In 800X600 resolution sites, you always choose a background color that will create contrast with the body. The reason behind this is to pull people’s eyes towards the body content, and minimize any time spent looking at the blank background.

If this clothing site were mine, I would change the background color to a diffused blue color. Not only would this pull people’s eyes towards the relevant content; but blue, according to Western color psychology, is a color often associated with trust.

I think that there are alot better ways to convey that image.

Also… I don’t think “indie” people surf or transact a whole lot differently than “non indie” people. But if someone has a usability study that says differently…i am eager to see it.

Great find,
Katie

Another case of knowing the audience…they might still want to tweak the design, but with feedback from the people who are interested in what they carry.

(I’m a crossover person: I have to dress professional for work, but I love quirky handmade clothes and jewelry too.)

In fact, they say it clearly on their About Us page: “We created a place for EVERYONE who loves fashion that thinks beyond the mall.”

Still, it’s a cool looking site that feels a bit off. I think red is a bit overused, and the contrast it creates with the clothes is too rigid. While they’re definitely getting across an edgy look, their clothes aren’t actually that “edgy” per se. They’re fashion-forward, and as hip as anything I see on the Lower East Side/East Village/Williamsburg/Ft. Green hipsters here in NYC, but that doesn’t mean that there should literally be hard edges to it. If they were couture that would be one thing, but they’re really trying to put an honest face on indie retail–which is a great value proposition, and something lacking in the market outside of local boutiques.

The 3D effect for the background is also throwing me off. I think Holly has a good point about how that’s different than how the other sites use white space. Still, I don’t think you’d be trying to scroll up if they had a different background–it’s not about the top navigation so much as what’s around it.

Here are some of the things they’re doing right–and, in some cases, much better than the mall retailers:
-Great product page copy (minimal when it needs to be; appropriately personal at other times)
-Nice variety of products
-Models look like real women, and seems they’re having fun. all have their own style, which ends up adding to their brand.

Things they could do better:
-Get rid of over-used red outlines (which are cautionary and create unnecessary boundaries).
-Better photos – some product shots are in low light conditions and others even show an outline of the flash (yikes). Although that’s kind of “indie” in a Vice Magazine or American Apparel sense, it doesn’t do much to push their brand–or to sell clothes, I’ll bet. Those are probably their poorest converting pages.
-Navigation on the left is a bit squirrely – it’s well executed, but not well planned (if that makes sense). I think they do a relatively good job with category pages, so i think if they expanded the category pages, and used more of that good copy, they wouldn’t have to rely so much on tricky left-hand navigation.

Overall, they’ve got a slight marketing problem, but they don’t have a brand or a product problem–not by a long shot. It would be great to see these folks emerge on a bigger level (like American Apparel but not as pretentious-for-its-own-sake). Besides, we all know Holly’s a T.J. Maxx shopper.