautiful editorial-like photographs that look like they could have come from a petite-centric fashion magazine. We have flocked to the same items, all sharing our reviews and comparing our measurements, in and effort to help other women who may be confused as to what size to purchase.
The petite community, instead of moaning and complaining about the injustices of sizing, have come together and acted in a collective mindset of helping others…and I love it!
Watching what the petite community was doing organically, sparked an idea. What if we could take this idea of community sourced clothing reviews, and put it on a platform that could help women of any shape and size. What if…
– Women could search a photo-centric database of clothing reviews, to find other women who are similarly shaped and sized to themselves.
– Women could find clothing items and brands that fit them, based on what fits other women who are sized like themselves.
And what if all this was happening within a community based on positivity and the collective effort to help other women look fabulous, unlike other communities based on popularity and a narrow idea of beauty.
And Fit Review was born.
A small group of ladies have been secretly testing the earliest version of Fit Review for us, and we’re eternally thankful for all the wonderful feedback. The site is still a work in progress, and has a long way to go, but we’re so eager to show it to the community that inspired it, that we just couldn’t wait any longer.
And we’re kicking things off with a giveaway. ;)
The prizes:
– 2 winners from all complete entries will each receive a $50 Visa gift card
– The 2 winners will be chosen at random from all entries
The details to enter:
– 1 complete item review on FitReview.com is counted as 1 entry
– A complete entry consists of:
– A complete profile (full measurements)
– A complete item review (photo, item review, and photo tagging) of any clothing item from any brand
– Each user may have up to 3 entries (item reviews)
– Giveaway ends Thursday, May 19th, 2011 at 11:59PM PT
– Fit Review members may choose to use an alias, and crop or cover faces in images if you choose to do so. This will not effect your chances to win.
– Photos may be of any quality, from an editorial style shot, to a simple cell phone picture taken in a store fitting room.
-Winners will be contacted by the email provided at registration.
– Any questions or feedback can be left in the comments of this post, or submitted in this form.
– The content submitted to FitReview.com belongs to you, the content creator.
– FitReview.com will not monetize your content without your permission.
Thank you everyone! Together, I believe we can build a positive and helpful community for women everywhere!
This sounds SO great. I'm really impressed and I've already registered!
I know it is still in its first stages, but here are a couple suggestions for what I would really love to see in the future:
-a way to browse reviews by category (brand, item type, body type)
-some more standardized criteria for information in reviews
I'm sure these are already on your list, but I'm really excited to see how this expands!
Amazing job Kelly, so proud of you!!!
So excited for this!
Super duper excited for this. FR has already grown a ton since the last time I logged in. So many new reviews to browse. You're doing an awesome job on this Kelly…never cease to amaze me!
interesting. i just did fit reviews yesterday that i could share :)
This is fantastic! I loved the way the petite community came together to showcase great clothing items, but as a non-petite myself I couldn't really help. But this is a wonderful idea and I can't wait to see how it grows and works to help everyone!
Wonderful, fantastic idea! This would also make a great app…something to take with you while you shop!
Bravo Kelly!
Awesome Kelly! Is it just me because I am having trouble writing a review…created my profile but can't post a review? Help!
Thank you ladies!! I'm really happy to hear such a positive response. I think this is going to be big. ;)
@Lucia H. – Yup, those things are on our list. We'll be adding filters to the browse page soon, where you'll be able to filter by brand, garment type, size, etc. We will also be streamlining our review set-up so it makes more sense. Thanks for the feedback!
@purses and puppies – Bring 'em on! :)
@Dana – So glad to hear that! I want women of all shapes and sizes to benefit. It may take a little while to get lots of ladies of different sizes on board, but I think we can do it. ;)
@SugarNikita – That was one of my first thoughts too…this would make a great app!
@Really Petite – Send me an email describing what's happening and we'll figure it out for ya. Be sure to include what browser you're using (Firefox, IE, etc.)
Really like this idea! Is there any way to search by your measurements on the site?
Hi Kelly,
Oh, this sounds fabulous!! I'm so happy I've found this petite community. They've helped me tremendously in deciding whether or not to order certain items online. Bravo in designing this site. I've already signed up and will be posting some reviews soon. I'm looking forward to seeing Fit Review grow & improve. :)
It looks great, Kelly! Thanks for the invitation to participate a few weeks ago; I totally wanted to but it's the end of semester for me and things have been downright hectic. I'm hoping to contribute soon though! Thanks for all your hard work on your blog, the forum, and now FitReview! :)
Hey Kelly, May 15th is a Sunday :P
I can't wait to start reading all the helpful reviews that I'm sure is going to start popping up soon.
@Anonymous – We're working on that feature, and it should be up and running pretty soon. ;)
@Javacurls – Thank you!! The petite community has been a wealth of shopping inspiration and help for me as well, to the detriment of my wallet sometimes. :P
I hope it grows into a useful community for women everywhere.
@Roxy – Thanks Roxy! No worries…you'll have plenty of tiem to play with Fit Review. Best of luck with school!
@Pauline – That's what happens when excited & sleepy-headed me tries to publish a post at nearly 1am. :P
Thanks for catching that! It's fixed. The official end date is Thursday the 19th.
Yay! Congrats, again! I am so excited to see fit review grow!
You definitely captured how I feel about the community here: "The petite community, instead of moaning and complaining about the injustices of sizing, have come together and acted in a collective mindset of helping others"
Love the "stealthy" fitting room pics link. Thanks! :p
omg! This will be so helpful when I'm online shopping – thank you! I never even imagined something like this was possible… time to whip out my measuring tape and join in on the fun!
This is really exciting, Kelly! I'm loving the concept already and can't wait to contribute, though I'm not that great at reviews. :P It's great browsing FR and seeing the different types of bodies we have in our growing community.
