OMG! I’m sooo impressed with Forever 21. (America’s version of Mr. P.) It’s now become this full on addiction and Karisa and I spend all our time trawling the site for awesomeness, creating huge wish lists, ordering up a storm…
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll remember that we ordered a bunch of stuff from the online site a little while ago and held thumbs, hoping the quality would be decent and that we wouldn’t get screwed on taxes… as it turns out, the clothes are AWESOME, super cheap (even when you convert from dollars to rands) and… (gasp!) WE DIDN’T GET TAXED! Seriously. We only paid for what we bought plus the delivery fee – nothing else. It took A WEEK to arrive and was DHLed directly to my door.
Here’s my part of the haul:
Oooh, now get a close up on my soet li’l ringetjie:
Needless to say, we’re now completely hooked and have just placed order number two. If you’re looking for gorgeous klere and aren’t afraid of online shopping, you’ve got to give it a bash. Still, there are a few things to bear in mind… for one, we might’ve gotten lucky. There’s no telling if the tax man let that one slide and is going to klap us on the next one, so it makes sense to mentally prepare for a potential tax of up to 50%. Thus, before you buy, ask yourself if you’re still prepared to buy it for double the price. (However, even at double, most things are still cheaper than in SA). We’re also sending our next haul to a different address (K’s instead of mine) just in case there’s any truth to that whole ‘they tend to let parcel number one slide but take note of it and then tax you on the second’ rumour.
Anyway, I’m now going to be blowing my hard-earned cash on clothes and accessories from Forever21. Would you be keen to give it a go?
Love, love
Leigh
Lipgloss is my Life 
Flip, I’ve been waiting for this post. I couldn’t click fast enough when I got the notification. Hehe. 🙂 The stuff looks fab. I was also thinking that maybe it’s a one time thing and you guys got lucky. But that’s just the nasty pessimist in me. 😉 I can’t wait to see what you guys get on your second haul. And please let us all know if you avoid the tax again.
It definitely works out better to buy with a friend and split delivery costs. It’s always been a huge problem when I’ve wanted to order things online from the U.S. The delivery is more than the items. Haha.
Awesome, right? Ja, I’m also worried we got off on a fluke re tax, so let’s see how this second batch turns out. I’ve spent about a grand on haul 2, but got eight items of clothing; even if it gets doubled up, it’ll work out to R250 per piece, which is still crazy good. I usually drop 1K in YDE or Woolies and walk out with just two or three pieces. Sooo excited…
wow, nice haul!
i’ve also found that parcels coming directly to my house avoid customs duty, but when i collect them at the post office i pay. not sure how that works.
Ja, I’ve noticed that that’s the general rule of thumb too (I’m an eBay whore…) but sometimes they still get you. I.e. when I left my camera in Paris, my sis DHLed it to me, but then it got held up in customs and I had to pay tax to get it back… on my OWN bloody camera nogal, DESPITE submitting all the forms to prove it was mine… fuckers…
Yay! How is the fit? Often scared it looks good on the model but not me
will definitely give it a go!
I’m a 32 all round so the size small totally fits me. The jacket I bought is cropped though and, while it fits, I don’t like the way it sits just on top of my hips; I feel like it makes me look ‘hippy’. But this is my fault… I should’ve known that every semi-cropped jacket I’ve ever tried on makes me feel like a fat ass. 😉 In regards to pants, I’ve just bought a size 27 jeans (in my second haul) and hope its okay. According to the size conversion charts I’ve looked at 32 = 27. Although I’m still a bit post-xmas chubs, making me 32 going on 33, so I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have perhaps gotten a 28… Oh the angst… will let you know when it arrives. 😉
ooooo! can’t wait for the next post!
Woohoo! So glad you didn’t get hit by the dreaded customs. I think you are smart in thinking that you might have gotten lucky 🙂 . First time I ordered at Asos it came through like a dream, then I spent like 2k and wham bam the tax man hit me. To make it worse, half the stuff I got I just got coz it was cheap. Now I always shop knowing that it might end up being double 🙂
Ps, you can read the post I did in shopping at asos on my site. Needles to say I still browse asos all the time and If I really, really want something I’ll buy it :-$
Ja, I always look at ASOS – my friend Clouds is OBSESSED with it – and has always had good buying experiences, but I always tend to gravitate back to Forever21’s site ‘cos of how cheap they are.
What!!!!!! I love Forever 21 but never buy things online #dodgy
Thanks love now we know its safe to buy their stuffies and its kak cheap 😀 I’m in love with that baadjie!
I just pay with my credit card right? Did you fit it on?? sizes always a bugger!!
xx
It fits, but I feel you have to be built like a snake to be flattered by a jacket that’s cropped just about your hips so I’m going to sell it to my friend Carms for R150. She’s only going to get to try it on on Sunday and if for whatever reason she doesn’t like it, you’re welcome to have second dibs. You’ve also got that model tall bod to carry it off. Bitch. ;-P X x x
Hey Leigh,
I have been waiting with anticipation for this post as I often look at the online stores but never grow the balls to buy anything! 🙂
Is it not cheaper to order from the UK as far as shipping is concerned?
