T.I.L. Darling – The Online Clothing Boutique

After visiting Las Vegas for the MAGIC Marketplace fashion trade show, I realized that I am not a lucky person. I would sit down in front of the 1 cent slot machine, put in my dollar, and walk away with my head down after just about losing 100 pulls straight. On the other hand, the people I was traveling with would either walk away with some winnings or at least stretch out the entertainment value of their one dollar two or three times longer than me. Then, there is my friend who flew into Las Vegas the day after me and won $400 on a pull of the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. This is pretty much the same exact experience I have had the two other times I’ve been to any gambling destination.

To be honest, I did feel a little down about the idea that I’m not a lucky person. After all, who wouldn’t want to consider themselves lucky and who in their right mind would want to be unlucky? After some self-reflection, I did realize that I might have something even better than luck. The Force is strong with me, just kidding. Actually, my self-revelation did occur after I thought how Jedi Knights are actually pretty unlucky. After all, Yoda lived and died in a tree and Obi-Wan Kenobi was living in a cave up until he was reintroduced into Luke Skywalker’s life. This was, of course, after the Jedi’s were plotted against by one of their own, Anakin Skywaler/Darth Vadar. If you ask me, then that’s just about as unlucky as one can get.

Ok, enough of the nerd talk. What I have cannot be summed up in a simple noun, such as luck, and maybe that’s why it might even better. For my adult life, whenever I have set a big goal and put in the hard work, I have achieved my goal. When I graduated High School, I knew that I wanted to transfer to the Walter A. Haas School of Business, which was named the #3 ranked undergraduate business administration program in the United States by US News & World Report. When I was accepted, I had a 4.0 GPA, was a tutor in Economics, started an investment club, a member of the student government, and a volunteer at my local hospital. Of course, at the time, I didn’t feel comfortable about my chances, but in retrospect there was no way I wasn’t getting into the University.

After graduating, I decided that I wanted to take a shot at being a Nightclub DJ. Of course, it’s not that easy to pick up a gig as a DJ when you do not know anybody in the industry. So, I took a job as a janitor at 1015 Folsom Nightclub, which during the 90s was pretty much THE club in San Francisco and arguably the United States because they brought in guys like Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, etc. In less than three months of cleaning of spills, puke and one time feces, I was probably one of the youngest Resident DJ for 1015 Folsom.

After I quit DJing, I tried my hand at producing dance music. I must admit, that actually didn’t go anywhere, but not enough hard work in the world can make up for natural talent. I did once make a bootleg remix of a Snow Patrol song, sent it to Dave Dresden (a famous DJ and music producer), and received very positive feedback from him. So, that is kind of the extent of my success in music production.

After realizing the music career was not going anywhere, I decided to pursue a Masters degree. Originally, I was interested in pursuing a MBA, but I actually ended up doing a Masters in Finance. Coming from such a highly regarded undergraduate program, my goal was for the top programs and that meant a high score on my GMAT, the standardized test required for business school. I studied almost non-stop for half a year. I ended up with a 720, which for my test date was in the 96 Percentile. So, technically, I did better on the test than 96% of other test takers. After visiting London during December, I loved the city so much that I decided to apply to the London Business School. Their MBA program requires a second language, which I do not have, so I applied for their Masters in Finance program. In the end, that’s where I ended up.

Finally, thought I will not get into details, I had to work hard to convince Toon, my girlfriend, that she and I could be a couple. In fact, even though I knew she liked me, she did in fact tell me “no,” twice, before we became a couple. A friend of mine in the Masters in Finance told me something about how he turned his friend into his current wife, “try harder.” That’s exactly what I did. Of course, that’s not the end of our story. I hope that she and I have a lifetime of working together as a couple and with T.I.L. Darling.

I know there is plenty of people right now who wish they had some good luck, but remember that it’s always better to fall back on hard work.

For those who just don’t consider themselves tech savvy, shopping online for clothes is almost not even an option. This is a shame because not only is shopping online for clothes fairly simple, but also convenient, secure, and extremely price competitive.

The most straight forward case I can present is that of shopping at Border Bookstore versus shopping online at Amazon.com. If you drove down to your local Borders Bookstore, then you would find Figure Drawing for Fashion Design by Elisabetta Drudi for $24.99. Meanwhile, you can visit Amazon.com and order it for $16.49 and a very good chance of not paying any sales tax. Of course, there are certain shipping charges and shipping time that may be inconvenient, but I have always found it cheaper and convenient to go the way of Amazon.com.

In regards to security, this is far form scientific, but I know more people who have had their credit card/wallet stolen or lost while shopping or doing some kind of activity than those who are victims of online credit card fraud. At T.I.L. Darling Clothing Boutique, the credit card information is never seen by us, rather it is passed directly to Paypal, our credit card merchant.

