Article by Lacey Jackson
In 2010, the clothing site, Romwe, was established in China, selling very cute, very cheap clothes. The company has been the subject of speculation, because of their cheap “fast fashion” clothing. Why is it so cheap? Is it worth it? I took on the challenge of finding out.
I know how to shop. I'm an avid shopper- I’d consider shopping the way I do it as a talent. So, obviously I absolutely love a good deal. I searched through almost the entire website to find the best outfits for my style. I checked pictures, reviews, etc to make sure that I would be getting the best product possible. I ended with 3 outfits that I would be testing Romwe’s quality with. In total, I spent $50 (I was able to get free shipping & $3 off my purchase of $49+- AWESOME!!). I bought everything in size medium. I’m 5’8 & a little over 140 pounds for future reference.
Here are the original postings of the clothes that I bought:
The clothes came within about a week. They all came in one big white bag- all of the clothes individually folded in plastic (see picture). I sorted them there by outfit.
I immediately got excited. It was like Christmas morning with anxiety. I already knew what I got, but would it fit? Would it look good? I had been watching some Youtube videos of people doing Romwe hauls & there were so many mixed opinions--I was skeptical of how I would feel about the outfits.
I began unwrapping them and setting them uo by outfit-- then I tried them on. I started with the black shorts and yellow off the shoulder top.
Outfit #1
Immediately, I understood why they say “cheap clothes”. The materials were very thin and cheap feeling. The black shorts were a weird material. They were obviously denim-- or at least meant to be denim-- but they didn’t feel that way. The button on the front of the shorts felt very cheap, like it could just pop right off by my finger. They were a little tight, but began feeling better the longer I had them on. The length was longer than I was expecting, which is good considering they run pretty small. The yellow shirt was very similar. It was a thin material but a nice color. The elastic fit well around my shoulders & wrists but was unnecessarily tight at the bottom of the shirt. It did sit off my shoulders nicely. I’d give this outfit a 6/10. I definitely don’t think I like the pieces together, but apart they’re okay, so that’s why I’m not giving it a 5. I do think I pulled the top down too far, but where it was supposed to sit, it didn’t feel right because of the elastic. I kept both pieces.
Outfit #2
The cheapness feeling continued. I held up the brown skirt and automatically thought there’s no way this is gonna fit around my hips. I was right. The skirt wouldn’t even cover me- a towel does a better job as a skirt than this one did. Therefore, I obviously couldn’t take a picture in it but take my word for it. The buttons were fragile and made noises when you touched them. The color was really nice though. I wish it fit. The red and white striped shirt seemed cute enough but also seemed tiny. That sucker stretched though, there was some elastic inside that itched for a second when I first put it on. Once my body got used to the elastic, it felt really nice on-- kind of like a hug! I paired the top with a pair of jeans for photo purposes. I actually really liked this outfit. If I were to rate the outfit as a whole with the skirt, it would be a 4/10, but just the top with the jeans, I’d rate this as a 9/10.
Outfit #3
I was expecting this last outfit to be one of my favorites, but no. The long sleeve white shirt was nothing like I imagined it would be. It was skin tight-- extremely see through-- and way too cropped. It was so see through that any bra I put underneath it could be seen. So I tried a strapless bra, which looked absolutely terrible (it gave me a quadroboob), so as you can see in one of the photos, (yes, I know. As conservative woman, we are not all for #freethenipple, It was purely for the purpose of seeing how it fit) I tried it without a bra. A hard pass on this shirt. The shorts on the other hand looked pretty good. They were incredibly cheesy though. It looked and felt like they were made out of a handkerchief honestly, but they were really light which is good for here in Florida. They were also longer than I expected, which I kind of liked. I would rate this outfit a 5/10, purely because the shirt was not at all what I expected.
My overall impression of Romwe:
This site is fantastic if you have a perfect body. Everything would fit and look great. I’m not “big” by any stretch, but I am not a stick. These pieces are not made with multiple body types in mind. Also, keep in mind while ordering that everything is cheap for a reason. They are inexpensive clothes coming from China. The shipping was quick though, which I did not expect. I am keeping most of the pieces because individually, or with jeans or shorts, they looked good. I don’t think that I’ll really be shopping from this site much in the future. I would spend a little bit more and go to TJ Maxx for clothes that feel good on and feel good for my wallet.
Photos courtesy of Lacey Jackson and romewe.com