Stitch Fix - My Experience

So, I ordered my first Stitch Fix box about six weeks ago, and it arrived yesterday. Now, there was a bit of a wait, so if you're like me and a big fan of instant gratification - it can be a little rough, but I took it as an opportunity to buff up my Pinterest board and be brutally honest with my Stitch Fix stylist about what I wanted/like/think works on me.

For those of you who don't know how Stitch Fix works - I'll explain a bit more. Essentially, it's a personal stylist who looks at your Facebook/Pinterest board/whatever you want to supply access to to pick out five things monthly and send them to you to try. You fill out a profile, answer a lengthy list of questions about what you like, rank some pictures, etc and they run with it. When your box of items arrives, you have the opportunity to take three days to try them on, select what you like, and send back what you don't. You pay $20 for a styling fee, and it's applied to whatever you decide to purchase. Purchase nothing and you're out the $20 fee. Purchase one to four things and it's applied to the purchase. Purchase all five and you get a 25% discount and then your $20 styling fee is applied as well to the purchase. Well.. it seemed simple until I typed all that out. Hopefully you get it. If not, more here.

Step 1 - Your style profile. Be honest. Do not claim Jessica Rabbit if you are more Elmer Fudd. Be specific. "I like dresses" is a little helpful. "I like dresses that go to my knees or longer" is more helpful. "I'm allergic to wool, hate my upper arms, and like dresses that go to my knees but not maxi dresses" seems picky but is really helpful. Who wants to pay $20 each month to hate every single thing that they receive? Not this girl. Want to know just how much? Here's how brutally honest I was in my "anything else we should know?" section:

I've got a bit of a pooch from having my daughter, i won't wear any dresses that are too short unless they're special occasion (i put a toddler in a carseat daily, no one needs to see that). Allergic to wool, cashmere & angora. 

They ask age, if you're pregnant, do you have kids, how do you like your clothes to fit on different areas of your body, do you want to receive certain types of clothing - how much are you willing to spend on each piece, how often do you want to receive them, etc etc. Be honest. Take the time you'd normally spend cursing over jeans at the mall and apply it here. One and done folks.

Step 2 - Get your Pinterest on. Hate pinterest? Who cares? Take 30 mins and find outfits that you like or styles/colors/ANYTHING that you like and pin it to a Stitch Fix board and put that link in your profile. Mine's here. Be specific. If there's a dress, boots, and a cardigan and you'd rather sit through a conversation with your boss completely naked than wear that damn cardigan - say "Love the dress, love the boots, HATE that cardigan" so your stylist doesn't look at that and think you love the whole shebang.

Step 3 - You wait. Not good at waiting? Me either. WHERE THE HELL IS MY FIX? Now you get the name.

Step 4 - The package arrives. You grab it, scamper inside like a squirrel and tear it open anxiously. When the box arrived, and I first opened it, I was really nervous. I know myself better than anyone, and I still will pick some things for myself that I question later, so how will a total stranger "get" me?

Let's dive in.

Piece #1 - A fuschia roll-sleeve top.

I was a little torn when I saw this. I normally love hot pink. I really wanted a shirt just like this... but I wasn't sure I wanted them together. In fact, I was pretty sure I didn't. Still, I promised myself I'd try them all on, and break out of my comfort zone. I also decided I'd rope my husband in on this and give him a fashion show to see his opinion of the pieces. He thought the idea was a little nuts in general, but was a good sport. He's actually the reason I kept this shirt. I waffled, but he loved it and my uncertainty was really only the color in terms of this shirt and a brief hiccup wonder over the price. I can be really stingy when it comes to myself yet I'll plunk down money all over the place for others.
Price: $48. Status: Kept.

Piece 2 - A short sleeved, floral and striped top.

 

I hate this shirt. I can't even explain quite how much I hate this shirt. I like stripes. I even occasionally like floral but this shirt was a nightmare of epic floral and stripey proportions. This shirt never had a chance with me. I tried it on, the fit was fine, but I wouldn't wear this shirt even if I was guaranteed that no one would ever see me. I would see me and I would hate it.
Price: $34. Status: Sent back.


Piece 3 - A short sleeved, grey top with a banded waist.

I was iffy on this shirt right out of the box. It was super soft, which was lovely, but I'm high-waisted and my "pooch" is really more of a muffin top so this is the type of shirt that doesn't generally work on me. Add to it the fact that it reminded me a lot of a maternity dress that I had and this one wasn't doing so hot. Still, I tried it on and charged forward. My husband declared it "fine", which really sealed the "no thanks!" for me, combined with the price.

Price: $58. Seriously. Status: Sent back quickly. 


Piece 4 - A two-pack of gold earrings.

 I loved these pear-shaped studs. LOVED them. They're simple and elegant and I absolutely would have picked them out for myself. The other earrings, I wasn't really in love with. They weren't bad, but when that's the sentence that you write about them, you don't have any business buying them. The problem here was that these were a 2-pack and I couldn't keep just one, which led me to do the "If they're under $XX then I'll keep them". They weren't. At least I know that they're out there and I can find them sometime.

Price: $32. Status: Sent back.


Piece 5 - JEANS. Skinny jeans.

The words that strike fear into the heart of 99% of women. Skinny jeans. I was sure I would hate these. Skinny jeans? I have legs like a turkey. Big thighs from years of soccer and Hot Tamales. A white girl ghetto booty doesn't help with this as it adds that element of "I don't want plumber's crack" and it's no wonder that denim shopping is only slightly below "Brazilian bikini wax" on my pain scale. So imagine my surprise when a) they fit b) I liked them and c) I decided to keep them! 

Price: $88. Status: KEPT!

So there it is. Stitch Fix #1. I went back and edited my profile a bit after this box - rejecting floral altogether, and adding a few more things to my Stitch Fix board.

All in all, I'm going to try it again. It was a good eye opener and I love the little card of style ideas that they send to show you how each piece can work a few different ways. 

Get your Stitch Fix here.