Here are simple tips for shopping for clothes online.

1. Know your measurements. You will need a cloth tape measure and preferably someone to measure you while in your undergarments. For women, you will want to measure your bust, which is the fullest part of your chest. As we already mentioned, this should be done over your bra. Next, measure your natural waist. If you cannot find your natural waist, then stand with your feet slightly apart and bend to the side. Where your waist creases is your natural waist. Finally, measure your hips. Stand with your heels together and measure the fullest part of your hips. Do not pull the tape tight.

With this information, you can simply cross reference it to the store’s size chart.

2. Whenever you are going to provide any sensitive information, such as your credit card information or personal information, then make sure you have an “https” in the pages url. The “s” stand for “secure.” If the url simply states “http,” then any information you send is not secure and can be intercepted by thieves.

3. When you are ready to set-up your account or checkout, make sure you know the exact billing address on file with your credit card issuer. One of the top reasons for rejected transactions is because the full address provided by the customer does not match that of what the credit card company has on file.

4. At some point during your checkout, the website will ask for a three digit code on your Visa, Mastercard, or Discover Card. This is the last three digits on the back of your credit card. But, if you are using an American Express card, then you want to provide the four small digits on the front of the card.

5. Take a few minutes to search for available discount codes. Simply search for the store name + coupon in any search engine. For example, if you search for “T.I.L. Darling Coupons,” then you’ll probably find one or two floating out there.

6. Always understand the return policy. Every store has their own return policy. Some may completely disallow returns and only accept exchanges or store credit. Some may require you to return your item within 14 days while Zappos has an unremarkable 365 days. But you can be sure that almost all sites will require you to return your items in the same condition as it was sent to you, otherwise your item may very well be rejected or returned for a huge discount of your purchase price. Additionally, more and more sites are providing free returns and exchanges, such as T.I.l. Darling, but not all sites have adapted this practice.

7. Always look at the total price when comparing between two sites. For example, you may find a dress at Lulus for $55, while we may be selling the same exact dress for $59. Of course, once you checkout, then you’ll see that Lulus has a shipping charge of $7, while we have free shipping on orders over $50. Additionally, currently, you do not have to pay sales tax on items shipped from outside your shipping destination’s state. So, if your purchase from T.I.L. Darling from outside of CA, you are essentially already receiving a 4%-10% discount depending on your state of residence.

8. If you are still worried about security, then purchase from a business accredited by the Better Business Bureau. T.I.L. Darling is accredited with the BBB and has therefore agreed to abide by their arbitration procedure if a customer complaint arises. Fortunately, we never have had a complaint filed with the BBB and our report card is currently an A-. We are not at a full A because we’re simply just a young business.

9. If you are looking for a specific item, such as an Esley Halter Dress, then use Google’s shopping results to help you narrow down the best deal. Simply search from “Esley Halter Dress” in the google search engine and there should be some kind of link that says “Shopping results for esley dress.” From there, you can sort and filter your results to hopefully find exactly what you are looking for.

10. Carefully read the checkout confirmation before processing your order. Through files known as “cookies,” sites are able to remember what you add to your shopping cart on previous visits. For example, if you add an item on Monday and return the following day, then the website will keep that item in your virtual shopping cart. Of course, you would not expect this and once again add it to your shopping cart a second time. If you do not look carefully at your shopping cart or your checkout confirmation, then there is a good chance you’re going to purchase two of the same item.

11. When you submit your order, do not press the “submit” button twice. Otherwise, more likely than not, you will be charged twice. Depending on your internet connection and the website server, it is possible a transaction could take up to one or two minutes to process. In many cases, it should only take a matter of seconds, but it is not always the case. We get plenty of duplicate transactions because the customer hit the “submit” button two or even three times.

With these simple tips, you should not only be able to have a safe experience shopping online, but also save a great deal of money.

In 2008, when Toon and I started T.I.L. Darling, our first real experience in the fashion industry was at Pure London, UK’s primary trade fashion event. Before attending, we were just developing the website and purchasing overhead. We had visited the fashion wholesale street, but found that it was entirely wrong for what we wanted to do. From attending Pure London, Toon and I were really able to discover where we wanted to position T.I.L. Darling and the brands that were going to take us there.

Nonetheless, speaking for myself, I did feel like an outsider. I didn’t understand at the time that brands were showing samples a season in advance and taking orders for future delivery. While other buyers were purchasing £3k-5k from one brand, Toon and I had a budget of £3-4K for our entire planned inventory. Additionally, being an online store, there is a lack of credibility when answering a sales representative’s question, “So, where is your store located?” There is also the social aspect of fashion. There is a side of fashion that celebrates individuality, but there is the other side that’s very “Devil Wears Prada.” I cannot help but feel like I’m back in high school. Where the sales reps are the “in crowd” and I’m the Star Wars and Zombie loving nerd I have always been. At that time though, I had Toon with me and so we could pretend together and, quite honestly, when you are with someone you love the opinions of outsiders become a lot less important.

