Warning: Everything about this is going to sound like a sponsored post, but I assure you it is not. I just really like this idea and thought you guys might like it too! Have you heard of Stitch Fix? I had not until a coworker told me about it around a month ago. She had signed up for it and told me about and I was hooked in about 5 minutes or less.
Here's how it works: First you sign up and fill out a very in-depth style profile (takes about 10 minutes maybe). They ask all kinds of questions to figure out what you like, what your body shape is, what you like to show off, and how much you want to spend. I don't think they miss anything.
The next step is the hardest - you just have to wait. After filling out your profile, you have to wait for an email saying you can schedule your first "fix." It took one coworker 2 weeks before she got her email; I think it was 2.5 weeks for me.
But once you finally get that email, that's when the fun begins! You log on to your account and schedule when you want your fix to arrive and you pay $20. So what's the "fix" that's going to arrive? Glad you asked. It's a box of five different style items that a designer hand picks specifically for you based on how you filled out your style profile. It can be anything from pants to dresses to jewelry to scarves. (Of course, you can use your profile to opt out of receiving things you don't want. I said no outerwear, no jewelry, and no silk.) So basically someone is shopping for you and you never have to leave the house!
Is it all yours to keep? Sorta! The fix arrives with an invoice listing the price of each item. You can keep as many or as little as you like. The $20 that you paid to schedule the fix gets applied to your total, and if you choose to keep all 5 items, you get 25% off the total. The downside is that if you send back all five items, you lose your initial $20. It does not roll over to the your next fix.
Ok, enough chit-chat! Let's talk about my first fix. I scheduled it to arrive last Monday and it was like my own little Christmas party! I love getting packages in the mail. :)
First glance of my five items.
The first thing I pulled out was a really long silver necklace. (I apologize in advance for the really crappy pictures...I was too excited to care about decent photos.) It could be doubled for a long necklace or even tripled for a shorter one. I liked it, but wasn't really sure I liked it enough for it's $45 price tag.
Next item: a super soft white tank with a mesh trim around the neck and arms. I loved this because I could wear a white tank every day in the summer. I always buy tons of colored shorts, capris, skirts, and pants and just need a white shirt to throw on with them. This would have been perfect, but the fit was not good on me. It was way too wide. Major bummer.
Oh, each item in your fix box comes with a card to show you two ways to wear it. This is awesome for someone like me who usually needs a good visual to know how to wear something!
Next item up was this bright blue racerback tank with gold buttons. I should've taken a picture of the back because it was super cute.
One of the pictures on the style card showed it with polka dotted denim pants, and I actually have some of those so I was excited! In the end, the fit was not the best and I really didn't think I'd wear it much (I usually avoid strapless bras at all cost). Doc didn't think it looked like me at all either, so I passed on this.
Fourth item out of the box: orange skinny capris. Love! Definitely my style! But definitely did not fit. :( They were technically my size, but this brand must run really, really small because I could not even get them zipped. Either that or I'm in major denial about what my size really is.
The last item out of the box was a plum maxi dress. With pockets! I love a dress with pockets! This fit great, except that I was too tall for it to look good. I think maxi dresses should go to the floor, at least the top of your feet. But with my long legs, my ankles were showing!
(Note: obviously my style is slightly boring and I really like solid colors. Your box would be totally different because it would be tailored to you!)
At the bottom of the box was a pre-paid envelope so that I could drop the items that I wasn't keeping back in the mail. Your return package must be postmarked by three days after your fix's delivery date, so you can't think about it for long! But the pre-paid envelope makes it super easy to make the return.
This is the envelope that contained all my prices. I was really torn because I wasn't SOLD on any one item, but I really didn't want to lose my initial $20. What to do??!
After discussing with the hubs, I decided I was going to return it all. Losing the $20 was better than spending even more money on something I might not wear.
So here's how the rest of the process works: After deciding what you're keeping and what you're sending back, you log on to your account so you can checkout. You're able to check which items you're keeping and just pay for them. Obviously if they don't receive the other items back they'll just charge your card.
While checking out, you also get to rate all the items in your box. This is the part that still gave me hope that this is an awesome idea. I rated all of my items as really being my style, but described the fit on each one of them and what I liked or didn't like about them. I also went back to my style profile to tweak it a little (I don't want to receive jewelry anymore). My next fix is scheduled to arrive next Thursday and I can hardly wait!
BUT - all was not lost with this fix! Like I mentioned earlier, I have a couple coworkers who have signed up too, and one of them received her box the same day I received mine. We had agreed to bring them to work so that we could show off what we received. Turns out, she wasn't keeping everything in her box, and I really liked two of her shirts so I kept them! She just checked out like she was keeping them and I paid her back. (I also left a comment in my checkout form that I was keeping two of her shirts so that my stylist would know that I liked them and that the fit was good.)
I kept this button-up shirt, which I think will be great for work this summer. (Much cuter in person than this photo.)
And this flowy navy striped shirt. It's really cute on and I'm hoping my racerback bra will work with it so I can continue to avoid wearing a strapless one. :)
So, anybody else wanna sign up to have someone else shop for you? Here's where I shamelessly plug that if you do wanna sign up, you should use this link so that I get a referral credit. Mama likes free money! :)
Questions about the process? Hit me up in the comments.