Presenting Ellen Grace Jones: a fashion journalist with an impeccable career and a distinctive vibrancy, who has left her mark in Vogue Arabia, Huffington Post, and with iconic brands like Harrods, Bentley, Jumeirah, and PUMA.
Known for her unique blend of professionalism and flair, Ellen masterfully transforms every story into an unforgettable experience, capturing the industry’s pulse and delivering it straight to the hearts of her readers.
She brings that same expertise to the article below, crafted especially for you.
Fashion baskets and the in-store shopping experience
A customer-side look at why carrying products comfortably matters inside fashion retail stores.
I pick out a stunning dress that catches my eye. As I lift it to my shoulder, the gigantic net sack turns into a bottomless pit. The dress is folded carefully, and as soon as it goes in, I feel the bag’s resistance, like it’s trying to hold onto the dress for dear life. It’s a power struggle, and I’m losing. By now, I’m beginning to suspect that my shopping bag is plotting against me.
As two pairs of jeans, some shoes, and a few tops go in, it’s heaving like a bad case of the midriff bulge after a big lunch. The bag’s construction seems to be defying physics, with seams straining as if they’re on the brink of surrender. Meanwhile, I’m trying to keep my cool while the bag’s thin handles have been digging into my shoulder like a small, relentless vice for the last 30 minutes.
When I’m finally ready to pay, I make my way to the tills. By now, it’s not just the weight. It’s the sheer awkwardness.
Like I’m toting a huge sack of wet laundry, the net bag keeps swinging into my legs and bumping into innocent bystanders. I start avoiding eye contact with fellow shoppers, praying they don’t notice my increasingly desperate struggle. At one point, I’m convinced that the bag itself is trying to make me trip. I mean, what’s a few more shopping-induced bruises, right?
In the next store, rather than a giant net sack, I’m faced with an old-school metal shopping basket. Now these are fine for picking up a few oranges and apples at the grocery store but useless for clothes shopping. They’re so irritatingly shaped they clang into my leg constantly and the handles pinch repeatedly.
Am I just being overly fussy? No. There’s proof that lugging around over-stuffed fabric bags is bad for your physical health, too. With the recent phasing out of plastic carrier bags in the last decade, shoppers now bring their own fabric totes to carry their items. Physiotherapists all over the world have been reporting a slew of rotator cuff injuries, triggered by the weight of their shopping bags.
My verdict? Clothing retailers need to do better when it comes to their consumer experience.
Their customers need to be able to carry their items in-store using a sturdy fashion basket, with a comfortable grip, enough space for all their fabulous finds that does not weigh them down.
When shopping abroad in the past, I remember using a basket on wheels, the kind you sometimes get in supermarkets. It was spacious and no matter how much clothing I put in, it was like pushing a cloud. No fiddling with giant nets and no awkward collisions with strangers who think I’m plotting an obstacle course. It made browsing so much easier and I spent much longer in the store too, because when your fashion basket rolls, you can shop ’til you drop…without actually dropping anything.
Above all, a pleasant clothes shopping trip shouldn’t come with a side order of shoulder pain and awkward encounters. It’s high time fashion stores offered practical solutions that keep our shopping woes at bay—because we all deserve a little retail therapy without the physical aftermath