Two years later, I have gained a decent knowledge about fashion merchandising, my budget is more flexible, and TheOnlineClothingBoutique.com carries reputable fashion brands. Though Toon and I are still very much together, Toon left T.I.L. Darling at the end of 2008 and is now the Finance and Strategic Manager for a new Japanese Restaurant chain in Thailand. So, whatever it is that you love or hate about T.I.L. Darling can be attributed solely to me at this point. This also meant that I would essentially be heading to Las Vegas as a lone buyer. If I am going to be honest with myself, then this is probably the reason why I skipped the three MAGIC shows since moving back stateside.

Nonetheless, I felt it was important to discover some new brands. I booked my tickets, found boarding for my two fur balls (a german shepherd and mini dachshund), and landed in Vegas on August 16th, a day before the opening of the buyer’s show. As trite as it sounds, my first impression of Vegas was how hot it was. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I do not believe we hit triple digits this entire summer. After hitting the Mirage Buffet, which has an incredible selection, I checked into the Las Vegas Hilton. For me, the Hilton was a perfect choice because it is right next door to the Las Vegas Convention Center and it is certainly a lot less low key than other locations. I believe I went to one of the more popular casinos on The Strip, lost $3.00 on slots (reinforcing how much I dislike losing money), and called it a night because I planned to attend a seminar at 09:00.

In addition to thousands of brands showcasing their line, MAGIC Marketplace also host seminars. My original plan was actually to spend almost two full days attending these seminars, but that plan fell apart around 1pm on the first day. The seminars are ran extremely professionally and there is plenty of valuable information to be learned. I attended seminars on how to launch your own fashion line and two different marketing seminars. Still, after not missing any classes during my undergraduate education and trying my hardest during my graduate education, I just could not sit in a chair any longer. Additionally, after hearing how unbelievably hard launching a fashion brand is, I decided that I would just focus on retail until manufacturing becomes a natural progression.

From there, I just started hitting the booths. For those who have never been to MAGIC Marketplace, it is almost impossible to describe how large the event actually is. The event not only takes up the Las Vegas Convention Center, but also the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. There are individual sections for women’s contemporary, young contemporary, juniors, premium, menswear, street, shoes, accessories, and more that I cannot even think of. I would guess that the area it takes up is equal to five or six large airport hangers. I honestly do not think I am exaggerating.

At first, the size of the show is overwhelming, but after a while I realized the show is very logically formatted. For example, I could entirely skip the menswear section, skim shoes, and primarily focus on young contemporary and “juniors.” I put juniors is quotes because the term is very loosely used at MAGIC Marketplace. Esley, one of our most popular brands, is put in the juniors section, but the dresses are beyond a doubt young contemporary and our customers who buy the brand are usually in their twenties or thirties. Also, I could roughly separate womenswear brands between those who practice fast fashion and those who do not.

For those who are not familiar with the two, fast fashion is when brands, such as H&M, Zara, and Topshop, are continually producing new items throughout the year. Not only that, but also they are able to bring it from design to store in as little as two to three weeks. Traditional fashion houses, such as all the brands who have runway shows at NY, Paris, and London Fashion Week, only produce about three lines a year, though they may split shipments throughout the season. So, very traditionally, they will have one line for Fall/Winter, Holiday, and Spring/Summer.

Toon and I always knew that we were going to be closer to fast fashion because it is what our generation is most use to. So, the Mandalay Bay Convention Center housed mostly the traditional fashion brands, while the Las Vegas Convention Center housed mostly fast fashion brands. Nonetheless, other than menswear, I actually walked the entire show over the span of three days. My feet were exhausted and would have had no shame in using a Segway.

There were two things I was looking for when browsing the exhibitors. First, would their designs be appropriate for our core demographic. Second, were other buyers paying attention. Of course, once I actually talked to a sales representative and looked more closely at their line, I saw if it was an appropriate price point. I briefly walked into the French Connection exhibition and the sale representative told me their best selling dresses were around $250-300. In this economy, it is just not a price point I feel works for T.I.L. Darling, even though it is a recognizable brand that my friends wish I would carry, but that is only because they would want it at a discount. In real life, they would not be willing to pay for French Connection at full retail price and I believe that’s how most people feel these days.

Unfortunately for probably 50%-60% of the brands in young contemporary and juniors, it was really obvious which brands were popular with buyers. They had great lines, priced right, and the quality is appropriate for the price. I’m not going to name them all here, but I plan on making purchases throughout the next year and so you’ll slowly see them on the store website. There was one denim company who hired a group of surgically enhanced models to dance on a high platform, but I would argue that they did not bring in as many orders as Tulle who was right next door with their huge staff of sales representatives.

