Dorothyperkins.com is the official website of high street chain store Dorothy Perkins and here you can dig through pages of clothes, shoes and accessories and potentially buy without leaving your home.

Since I have hit my twenties I have found that I'm not really into fashion (apart from photography and reading about it) and have begun to slowly find my style niche; meaning I could happily live off eBay and vintage websites without the bother of high street stores. That said, Dorothy Perkins is one high street shop I have always visited and continue to do so every now and then. I always felt that their clothes were smart, classy and feminine so one day decided to take some time to look at their website with the intention of possibly buying a new dress, since the dress section is my first port of call on every clothing website!

I was greeted with a clean website with a clear theme and a similar set up to most clothing websites. Prior to surfing the main home page a box appeared telling me that they ship to over 100 countries worldwide, alphabetically from Albania to the (British) Virgin Islands. At the top you have the different clothing drop down sections that include tops, coats, jackets, jeans, swimwear, dresses, suits, leggings, skirts, accessories, shoes etc. as well as the 'tall' section, the 'petite' one and a 'maternity' one; very much like the high street shop. You are able to refine your search by size, colour and price, depending on what you require. Again, like with the majority of these sites, when you find a garment that takes your fancy you can zoom in and out and see more of the item. The website also gives you recommendations on what you could wear with the item of clothing you're viewing.

Once you've created an online account (simple process involving your personal and payment details) you're able to choose the size of the item you want, if it's available, and add it to your 'bag'. Just click on your bag at the top of the screen and it will let you know what you've added and the total price, thus far.

So all very typical and simple.

When I first ordered something from here, I ended up not buying a dress. Instead I ordered a small blazer and a white cardigan to go with a dress. I was happy as well that they accept PayPal! Once I received an email confirming my order after a simple checkout procedure, I waited about three days and my items arrived, well packed in a plastic bag. Dorothy Perkins do state that delivery make take longer should you be ordering from Northern Ireland or the Scottish islands. If you buy items totalling at least £75, then you're entitled to free delivery. Nominated day delivery is available at an extra pound; this includes the next day as long as you order prior to 6pm on weekdays and by 2pm on Sundays.

So I was hoping the blazer would be nice to wear over a dress when I went on my next trip to London last summer. I just wanted the cardigan because it was light and white and again was useful with my summer dresses.

When I opened the packaging I was surprised by both items. My white cardigan was cute and soft; however the back of it was cut far higher than I expected and was quite short. That said, in the summer it was not a problem and actually quite appropriate. It is not a winter cardigan though; it is just too thin, albeit pretty. The blazer was so different to what I expected, however. It was shiny and looked like something from a 1970s disco. It wasn't warm and felt and looked like scaly snakeskin. I'm sure that the photo gave the impression it was a smart daytime blazer and it just felt rough and the sleeves were too short; which says a lot since I'm petite. Nice to wear on a night out maybe with a dress as it is different and bright, but not something that I wear a lot in the day.

There was something about both items though that didn't feel as well made as what you'd find in the shop itself. I like lots of the clothes in the shop so was expecting similar quality clothes from the site but it wasn't to be in my case. I just could not envisage these clothes, particularly the blazer, hanging up in any UK Dorothy Perkins store.

Not a slight against the shop itself though as I really like Dorothy Perkins and the order process and delivery was absolutely fine from start to finish, so no problem with the website itself; I was just a little disappointed in the clothing quality in comparison to what I have bought on the high street, and I've bought a lot over the years from here.