Finding the Perfect Fit

By Nkemek-nti Umoren

My earliest memories of settling in China upon arrival are related to shopping for clothes. Before leaving home， my mother packed my bags with thick， warm clothing， given that Chinas weather wasnt as warm compared to Nigerias. But in October when I got here， the weather was warmer than my outfits were suitable for， and there was a need for change.

My first shopping experience was a trip to Wanda Plaza， which was a few minutes by taxi from my school， Nanchang University， located in Jiangxi Province in east China. Accompanied by friends， I visited each clothing store within the mall. For the first time， I was introduced to Chinese brands like HLA， Anta Sports， etc.

After scanning through the shelves and trying on the clothes at a variety of stores， I purchased a few items befitting my new environment. Each clothing store had its own style. The pieces were modern， minimalist and comfy， in contrast to my country where our fashion sense tends to be both glamorous and corporate and we dress for the occasion.

I shopped for a T-shirt， jeans， and hoodies. I paid in cash but there were other forms of payment method like WeChat Pay or Alipay， which at the time， I had no knowledge of.

Ive had many other in-store shopping experiences aside from shopping at the mall. I once accompanied a friend to the local Changling Market in Nanchang. After entering the market， I was drawn in by a clothing store. It had a similar feeling to the stores we have in Nigeria that we consider “boutiques.” Compared to my first shopping experience in the mall， clothes of different styles and designs in this store were in the same price range， and I could bargain with the seller on how much I wanted to pay for an outfit. Shopping in stores like this was a lot cheaper.

Well， that is until I discovered Taobao and Pinduoduo！

I consider Taobao to be a one-stop shop for all online purchases. Online shopping has become my go-to for buying clothes. Although there are many benefits to online shopping， it has its challenges too， ranging from the language barrier to finding the right size. There were situations when the M size turned out to be too tight and the L size too loose.

I vividly remember the struggle I had finding an XXL size dress online for a female friend， after we had decided to exchange gifts to celebrate the New Year. On Taobao and Pinduoduo， most outfits I could find didnt have the XXL size and the ones that had， didnt match her style. I had a similar experience when trying to purchase a pair of size 42 womens shoes. This is one of my frustrations when shopping online， because most of the clothes are designed for the sizes and body type of the Chinese people， rather than foreigners， of course.