For the most part, I felt comfortable going throughout most of the exhibitor’s booths, but I must admit that there were some that I felt timid to even browse and those were the more recognizable brands, such as Max & Cleo and French Connection. Then again, I knew their price point was too high so there was not much point viewing the line anyway. I would always say that the bottom line if whether or not I will put in an order is style and price, but the sale representative certainly does make a huge impact on simply just how they represent the brand. It goes way beyond whether or not they are dressed well or attractive, but whether or not they treat everyone as valuable customers.

I hope T.I.L. Darling will reach the heights of ASOS.com or BlueFly.com someday, but I still want to be treated as a great potential customer when we are still building up our brand. Even though I would not say initially they treated us well, but TFNC was great to us in London. Melissa from the Daniel M. Friedman showroom in the Los Angeles Fashion District really made me feel comfortable. This show, to my surprise, was the sales representative from Free People. I do not remember her name, but she was very nice. This was especially apparent when right after talking to Free People I visited the French Connection exhibit and did not feel welcomed at all. I suppose it was obvious I was not really an ideal buyer from French Connection, but it has obviously left a negative impression in my mind and their brand as a whole.

On a side note, French Connection is no comparison to how I feel about Lipsy from the UK. Their sales representatives are the rudest I have experienced in the past three years. If you are in the UK, then I suggest you support TFNC who were willing to work with a small up and coming online store instead of Lipsy UK who essentially booted Toon and I from their London showroom. I’m not exaggerating, Lipsy did not even allow us to go through their line and pretty much told us to leave their showroom. Also, Max C. London and Darimeya were also very friendly to us so be sure to support them in the UK.

Going back to MAGIC Marketplace, I also felt that there were other exhibitors who were not exactly on the top of their game either. What many people do not know is that Forever 21 began in the Los Angeles Fashion District by a Korean couple. Now, half of the LA Fashion District is ran by Korean wholesalers. Despite the success of Forever 21, there is a perception of the quality that comes out of the LA Fashion District. Sometimes it is true, but just as often it is not. So, a lot of these brand will hire on new and non-Korean sales representatives just for the trade show. Also, some of them do so because they simply have too many orders to take. Still, I end up talking to a sale representative who obviously has no idea what they are talking about. I usually like to ask the sale rep what their best sellers are, but with these “hired guns” I cannot trust a word they say. So, I usually just take a business card and get in contact with the permanent sales reps later. I would say this was the case with 1/3 of the brands I plan to purchase, but I understand they would have been understaffed. So, it’s a necessary evil.

I also wanted to give a shout out to the people at Motel, aka Motel Rocks. They are a brand from the UK who decided to make the trip to Vegas and their sales reps are exactly the type of people you would hope they would be. One of the sales rep had jet black hair, while the other one had a short platinum hair. They were extremely fashion forward and, of course, spoke with an English accent.

This actually brings me to another glaring observation. Despite being stylish, trendy, and well dressed, I saw that most young female buyers did not wear anything outside of black, gray, white, and denim. This was in triple digit weather and still no one was wearing color. Can you guess who was wearing more color? Men were wearing more color. I found it a little odd. Black, gray, white and denim are core colors, but if women are not going to wear color in the summer time in 100 degree weather, then when are they going to wear color. It seems like a waste of time to even consider color trends, but this may be a just a very American thing. Additionally, I think it’s also an age thing. Some teenage consumers, despite wanting to belong, are very experimental and are willing to take a lot more risks with their wardrobe.

If it was up to me, then I would be buying all forward fashion items like Topshop Oxford St. but I’ve found it just doesn’t necessarily work here in the USA. If it did, then there wouldn’t only be one US Topshop location in New York City. Instead, Gap is in just about every single mall in the USA pushing khakis and plaid shirts.

For those interested in attending, I would say that two days is plenty of time to go through what you need to focus on. That’s if you do not attend the seminars. Because I decided to skip the second day of seminars, I went through the whole show, except for menswear, by the end of the second day. So, the third day, because my plan left at 9:05pm was a complete bore. From what I could tell, most buyers had left town by then. The next time I go, I will probably cut my trip by 25% because I do not find the social aspect of Las Vegas too interesting.

MAGIC Marketplace is without a doubt a necessary experience for any buyer. While I cannot say I had an incredible time in Las Vegas, I will say that I learned a great deal and I am more excited than ever about the future of T.I.L. Darling.

Best,
Daniel H.
Co-Founder, Buyer, and Custodial Services

We have officially launched the new site. So far, we have posted 99 new products with a whole lot more to go. Our photographers can only work so fast and I can only write descriptions so fast. So, you are going to see a lot of new items coming in constantly.

So please visit our site at T.I.L. Darling