Love love love! Thanks for the giveaway – great idea for entries!
So proud to be a part of FitReview! It has really grown in such a short time.
Thanks for this giveaway and your vision, Kelly. It's time for women, not just petites to come together to solve this sizing issue. I'm excited to be a part of the size revolution!
I think I may FINALLY post a review or two today. A lot of the items I own are older but I think they might help any way =)
<3
An ambitious idea for once you have the sorting functions set and things are running smoothly: try to connect with stores or brands that tend to work for petites – Banana, H&M, Theory – and see if they will post reviews of new/current styles, or update local petites (readers?) on new styles so they can do reviews. Stores with websites can link to the item for sale.
The pitch: it would revolutionize online shopping (people would have a better idea what they are ordering) and they would probably sell more, in store and online. I would shop more often if I could find things that fit!
The petite community loves helping each other out in finding the right style and fit since we all have had the same dilemma of finding the right fit. Good luck in your project! It looks great :)
Yay for the full launch of FR! This community is truly invaluable and now we'll have another resource to help fuel finding the right items. I really need to post better pics on it now LOL.
When does the giveaway end? Thursday May 15th isn't the right day/date!
@Alyssa – Fixed! Blogger had a hiccup yesterday and a lot of people's blogs got a little messed up, including AN. The official end date is Thursday, 5/19/11.
LOVE this idea! I've been poking around on the site and I have a few suggestions.
* Definitely needs categories for reviews (ie clothing type, brand, size etc) and a way to narrow or even just flat search for reviews on the site.
* I'd love to be able to "favorite" certain reviewers. This would be helpful both for going back to the reviewers I like and also those who are similar in size and shape to me.
* I would also love a way to find others on the site who are the same or close in size and shape. Basically, a search that would take my height and measurements and compare them to all the other registrants and then produce a set of results sorted by closest match. That, paired with the ability to mark/save favorites would make this site invaluable to me.
Thanks for taking the time to create this! Can't wait to see where it goes!
This is a wonderful idea! This will help me make a good estimate on what size clothing I should be in stores that I don't usually shop at. :)
Is it just me, or did other people have their comments disappear? Or am I just losing my mind?
Anyway, I love this idea! Would make a great app, too!
@tivogirl – All that is on our list of features to add, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks. ;)
Thank you!!!
@SugarNikita – You're definitely not losing your mind. Blogger had a major hiccup a few days ago, and lost a lot of people's blog posts and comments. Apparently they're trying to restore everything, so the comments might come back. *fingers crossed*
Ha ha, okay! I was wondering! I thought, "Maybe it was all a dream…maybe I never commented in the first place!" Freaky. Glad to know I've only slightly lost my marbles. That's an improvement!
Hm… Just registered but there was no spot to enter the invite code. Oh well… I'm off to post some reviews anyway =)
@Anonymous – No worries, we just did away with the invite code for now. ;)
I joined and I'll post something as soon as I can!
One suggestion: can you add a note saying that the profile is limited to 50 words/200 characters/whatever it is? I wrote out my profile, but when I clicked save, half of it got erased because it was too long!
Oh, also, there's a bra site with the same concept: http://bratabase.com/ – It has users take extensive measurements of the bras and their bodies, but it's not the most user friendly. It might be worth comparing/contrasting with Fit Review to see what works and what doesn't.
Belated congrats on getting this great idea launched, Kelly! I'm sure it's destined to grow even more as word gets out.
@tivogirl – All that is on our list of features to add, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks. ;)
Thank you!!!
@SugarNikita – You're definitely not losing your mind. Blogger had a major hiccup a few days ago, and lost a lot of people's blog posts and comments. Apparently they're trying to restore everything, so the comments might come back. *fingers crossed*
Hm… Just registered but there was no spot to enter the invite code. Oh well… I'm off to post some reviews anyway =)
Ha ha, okay! I was wondering! I thought, "Maybe it was all a dream…maybe I never commented in the first place!" Freaky. Glad to know I've only slightly lost my marbles. That's an improvement!
The petite community loves helping each other out in finding the right style and fit since we all have had the same dilemma of finding the right fit. Good luck in your project! It looks great :)
Love love love! Thanks for the giveaway – great idea for entries!
omg! This will be so helpful when I'm online shopping – thank you! I never even imagined something like this was possible… time to whip out my measuring tape and join in on the fun!
Hey Kelly, May 15th is a Sunday :P
I can't wait to start reading all the helpful reviews that I'm sure is going to start popping up soon.
Hi Kelly,
Oh, this sounds fabulous!! I'm so happy I've found this petite community. They've helped me tremendously in deciding whether or not to order certain items online. Bravo in designing this site. I've already signed up and will be posting some reviews soon. I'm looking forward to seeing Fit Review grow & improve. :)
Thank you ladies!! I'm really happy to hear such a positive response. I think this is going to be big. ;)
@Lucia H. – Yup, those things are on our list. We'll be adding filters to the browse page soon, where you'll be able to filter by brand, garment type, size, etc. We will also be streamlining our review set-up so it makes more sense. Thanks for the feedback!
@purses and puppies – Bring 'em on! :)
@Dana – So glad to hear that! I want women of all shapes and sizes to benefit. It may take a little while to get lots of ladies of different sizes on board, but I think we can do it. ;)
@SugarNikita – That was one of my first thoughts too…this would make a great app!
@Really Petite – Send me an email describing what's happening and we'll figure it out for ya. Be sure to include what browser you're using (Firefox, IE, etc.)
Bravo Kelly!
interesting. i just did fit reviews yesterday that i could share :)
So excited for this!
Wow, I really want to join! However…when I try to register, it keeps telling me there was an error and that I need to check my invite code. Anyone else having this problem?