Outfit ideas for a shindig and a brief-ish Torrid boot review

[ebonierose]

Hi everybody,

I need shipwreck or tropical island-themed costume/outfit ideas for a party I'm going to on the 1st. It's a cocktail-level party, but we get a choice between showing up in costume or in cocktail-ish attire. I'd prefer to show up in costume, but I have several cocktail dresses to wear if things don't pan out.

To aid you in your search

Comments

[vanillafluffy]

My 2 cents worth about ordering something: I've worked as customer support for online retailers and I can tell you, cheap shipping won't work this close to the date you need it. Forget all those shipping ads about how they run to catch the truck and hand-carry it to your doorstep. It doesn't work that way!

Unless you're dealing with a smallish company, it can take 24+ hours to process your order, get it together, pack it and the shipper might not even get it til the day after that. (It probably won't even show tracking for the first 12-24 hours after it goes out of the warehouse.) Economy shipping = five business days, business days being Monday-Friday. They don't count weekends.

Even next-day shipping is a misnomer. (You wouldn't believe how many people order something at 11:59 PM and are incensed because it wasn't on their doorstep at 9AM.) The same thing applies as far as allowing at least one day for packing and shipping, and then it *should* be there the next business day---not necessarily 24 hours from the time it leaves the warehouse. It could go out at 10AM Wednesday and not get there until 4:45PM Thursday, for instance. (There's a 3-day option, too, but even that wouldn't get it to you until Monday or Tuesday.)

What you might try, if you fall in love with something you need to order, is to find the customer service number on the website, call and talk to a rep. Sometimes they can be sweet-talked into a complimentary upgrade of your shipping to next day. Not always, because some companies don't give tham that option, but it's worth a try.

I know, this probably isn't what you were expecting to hear, and probably a lot more than you wanted to hear, sorry!---but I'd hate for you to order something and then not get it til the week after you need it! Enjoy the party!

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[ebonierose]

Yeah, at this late date, I pretty much abandoned the idea of getting anything shipped to me in time.(I submitted this last week) Still looking for ideas and concepts, though.

I've been ordering a lot online lately because I'm in the boonies, and the only stores that have things for me are Cato and Wal-Mart, so I've come to learn a lot of what you've mentioned already. I'm lucky because purchases clear my account very quickly, so processing is almost always under 24 hours for me. I do think you give some very sound advice, though, and I certainly appreciate it.