K’s First Stitch Fix!

The box is even pretty!

I think I scared the mailman when he delivered this. I saw him walking up to the door with my beautiful Stitch Fix box and, mature 26-year-old that I am, I calmly waited for him to ring the doorbell before thanking him politely for the delivery.

Juuuuust kidding. I ran to the door (with my green face mask still on) and clapped my hands like a 2 year old until he got up the step! Naturally. I’m a child at heart, see? 😉

For my birthday M started up a Stitch Fix account for me and put some money towards my first one. In other words- she spoiled me rotten. I’ve never been an online clothes shopper but this was amazing! They totally nailed my style, and I already have another Fix scheduled 🙂 M has already shared her Stitch Fix successes and how it works, but here’s a quick recap: First you fill out a style profile with preferences on style and price, then you schedule a Fix and pay a $20 styling fee to have the first box of five items picked by a personal shopper sent to you! The $20 styling fee goes toward anything you keep, so you really get your money’s worth. If you keep the whole box, you get 25% off! Keep what you love, and throw whatever you don’t keep in the prepaid postage bag they sent and get it in the mail within three days! Piece-o-cake.

I called M as soon as I closed the front door, and I don’t think I uttered a complete sentence for our whole conversation- I just ooh-ed and ahh-ed over every piece of clothing I pulled out of that wonderful box.

1. This style is me to a T. Loved everything about it!

Navy blue with little white tulips

2. This too was gorgeous- the fabric was a favorite, just a little tight in the shoulders.

Coral with white polka dots and bronze stud embellishments

3. I need to find something to say other than ‘I loved this’- but I did! It was the perfect comfy fall sweater.

Grey chunky knit sweater

4. Hands down my favorite- fit, color, style, fabric, price- I have nothing like it in my closet, so it was the perfect combo of my style with something new for me to try.

Maroon and black striped sweater

5. These earrings were my style exactly! This wasn’t actually on the list of things on the invoice they sent me, but if this happens, all you have to do is let them know via email and they’ll adjust it for you.

Bird-in-a-hoop earrings

I intensely dislike trying clothes on in a dressing room at the store- all these other strangers milling around in there with you, I get self conscious. And it’s always frustrating finding a shirt that’s cute in the dressing room only to find out it looks completely different with my favorite pair of pants and in ‘real world lighting’. Stitch Fix eliminates both of those annoying bits about shopping in-store, plus it gives you that opening presents on Christmas feel- something to look forward to, and maybe keeps me from splurging on those random shopping trips if I know I have a Stitch Fix coming soon.

I ended up keeping #4- the maroon sweater, and sending everything else back. While every piece fit my style perfectly, each of the other pieces was a little off either in fit or price. Still, a huge success! There’s a neat little feedback section after you send your items back, too, that lets you say why exactly you didn’t keep the items you sent back, that way they can hone your next Fix even better…I mean, I have yet to find a negative about this method of shopping!

Thank you M, for a fantastic gift!

If any of you haven’t tried it yet, here’s a startup link! Use either M’s or mine 🙂

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3175693

~K

Stitchfix returns!

Ahhh… my first post-pregnancy STITCHFIX! Happy dance time.

I have to say, round 2 of Stitchfix was much more exciting (style-wise) for me than the first one! The first one was exciting and I ended up keeping the skinny black pants, but I was disappointed in the lack of color. They asked my opinion of that first box, and I told them I was hoping for more pizzazz next time- and PIZZAZZ is what I got!

First up: a cute chevron maxi dress. Loved loved loved this! The pattern was very cute and definitely something I would wear- at least I thought before I tried it on. Unfortunately, there was no ‘stretch’ to this dress, and that is a must for me in the maxi dress dept. It was diffficult to take more than a small step in this beautiful dress because there was no slit in the bottom… bummed. DECISION: nay, due to lack of stretch. 

**( No modeling by me this time. I would have, but by the time I was able to really look through this box, it was day 3 and if you don’t have the clothes you don’t want back in the mail by the end of day 3, they assume you love the whole box and kept it. In this case, a $250 dollar mistake I can’t afford to make! So, this was a ‘rushed-quick-try-this-on-while-Gabs-takes-a-catnap-and -my-hair-is disheveled’ fashion show that I will spare you)

Item numero DOS: plaid chiffon button-down blouse. I am probably the happiest girl alive with the incoming of the ‘airy & loose-fitting chiffon blouse’ trend going on right now. I tend to steer clear of tight-fitting shirts and go for the comfort of the flowy tops- so I loved this blouse. The pattern was unlike anything I would normally choose for myself- which is what stitchfix is for! To help you step out of the box a bit, clothes-wise. I loved the fit and pattern more and more as time passed, but alas… DECISION: nay, because I liked the FOLLOWING shirt better!

…another chiffon top in a peacock-inspired pattern, with a tie-front. I tried this on, and it took a long time for me to take it off because it was SO comfortable and cute! In fact… it goes perfectly with the black pants I kept from the previous Stitchfix! Maybe a sign that I was supposed to keep this top? I hope so because… Decision: MINE!

Next up: bright orange/coral sweater- this was also a sheer top that would still be breezy enough to wear on a cool summer day (whenever those occur…) and I really liked this top too. It seemed like it would be a little prone to getting stretched out after a few washes, but other than that I really liked this as well! I was on the fence for a while with this one, but eventually decided to pass. Decision: not this time. 

Last but not least: statement necklace in mint! You guys know how much I love these- but I decided not to even try this on because I already have a necklace almost identical to this one. And I didn’t want to like this one better than the one I already had and let greedy Monica overtake ‘sensible’ Monica. Sensible Monica must survive. But it’s so cuuuute…. No. Not this time. Decision: pleeease? No. You already have something just like it. 

