WARNING: There is some realistic waistline shown in this post. Do not proceed if this concerns you.
Recently I got introduced to Zozo.com via SpaceX. It sounded like a neat idea! I like the sound of clothing that just fits, and their prices were not too crazy. So when I got some birthday cash in, I went for it.
First, I bought a $5 Zozo Suit. Its not meant to be worn out in public, but here’s a picture anyway. I’ve tried to make it … PG-13. The dots REALLY DO go everywhere. There are different sized dots to point where the wrists and ankles and neck are.
I used their little stand, propped up my phone, and went through the process of getting measured. Standard photogrammetry – they take 12 pictures, guided by voice prompts. They don’t save the pictures. The app crashed twice on me, and once I didn’t wait long enough (I have an old phone), but I finally got these measurements:
Which I promptly trusted. Not a mistake, as you will see later.
I then went on to order a pair of pants, a T-Shirt and a Long Sleeve shirt. The Pants got delivered within a week, the shirts aren’t here yet.
Excited, I tried on the pants, and:
What gives?
Pull the pants up and ..
Turns out the computer had used 39” for my waist, which is technically correct, but the actual number that we should have used should have been measured a bit below, at about 37.5”. Which is nowhere near the 34 Waist pants that fit me in normal stores. I guess there are real inches, and designer inches.
Note, I did have an option of customizing all the numbers while ordering the pants. I didn’t know what I was doing at that time. THIS was my mistake, and this is where I’m learning.
Well, I had taken them out of their plastic, so I figured I was stuck with the pants. (also wrong). I cinched them up with a belt, and they worked pretty well!
Sealing my fate: I wore them for two days. Now they are really “worn” and cannot be returned.
Then, later, trying to see when my shirts were going to arrive, I found this button in the app:
Doh! I could have gotten them altered! Clicking in gives a more complete method of “returning for a different fit”:
Okay, Zozo, I forgive you. I really could have double-checked which measurements the computer was applying to me – I’ll do that next time I order. I probably will order again, just to complete the cycle.
All in all, I’d give it a thumbs up. They don’t have the most awesome clothing ever, but if you have a hard time finding the right size of stuff, this would be a relatively gentle way to get in with measurements and custom fit clothing. You could then branch out to several of the other services, which have suddenly started showing up in my Instagram feed – go go targeted advertising. Most of them are much more expensive, for much higher quality clothing.
