I know I am not the only one who has ordered something online or from a catalog, based on the image, but was let down when the item finally came and the color was not what you expected. It was either too bright, too light, not the right hue you were expecting, etc.. Then you were left to put your frustration/disappointment/anger to the side to send it back or put in your closet in hopes that one day you will get your money's worth and actually wear it one day.

Well, as a retail website manager, that is one thing that I have always had a problem with and I have been a retail web manager for clothing, accesories, and flag stores and I have always had to deal with customers calling and emailing about how they are unhappy with their final product due to it not looking the way it did online.

So, here are a couple of things to keep in mind when you are looking for something in a certain color while catalog or online shopping:

• Understand that the majority of all images, especially for retail purposes, use lighting to help show the details more than the color. Lighting softens the original color and sometimes even the best graphic department can't re-create the original color. More than likely, the color is darker than shown.
• Products that are featured in a "pictorialized" photo are less likely the original color, because a retail pic can be heavily airbrushed to make the clothing and/or product stand out from the model. When styling a photo shoot, in person the clothing might stand out, but not so much when it goes to print. Enter, photo editors and graphic departments.
• When you see a product that you like, google it and see if other sites have the same product, but different picture examples and do some comparison. If they are too different and you can't get an idea of the actually color, rethink if you really want to take a chance.
• White background>model. Like I mentioned above modeled products are hardly true to color. So, if you have a picture of a modeled bag or the same bag with an all white background....more than likely the white background is truer to color.
• In person always beats online or in print. I understand that where you live, you might not have access to some of the major department stores. Hell, I live here in Memphis and we don't even have a Nordstrom. So, I definitely understand if you can't go to see the item in person, but if you can...do! duh!

I hope these very few pointers stick in your mind the next time you are online or catalog shopping.

Photo Source: Neiman Marcus

Stay Stylish!