I am soo excited as soon as that pay check arrives I will be ordering! 🙂
xxxxxxx
I’m sooo addicted babe, you don’t understand. Making wishlist number three was the last thing I did last night (nearly fell asleep on the laptop while going through piles and piles of sexy knitwear…) and the first thing I thought about this morning. Karisa and I just sit there, glued to our screens and then BBM each other going ‘OMG! Did you see this?!’ or ‘Ooooh! That tops back in stock’ etc. We’re OBSESSED!
I don’t think they have a UK store. Forever21 is an American thing. You might be thinking of Forever New which sounds the same but is totally different (and expensive). Also, I thought Forever New was a UK-based store, but as it turns out, they’re actually from Oz. (So’s Country Road, in fact).
X x x
I can only imagine, started making my wishlist after your post! haha
On their website there are stores in the UK but not sure if all the shipping is done from America and it just he currency that changes. I will check it out when i do my order and let you know.
Really i thought Forever New was also UK based, wow so Oz has some awesome fashion sense, recently bought some items from Cotton On which is also Oz and I have become addicted to that store as well! 🙂
Absolutely love your blog, keep up the awesome posts! 🙂
P.S. there is another awesome online store called wwww.diligo.co.za which also has some awesome stuff! 🙂
Oooh the Diligo people HAAATE me. They approached me a while back in their early days and I couldn’t find anything of theirs that I liked so I (politely) declined… but I heard via the grapevine that they took offense. Irk! It’s a pity tho ‘cos they’ve got some really rocking stuff now. 😉
haha that is too funny….well your advice obviously helped cos they have some cute things now! 😉 Their loss anyway!
Oh no, I didn’t advise them or anything. They just offered me a piece or something like that, but as they’d just started up and didn’t have anything I liked at that stage so I was all ‘ja, thanks a mil, but I’m a real fussy dresser, gonna have to pass’ and they took it as a snub, I think. There new found fabulosity has nothing to do with me. If they came to me now I’d easily find something to wear, their collections nice and big and varied at the mo. 😉
Forever21 rocks! Loved it when I did my stint of living in the US-of-A! Haven’t tried ordering online yet, so excited they deliver here now! A friend who is an online buying whore told me once that if your order is under R500 it generally slips through the tax system, so she orders from Asos every second month in small amounts. shneeaky shneeaky.
If you’re bored of looking at actual Forever21, there is the most hysterical blog called http://wtforever21.com which takes the piss out of some of the pearlers that they stock. Just like our Mr. P, there is plenty of fashion wtf’s in there!
xx from another Leigh!
Niiiiicee… Gonna go check out that site later when I get home. 😉
Hey Leigh hope you are well, Claire and I discovered forever 21 when we were in Dubai and we were hooked! The shop is HUGE and stocks everything, We also found the prices so cheap! I will def look at ordering online now….another shop that we LOVED is at the new Sandton Shopping centre called So Cotton, reminded a bit of Forever 21 and prices werent bad……xxxx
Oooh I’m sooo jealous. Can only imagine ‘cos I’ve seen how you girls like to shop; Bangkok didn’t stand a chance. 😉 Ja, we’ve got a So Cotton in CT now too; some v decent stuff but t depends on when you go x x
Hello,
Have you received your 2nd order yet – eagert o know about taxes?! Thanks 🙂
Babe, we’re on our sixth or seventh order already. LOVE Forever21. So far the tax man’s only klapped us once; for about R200 or something on a order that contained almost R3000 worth of clothes. F21 seems to mark their boxes with a low value x x
Wow! I’m impressed. R200??? Amazeballs! Now I’m DEF shopping. Going to Zanzibar in September and have my list ready! Thanks for a great blog! Never been into blogs but your comments have me reading….. and in stitches sometime! xxx
Stitches meaning your are cleverly witty…………….. 🙂
Hi, how much did you girls pay for shipping? Thanks
About R700, making it plus minus R350 each.
They have a Forever 21 in London, my sister was there 2 weeks ago says it was also a huge shop, she spent a fortune.
I love Forever 21! Discovered it in the US a few years back ago when visiting my sister. Been super excited for December because I get to go back. If you find it in one of the outlet malls, the stuff can be even cheaper! 😀
X
Hey! Love this blog, it’s amazing!!! Have you made any forever 21 purchases lately? And what was the cost? I became obsessed with the amazing store when I was in Dubai in December last year and now I can’t enough of their clothes! Pls pls advise if its safe to order online! Thank you!
Hi Thalia! Sorry for the super slow reply. I haven’t bought from F21 in a while. The last time I did I got burned with a big bill from customs. It still made the purchases cheaper than what I’d have paid to have gotten everything in SA but it put me off a little. I’m now still buying from them, but am sending my items to friends overseas who then bring them down to me when they visit. But to answer your question, yes, it’s perfectly safe to buy online. Just be sure that you’re willing to pay a bit more for what you pick out if customs gets hold of you. Sometimes they nab you, sometimes they don’t.