Shopping: Review of Alloy.com

I plan to review different stores and websites that offer clothing for the "hard-to-fit". So I thought I would start with one of my favorites: http://store.alloy.com. Alloy is the first place that I was able to find clothing that fit me, jeans especially.

Pros:

• JEANS - This site has one of the largest selections of jeans for tall girls that I have ever seen. They have inseams that go all the way up to 37 inches! Their selection varies based on the season. They sometimes have colored jeans and right now, they are offering a varied selection of skinny jeans. However, you can always be sure to find boot-cut and flares jeans in various washes and styles at Alloy.
• Prices - For tall clothing, Alloy is really quite reasonable. They have jeans for $30 to $40 and they have a decent clearance section where you can find them for cheaper, occasionally. The shirts are priced normally as well.
• Selection - This site has a lot to choose from. They have tops, tees, jeans, dress pants, skirts, shorts, shoes, jewelry, bags, and more. They also have options for almost any size, from the short to tall, from petite to plus-sized, with inseams from 30" to 37" and sizes from 1 to 25.
• Navigation - Alloy is very easy to navigate. The menu on the side allows you to choose what type of pants, or tops you are looking for. You can narrow by size AND inseam, so that you don't have to sift through things that won't fit.
• LONG SHIRTS - T-shirts for long torsos are hard to find, but Alloy has a TON of them. The selection includes dressy shirts, club wear, graphic t-shirts and more. The best part of their t-shirt selection is that they list the length of the shirt in the item description! No more guessing about how long you think it is based on how tall you think the model is.
• Fit - I have found, with jeans especially, that the fit of the clothing tends to be true to size. I have not sent a pair of jeans back because they were too small or too big. 

Cons:

• Shipping - As with most any online store, you do have to pay shipping. Although you can usually get free shipping on orders over $75, I frequently don't drop that amount of money in one online shopping trip. Also, if you forget, like I usually do, to include the free shipping code during the checkout process, it will not automatically be put in for you, and you will end up paying for shipping
• Returns - The returns are NOT free. They include a shipping label, and deduct the cost of shipping from your refund amount. Frankly, I find this surprising, as many companies have begun to institute free returns.
• Shoes - Their selection of large shoes is pathetic, especially when you consider that women and girls that are super tall are naturally going to have large feet. I don't understand why they cater to tall women, but fail to carry that over into their shoe department. If you have size 11, your only selection is sneakers and the occasional flip flop. If your foot is any larger than that, you get nothing.

The Verdict: As I said before, I love Alloy. The clothing is beautiful. They offer a wide selection of sizes and lengths in their clothing. They provide ample information about their products so that you know what you are buying before it gets to you. I do wish their shipping policies were a little more forgiving. However, if you are looking for a well priced online store that offers more sizes and selection than your usual site, Alloy.com is your site.

Using Your Height to Your Advantage: Promotional Modeling

I work as a promotional model occasionally. Might as well exploit my height for what it is worth, right? What's a promotional model? A promo model is a female or male who is hired by a company to help promote the product. I have done everything from selling sunglasses to handing out free duct-tape to running race car simulators. It's pretty fun work, and pays well, usually $12-$16 an hour. The age requirements for promotional modeling vary. Models under 18 may require parental permission. Some promotions require you to be over 18 because of long or late work hours, or over 21 because it is a liquor promotion.

Promotional modeling not without its pitfalls. Promo models usually don't get paid until several months after they work, due to all of the middlemen the payments must go through. And, if an agency found you the job, they usually take a cut of around 20%. And then there are the creepers on the job. Because you're usually in short-shorts and are being super-friendly and smiley (it's a job requirement, really), weird guys think they can come up to you and give you hugs, take photos with you, hit on you, etc. In these cases, mastery of the polite decline is essential.

Also, if you get a promotional modeling job, be prepared to sell stuff. You often have to sign people up for giveaways, get customers to interact with products, encourage them to buy stuff, etc. And your temporary bosses while working the promos will be salespeople, so they will push you to sell. Though you're not paid on commission, and you don't handle any money, you will make your clients happy, and do your job, if you bring in real business. I have even had previous clients request me specifically when they revisited an area because they were so happy with the work I did previously.

Despite a few shortcomings, promotional modeling really is FUN. I find myself working the Nascar races every summer. Most promo work is on the weekends, so it provides a nice break from the office job I work in between school semesters. The people you work with are usually really laid back, as are the customers with whom you interact. This makes the work fun, and the time usually goes quickly.

For more information, including more details about the pros and cons of promotional modeling, check out my Squidoo post on the topic.