Service – Stitch Fix

I hate shopping.  Actually, let me revise that – I hate going in to stores.  I’m awesome on Amazon, and if I know my size in a particular brand – having visited in person recently enough to try things on – I’m terrific at buying appropriately sized things from those online retailers as well.  But it’s all so overwhelming.  I prefer to stay at home and not go out into the world where I will end up feeling unhappy with my body and what’s available.  I felt like I was buying the same boring things because I was afraid to try.

So when another blogger posted about Stitch Fix a few years ago, I was intrigued.  I tell a stylist my measurements, my likes and dislikes, and they choose interesting things for me to wear?  Yes.  All in.  Granted, I didn’t go “all in” right away because it’s a little pricey, but a few years back when I had a little extra money coming in, I decided to try it out.  It couldn’t hurt.  And I *loved* it.  I kept everything from that first fix, and still wear most of it to this day.  The top you see in the in the photo above?  From that first fix, and I wear it all the time – to work, to church, to hang out with friends.  (Apologies for the smudgy mirror).  It took me a while to figure out that it’s ok if clothes are expensive if I’m going to a) love them and b) wear them all the time.  I’m sure my cost-per-wear is really low at this point.  So since this is a service I use regularly, and I had a box arriving, I figured it was time for another #notsponsored review!

Let me explain how it works.  You sign up, and you fill out a big survey with information about your sizes, what parts of your body you might prefer to have covered, what your style is, what your preferred price range is, stuff like that.  Maybe you share social media accounts so that the stylist can see what you’re interested in (I think I have a pinterest account linked…but I’m rarely on pinterest anymore so blergh!), and what might fit your personality.  You choose an available date on the calendar, and then wait for your box to arrive.  Winston was very excited to see mine.

Inside you’ll find a note from your stylist with explanations of why they chose specific things, styling cards that give you ideas of how you might wear an item (I definitely have looked at those and gone “Oh – I have something like that complementary item in my close already!”), the price list, and a free return shipping bag.  And underneath all the paperwork…stuff!  The packaging is really pretty, and it makes me feel like I’m getting some really fancy things.  I tend not to look at the stylist card immediately and instead will open the packages and see what I’ve got and be surprised!

It’s shoes!  Stitch Fix recently started doing shoes, and my first thought on seeing these was, “Wow – cool!” and then “I don’t know…” but my main rule with Stitch Fix is to try it on.  Give it a chance.

These are the clothes that were in the package – a green blouse, a red blouse, a honeycomb dress and a pair of denim capris.  And since the first rule of Stitch Fix is try everything on – that’s what I did.  Let’s start with the clothes.

This is the green top.  I LOVED it.  the perforations in the geometric pattern were such an interesting detail, and it felt fancy, and yet casual at the same time.  Definitely something I see myself wearing a lot this summer – especially for work.

Can you tell from my face that I’m hesitant about this blouse?  I am.  As you can see it pulls in a not great way around the hips, has the funny pocket flaps on the boob-area, and you can’t tell from a photo but the fabric was not great.  I can always use more tops for work…but was this worth it?

That’s the new dress on the left.  I like it – the shape is good (I love a swingy skirt), the pattern is cute, and it’s a little funky with the mesh trip near the neck.  The main problem is the photo on the right.  I already have a gray and white dress from Stitch Fix (actually got that one from my mom’s box), but that one is a chevron pattern.  Sigh – decisions!

This picture gives me pains to show you.  This is the capris (which I’m wearing with the shirts above), but this time styled with the booties.  Yes, they’re interesting…but where would I wear them?  With what would I wear them?  They’re the kind of shoes that need to be shown off, and I don’t have anything in my wardrobe that would really do them justice.

So – what did I keep and what went back to Stitch Fix?

This is the “return” package – the booties and the red blouse.  I figured the dress was different enough that it’s not a big deal (and I love a good casual-to-nice dress), and the capris were very versatile…even if they didn’t really go well with the booties.  Obviously the green blouse was a keeper.  But the booties and the red blouse were the kind of things that made me wrinkle my nose immediately.

After you package things up to send back, you check out.  There is always a $20 styling fee, even if you keep nothing (because they did you a service), but I usually find there is at least one or two items that I like.  One thing I like about the checkout is that you’re given a chance to review your fix and say what fit well, why you kept the things you kept, and why you’re sending things back so that the stylist gets to know YOU.  If you love the entire fix and decide to keep all five items, you get a discount of 25% on the entire order.  So that’s a good reason to carefully consider EVERYTHING in your box – especially if you really like 3 or 4 items and are on the fence about the last one (I have often done the math and sometimes kept something that I was just meh about).  Then you just have to drop the returned items in a mail box and you’re good to go.

Is it a service that I would recommend?  Yes – definitely.  They do a great job of introducing me to interesting pieces that I definitely would not have found on my own.  But as a warning, it is a little expensive – I’ve reduced my shipments to every 3-4 months as a way to keep my spending down.  So if you’re worried about initial cost, this is not the service for you (even though you have to keep in mind that the clothes will last).  But the fresh injection of new items is always exciting.

Has anyone else tried Stitch Fix?  Have you tried any of the other personal shopping services that are out there?  Do you like to shop????  Or do you have any questions about my experience with Stitch Fix?  There’s also an FAQ page on their site.

Details: Stitch Fix <- contains a referral link for my account.  If you decide to sign up and have a box delivered, I’d get a $25 credit.