Stitch Fix Review

Have you heard of this new website called Stitch Fix? I guess websites like this are very trendy now.

Anyway, what you do is fill out a profile, full of questions about your personal style. Then, one of the Stitch Fix stylists picks out five pieces they think you would like. They pack them up, ship them to you, and you get to try on everything in the comfort of your own home. Whatever you don't want to keep, you put it in a shipping envelop, which is included and prepaid, and return it.

It's pretty cheap, too. The service only costs $20, but the money goes toward your purchase if you decide to keep something. If you keep everything, it's 25% off.

I'd read a bunch of reviews from other bloggers and it seemed like they had had good experiences. Since I'm in a bit of a style rut lately (the only labels in my closet are from Target or Old Navy), I decided to give it a whirl.

The profile process is long, but thorough. There's a place to link your Pinterest boards and other social media to better represent yourself. The part I found most helpful was the comment box at the end where you can explain things that aren't detailed in the other portions, like that I'm high waisted and work with my hands in a dirty lab most days. I was slightly concerned that the stylist would only send me big, chunky necklaces because my profile may have eliminated everything else.

I scheduled my first delivery and it showed up last Thursday. Isn't the packaging pretty?

In case the process gets confusing, it's literally written all over everything.

When I unwrapped the tissue paper, I actually squealed. My favorite (and the one I kept) was on top and I was instantly in love, but I'll describe that one last. My box consisted of four tops and a bracelet. Yay, no chunky necklaces!

The first piece was a black and white chevron blouse with 3/4 length sleeves. Since it was sheer, I never would have tried it on in a store. But once I tried it on, I really liked it. I still wasn't a fan of the big pearl buttons pinning up the sleeves, but if the bottom of the blouse were about an inch wider, I would have kept it. The material had no stretch to it and was stubborn over my hips. 

UPDATE (6/4/2013): This top is available at modcloth for $39.99.

 

The second blouse was a gorgeous turquoise color. The material felt so fancy as it was actual silk. However, that's all that could really be said about this blouse. It was low cut enough that it would have to be layered.

And I suppose it could have been helpful in hiding a pregnancy?

The third blouse was a sheer, long-sleeved high contrast black and white top. Again, something I would have never tried on in a store (1. I don't like to be forced to layer things. 2. This would have been a magnet for broken machine dirt) In spite of that, I may have considered keeping it if it had fit me in the arms. It ended up being about two inches short of my armpits.

The only non-top was a gold chunky hinged bangle. It. was. gorgeous. I really loved it. The problem? It was $40. That's probably not bad if you wear bracelets all the time and have a job where you aren't using your hands all the time. I just couldn't justify keeping it, but it did remind me to break out my $2 Forever 21 bangles more often.

The last piece, as I mentioned before, was squeal-worthy. It's a deep indigo, 3/4 length jersey blazer. Reasons why I love it: 1. The color goes with almost everything in my closet allowing me to add it just about any outfit. 2. It's classy enough that I could wear it over a dress to a fancy party, but the material is casual enough that I could wear it to just about anything, especially work where I hate to be overdressed. 3. The 3/4 length sleeves keep them from getting dirty at work if it's a fix machines type of day. 4. It's washer and dryer safe (The biggest complaint I read online of Stitch Fix was sending moms "Dry Clean Only" stuff. Who has time for dry clean only?)

I love it and it's the one thing I kept from my box. Inspired by the bangle, I paired it with a bunch of my cheap bangles and a gold necklace and wore it to trivia that night (btw, we led the whole night and just missed first by one point after the last round. Shucks)

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Overall, I'd call the experience a win. I actually even signed up for another one next month. Here are some of my other random thoughts on it:

• I signed up to have mine delivered on a Friday, but they showed up on a Thursday. Next time, I'll do it early in the week because the three-day return limit scared the bejesus out of me. If you don't have it in the mail by the third day, they will charge you for everything. Since it was delivered at the end of the week, my third day was Sunday, when there is no mail. Scary for procrastinators like myself.
• It's a little unnerving when you have a box full of really nice clothes that you know you have to return and the cats just NEED to smell everything. Trying to keep two little cats out a cardboard box is just like torture to them.

• I feel like this service would be best when you have a special occasion coming up, like a vacation or a wedding. You can designate that when you schedule your shipment. At least for me, these pieces were fancy enough that I don't know how often I'd feel comfortable wearing some of them.
• That being said, I like that it forced my wardrobe to be fancier. You can specify how much you want to spend per piece, but from the reviews I've read, most pieces are between $50-$100, no matter what you designate. The blazer I kept was $78, which is a lot more than I would normally spend, but the $20 stylist fee reduced it to $58. However, the quality is definitely there. I've tried on similar pieces from Target and it's just no comparison. I need to be reminded that sometimes you get what you pay for. 

Hopefully, I won't need any sort of update in the near future about how I screwed everything up and ended up accidentally purchasing a $200 box of stuff  that doesn't fit. Overall, though, I was very happy with Stitch Fix.

UPDATE: Here's a more critical review of my second box...

*This post was not sponsored by Stitch Fix. I just wanted to share my experience. However, if they do want to sponsor another post, I wouldn't say no...*