Tuesday, April 8, 2014

My First Fix - Stitch Fix That Is

I was so excited about my first Stitch Fix*, a service that you pay a $20 styling fee, fill out a questionnaire and then they send you 5 pieces of clothing/accessories for you to try.  I've had several friends order from them and love everything they got, so I decided to go for it.  I ordered it last month and then had to wait 4 weeks before I was going to get my fix...insert twiddling thumbs and bouncing up and down with excitement.

I told them I wanted it to show up on Monday April 7th, knowing that I was going to be out of town the weekend prior and wouldn't really have time to go through the box and get it back to them in three days. So, we're just about to leave, I'm getting together last minute things for our trip, and in walks Baby Fox with a delivery for me! What?! I thought I said Monday, it's Friday and I don't have time to go through the box right now, we were literally minutes from walking out the door. So that excitement that I felt, had to be rushed and then put on hold because I wasn't going to be able to open it till at least Sunday!

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Of course I panicked because I wasn't sure with it being Friday what day I needed to get the stuff back in the mail, so I quickly emailed them and said, hey I wanted this on Monday and you sent it 3 days early, I'm not sure when I'm suppose to return it. They sent a response back saying that I should have thought about when I really wanted my box and that I should really only take three days to return my stuff, never mentioning my original question of when I need to return it. They did say that they would put something in my account saying that I might be a little late to return my package. First I didn't appreciate that fact that they said it was my fault, and then they didn't answer my question. They did however respond pretty quickly.

We get home Sunday, put the kids down for their naps and then I anxiously open my box!

Oh so pretty, so exciting.

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The pieces were definitely interesting, but I wasn't totally sure about them. With my 5 pieces of clothing/accessories came a style card, which was great to help me figure out what would look good with what they sent to me.

My first response, I don't think I like any of it, I showed Mr. each piece and his first reaction was the same. Uh oh..

The first piece was this top. Here is what the style card showed:


I thought it was just too boxy, and a didn't really do anything for my figure, but I wasn't totally hating it, but Mr. didn't like it at all and at $58 I didn't think it was worth it. I think if it fit a little better, I would have kept it.


Next up was the this top:


I paired it with this skirt and my Jessica Simpson polka dot shoes. Hey not too bad, Mr. said he even thought it as okay, and didn't totally hate it as much as he did when it was untucked. The problem with this shirt, is that I tried it with jeans tucked and untucked and neither one looked very good on me. I think the sleeves or lack there-of looks a bit too big. Again not $58 worth for me to keep it. I think if the sleeves were a bit shorter and fit my shoulders better, I would have kept it.


My accessory that they sent to me were some earrings. Not my style, but they were fun but not for me or $38. I don't wear earrings much, at work I wear headphones most of the day to block out office noise, and any earrings hurt my ears with the headphones.


They sent me another skirt, this one, I just didn't like AT ALL, but I tried it on, and tried to style it. Here's the style card:


I thought what they picked to go with it looked great, I had neither one of those pieces or those colors. The best I could do was this orangey top. The skirt had an elastic waist and didn't really have any form to it. It hung to me in all the wrong places and just made me look chubby, IMO, it was $58, this one was a hell no! I hated everything about it.


  




So far I'm striking out, insert super sad face


I still had one more skirt to go, and it was cute. Here's the style card:



I couldn't even take a picture of this because 1) I really had NOTHING that would go with it and 2) it didn't really fit, was too tight and looked like it was plastered onto my body. It said it was A-line, but it was more of a pencil skirt, IMO. This piece was also $58.

My final thoughts

The Good:
  • I think that the principle of Stitch Fix is really good, you get something in the mail, you get to try things on that you might necessarily try on yourself and there is a prepaid envelope to send everything back in. Super easy for the on the go lady.
  • The stylist tried to get my out of my comfort box, but just didn't pick pieces that will look good on me. 
  • They asked for your height, which I thought would work to my benefit, but turns out they don't seem to use that information at all.
The Not So Good:
  • I said in my styling profile that I liked tops to be fitted, and neither top that they sent me was fitted.
  • I lost $20 styling fee, I wanted to like just one thing to keep something, but I just didn't want to force it.
  • I don't think I like elastic waist skirts, both of these skirts were elastic waisted.
What they Can Improve:
  • I wish that they had petite sizing, I think if I had that, things, especially the tops would have fit way better and I probably would have kept them.
  • On the questionnaire, they ask how you like the bottom half of your body to be fitted, well in pants I like fitted, skirts I like to be loose or A-line, which wasn't an option.
  • It would be nice if they had a choice for you to pick like you want them to put a whole outfit together for you, like one skirt/pants and 2-3 different tops and an accessory, or 2 bottoms, 2 tops and an accessory that all can coordinate together.
Bottom Line: 

With all that said would I try it again? Probably not, I don't want to take the risk of losing another $20. I would rather go shopping myself and spend $20 on something I know I'm going to like. If I get one of the sales people to help me, then I have my stylist right there, no need to pay $20 for something I'm not going to like/keep.

But never say never, so we'll see, but for now I'm probably not going to sign up for another fix for a while. Maybe if I have a special cocktail occasion to go to, I will, but not for work/casual clothes.

*Stitch Fix has no idea who I am and did not ask my nor pay me to write this review, although if they'd like to give me a free try, I'd be more then willing to try again :)

2 comments:

  1. Oh, bummer that nothing worked for you. I actually think that blue shirt looks amazing on you, but I understand not loving it. I haven't tried SF yet, but have heard mixed reviews. Most people say it's really hit or miss and the items they do like are more expensive than they wanted. My problem is I know I'll never be able to return the box in three days! I still have Christmas cards I haven't mailed!

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  2. I've also heard mixed reviews and am in no rush to try them either. But I'm glad you posted on this anyway so that I know I shouldn't waste my 20 dollars!

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