So I ended up keeping one item (the cute peacock top) and tossed the rest back into the pre-addressed and prepaid mailing bag and rushed it back to the post office to keep the deadline! I easily could have kept more from this box, but  I decided to keep the one thing I liked the most and limit myself so that future stitchfixes can be scheduled! 🙂

I’ve had a few people tell me that they’ve signed up for Stitchfix since my first post about it, and I can’t wait to hear how those experiences go! It’s nice to have the mall come to you, rather than the other way around- and worst case scenario, you don’t like anything in the box (unlikely) and it just costs the $20 that you spent to have it picked out and sent to your house.

So long, stitchfix! I give you an ‘A’ for effort this time.

~M

P.S. Have you signed up yet? If you decide to, please use this link to check it out! When you sign up using my referral link, I get credit for the referral- once you get accepted, you can also get referral credit to put towards your purchases using your special link!

http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3030462

My First Stitchfix

Oh I’ve been so excited for this post!

Have you guys heard of Stitchfix yet? I was reading one of my favorite blogs a while back and she totally got me hooked.

How does it work? Every month, Stitchfix sends you a fun box of clothes and/or accessories that are geared towards your style and body type. Do any of you ever watch ‘What Not to Wear’? This is kind of like that… minus Clinton and Kelly (boo), and minus the trashing of your own poor closet. Aaaand you don’t get $5,000 to spend. SO basically not like the show at all. Anyways, you request an invitation and then fill out an extensive style questionnaire where you give information describing your body size, type, and your own personal style preferences. You also rate different outfits and describe what you would like to start incorporating more of into your wardrobe. After all that, you choose what kind of price range you are comfortable with for each type of item they send you. Totally awesome!

Also,  You can try all the clothes on in the comfort of your own home, and with other pieces of clothing you already have! And, you can model the outfits in front of a mirror that is honest with you, or your husband and three dogs. Whatever you want.

Best part? You keep what you love and send back what you don’t. They conveniently include a prepaid postage bag that you just toss whatever you don’t want to keep into and then send back at no charge! You only get charged for what you keep. It costs $20 to have your first Fix sent to you, but that money can be applied towards any items you decide to keep in the box. So, say you fall in love with a top that’s labeled as $58 in the box- it’s only $38 if you want to keep it. Awesome, huh? And if you decide to keep the whole box, they give you 25% off your whole order.

Stitchfix is pretty new, so it takes a while to ‘get accepted’ with a personal stylist- but here’s a personal invite to get started if you’re interested!

I am hardly a shopaholic- I was intrigued by this because 1. I am not a fan of going to the mall. 2. I tend to buy the same type of things all the time and never branch out. 3. I don’t live very close to any fun places to shop. All of these things are probably very good for my wallet, but sometimes I do wish shopping was more convenient and exciting!

And this way, you get an exciting box in the mail full of clothes that someone else picked out for you based on what YOU want- and no pressure to not hurt the saleslady’s feelings. Perf. And I LOVE love love surprises.

So without further ado, here’s what was in my box!!

 

My first reaction was a little disappointment. I was hoping for a lot more color and pattern diversity, since that’s what I always think I’m lacking… and this all seemed pretty bland and basic. But I forged on and tried them on anyway!

(Excuse the nerdy picture fashion show. But it’s kind crazy to see how things look so different when they are folded up or on a rack vs. on you!)

 

Another side note. I realize it’s crazy to try a personal styling service when you are 7 months pregnant and your body is nothing like it normally is. I’m already being patient in waiting to find out the sex of our baby, so there’s no patience left when it comes to trying other things. That being said, everything actually fit great!! The black skinny pants were a little hard to get on, but they were super stretchy and fit like a glove- Joey convinced me these would be worth keeping, and that’d I’d get back to my regular size after pregnancy so I’d be more comfortable in them later. He’s sweet.

 

Hey there, baby Judah!

The sweater was comfortable too, but I already had a black and white striped maternity sweater in my closet so I said no to this one.

 

This was easy for me to decline. I do not do the whole ‘short in front, long in back’ thing. At least to this degree- I kind of felt like I was wearing a droopy blanket. I tried adding some of my own accessories to improve the look…

 

And I like it a little better, but still not convinced. Onward we go!

This was a tunic sheath dress that they included because in my style survey, I mentioned wanting to wear dresses more often- and this dress was not what I expected, but I was surprised at how much I liked it once I put it on! It was incredibly comfortable, and very versatile- however, I’m not a big fan of cowl necks, and the back of this dress was cowled.

 

Eh. Maybe if I add a belt?

 

Better! I liked it more and more as I wore it, and that’s the whole point of this Stitchfix thing- try on something you normally wouldn’t! Broadening my style horizons…

 

And last but not least, the bib necklace- also grew to like this more as I wore it! I tried it on with one of my own shirts and thought if I had added a blazer and some cute heels, this would have been a great outfit! Minus the bed hair.

So I liked it, but I think I can find something similar to it for much cheaper elsewhere.

So out of my first fix, I ended up just keeping the black skinny pants and sent everything else back. I loved that with each piece they sent you, they included a tag with advice on how to wear the piece and what other clothes would look good with it!

Everything else I didn’t end up keeping, I just stuffed back into the bag and will drop it in the mail later today. SO that was my first fix! It was so fun to get a package in the mail full of different clothes and be surprised with new styles- I’m obsessed! And beats the travel time to the mall and crowded stores too. I won’t be doing this EVERY month, you have the option of scheduling one whenever you want- whether it be monthly or here and there.

Give it a try and tell me how it goes for you!!

~M