# Tips for more efficient shopping searches?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-more-efficient-shopping-searches/613786>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 24, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-more-efficient-shopping-searches/613786 "2012-02-24T01:19:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-more-efficient-shopping-searches/613786/1 "2012-02-24T01:19:49Z")

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I am generally not shy about asking someone to tell me about something they are wearing that I admire. Not an outright, “Where did those boots come from and how much did they cost?” but something more like, “Great boots! Can I ask what brand they are?”

Sometimes, though, the situation really doesn’t lend itself to that and I am left going home and driving myself crazy with Google and vague search terms. It occurs to me that there must be a better way to do these searches, but sometimes the issue is that I’m not familiar with specific terms that would be helpful. Are there sites or methods that I should try?

An example is, not surprisingly, a pair of boots that I saw someone wearing the other day. I know what I’m looking for, but I don’t know how to describe it to Google, and typing in “brown suede ankle boots” only gets me so far. I need to know things like, is there a term for the uneven front and back shaft [shown here](http://www.zappos.com/sesto-meucci-10105-black-new) as opposed to the all-one-height shaft [shown here](http://www.zappos.com/amalfi-by-rangoni-dona-black-calf?zlfid=111&recoName=zap_pdp_sub)? Where could I get such information?

How do the fashionistas do their online searches?

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**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-more-efficient-shopping-searches/613786/2 "2012-02-24T07:01:11Z")

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Moving to IMHO.